Q&A;: VENTURA COUNTY TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION PROGRAM MANAGER : ‘There’s More Need Than There Is Money’

Q: How tough is it to get around Ventura County by bus?

A: If you want to go someplace within your city, you generally have good service on weekdays. In some cities you even have good service on weekends. In some cities the service drops off on weekends or evenings.

But if you want to get between cities, you’re looking at good service in some areas, very infrequent service in other areas and no service at all between the cities in the eastern part of the county.

Most people would find that it would take significantly more time to get to work by bus than it would take by car or by car-pooling. So they wouldn’t bother. That’s what we want to change.

Q: Why is it easy to get from, say, Ventura to Port Hueneme aboard South Coast Area Transit buses, but impossible to get from Camarillo to Moorpark, which operate their own local bus systems?

A: About 15 years ago, the cities in the western county got together and decided it would be easier for them to pool their bus resources and set up a joint powers agency, SCAT.

It started with Oxnard, Ventura and Port Hueneme. Then the county, Santa Paula and Ojai asked to join.

Ten years ago, there was definitely more demand for public transportation in the west end of the county. The east end had a lot more private auto ownership and as a result, a lot less demand for public transportation.

But that has definitely changed. There are a lot more people who don’t have cars now in the east end of the county. They need to get to school, to jobs, to social services, to Moorpark College. They need to connect into the west county.

Q: Why haven’t more of the cities, particularly in the east county, joined forces in operating bus lines?

A: It has a lot to do with the way the county evolved. The cities were each independent in a lot of ways. The county’s growth policies encouraged that.

Transportation, though, particularly public transportation by its very nature, can’t be contained within city limits. That’s why it’s changing so that we have more coordination between the systems.

Transportation doesn’t just end at the city boundaries.

Q: Do city and county officials, in deciding where to spend limited dollars earmarked for transportation, have to give up road improvements to pay for expanded bus services?

A: As in all areas of government, there’s more need than there is money. But we do have money available in the county that we can use for public transit service, and we expect that will continue in the future.

Q: How many Ventura County residents use public transportation on a regular basis?

A: It’s probably 5% or less.

Q: What could be done to encourage more residents to ride the bus?

A: There has to be some public transportation that would be convenient for them to use.

We do have a lot of people in this county who are interested, for environmental reasons, in using public transportation one or two days a week, if not more.

But there is a limit to how far you can ask people to sacrifice. If you ask people to ride on the bus for two hours, when the same trip takes a half-hour by car, you could strain their impulse to sacrifice.

These new “interconnect” bus services we’re preparing can be tailored closely to large employers’ work schedules.

Q: Will enough people ride the new intercity bus lines you’re proposing?

A: We do have ridership projections that indicate there is enough demand to make these services viable and cost-efficient to run.

If they were operating, you would not have to take a cab to get from Simi Valley to Moorpark, for one thing. It would make public transportation a reasonable option for the majority of people in the county.

Q: You’ve been talking to city and county officials about the new intercity bus routes. What’s been their reaction so far?

A: It’s been very positive. The elected officials are all concerned that we don’t try to operate anything that won’t get the ridership to justify it.

We don’t want to run any buses that are empty. The main concern is the same one we hear at the Transportation Commission meetings--that we must operate cost-efficient services.

Q: Unlike people who live in New York or Chicago, most Ventura County residents aren’t as accustomed to using public transportation. Will it be tough to get them to leave their cars at home?

A: It will take a change of habits, which is easier for some people than others. We hope to make it easier for people to change their habits by the service we are providing.

That has been the case with the new Metrolink train service. Informal surveys have shown that about 80% of the people on the Metrolink trains are people who used to drive to work alone.

They’re happy with the train service. That was enough to encourage them to change their solo commuting ways.

These bus services won’t be trains, but we hope to make them comfortable enough that people will change their habits.

Q: How will you know whether people are happy with the new intercity buses?

A: During the one- to two-year demonstration period, we’ll be monitoring them monthly for ridership. We’ll be making adjustments in the stops.

We know there’s interest in giving them a try, but we’re not going to continue to run them unless people continue to use them.

Q: To pay for this tryout period, you’ll need about $1.4 million a year in federal funds. Are you sure the county will receive this grant?

A: It’s very likely that we’ll get the money. We’re very confident about that. It depends on the final arrangements. The buses could be in operation as soon as January, 1994, or perhaps July, 1994.