New Bus Service to Aid Metrolink Commuters

Free shuttle service and altered bus routes will go into effect Monday morning to ferry commuters to work with the inauguration of Metrolink trains from Moorpark and the Santa Clarita Valley to Glendale and Los Angeles.

Two buses will make continuous loops to meet trains at the Glendale Transportation Center, 400 W. Cerritos Ave., as they arrive from 6 to 8:15 a.m. The buses will carry out-of-town commuters to seven stops on San Fernando Road between the station and Western Avenue and to four stops on Brand Boulevard north to Glenoaks Boulevard.

The same service will be provided in the afternoon as workers leave offices to catch trains for the ride home from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.

Glendale residents using the trains to travel downtown can also ride shuttles or park free at the transportation center, officials said.

Metrolink passengers may also ride the city’s Beeline shuttle, which stops at the transportation center every 15 minutes from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. Beginning Monday, the Rapid Transit District’s Line 183 also will stop at the Glendale station, which is south of Los Feliz Road and west of San Fernando Road.

Metrolink fares for Glendale-to-Los Angeles commuters range from $3.50 for a one-way ticket to $80 for a monthly pass for the one-zone trip. The monthly fare for three-zone passes from Santa Clarita to Los Angeles’ Union Station is $144. The Moorpark-to-Union Station fare, which passes four zones, is $176 a month.

Detailed information and brochures on schedules and fares are available from three sources:

* Glendale Transportation Services, (818) 548-3961.

* Metrolink, (800) 371-LINK.

* RTD Telephone Information Center, (818) 246-2593.

The city will mark the start of Metrolink with a celebration Monday from 7 to 8:30 a.m. at the Glendale station. Free cappuccino and breakfast hors d’oeuvres contributed by local companies will be served before participants board a train to Union Station for another celebration. Reservations are available through Rosalia Martinez, Glendale transportation coordinator, at (818) 548-3961.

Information on Metrolink and other transportation services will be displayed at the Glendale Transportation Center throughout the day Monday. A public open house will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. as outgoing trains stop at Glendale.

Metrolink features bi-level passenger cars pulled by diesel locomotives. All cars are equipped with restrooms, cellular phones, work tables and bicycle racks and are accessible to wheelchairs.

Four trains will operate weekdays on a Ventura County/Moorpark line, and three trains on a Santa Clarita line. Stops are provided for Glendale workers commuting from Moorpark, Simi Valley, Chatsworth, Van Nuys, Santa Clarita, Sylmar/San Fernando and Burbank.