Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Santa Clarita Tops Nation in Ridership Growth for Bus Systems : Transportation: The head of the city agency, which has a $4.5-million budget, can’t explain the 104% increase in passengers.

The growth of Santa Clarita bus ridership has outpaced that of 265 other transit systems nationwide, according to a national trade group.

City bus routes logged ridership of 238,842 during the first three months of 1993--more than double the 116,908 ridership during the same time in 1992. The 104% jump is phenomenal, illustrating a percentage growth rate higher than any other system documented by the American Public Transit Assn. for that quarter.

The city took over local bus routes from Los Angeles County two years ago today and created Santa Clarita Transit. Ron Kilcoyne has been the city’s transportation coordinator since July, 1992. As others praise the system and prepare for an open house Saturday to commemorate the anniversary, Kilcoyne rattles off a list of obstacles facing the local program: “We’ve done virtually no promotion so far. Pedestrian access is very poor in some areas. When the economy is down, people don’t ride as much.”

They are likely explanations for stalled ridership, but sound odd coming from a transportation official whose ridership is skyrocketing.

The association that ranked the city with the highest percentage of growth in riders is a national trade organization of public transit operators that lists about 265 transit systems nationwide. The next highest growth in ridership on fixed bus routes for the quarter is about 56% and most systems actually lost ridership.

“The likelihood of someone getting growth of that amount. . .,” Kilcoyne shrugs, unable to explain it.

The city has added to its routes during the past two years.

A door-to-door van service was acquired in November, 1991, and followed by a commuter service to downtown Los Angeles in January, 1992. Both were previously administered by the county. Daily management of all three programs is now contracted to ATE Management & Service Co. Inc. of Long Beach.

In October, 1992, Metrolink service began, connecting the city with Los Angeles’ Union Station by heavy rail and relocating the Santa Clarita Transit Center to Saugus. The city has left its mark on that service as well, according to Kilcoyne, with the highest percentage of residents using local buses to connect with Metrolink of any on the system: 8% or 20 people per day.

Santa Clarita’s most controversial program has been the Dial-A-Ride van service, which has ridership of about 200 people per day--predominantly senior citizens and handicapped passengers.

Hundreds of customer complaints came into the city soon after the takeover, listing problems of missed appointments, rude scheduling operators and the inability to get a ride.

Santa Clarita responded in early 1992 by paying $35,000 for a pair of consulting firms to examine Dial-A-Ride driver hours, number of passengers, trip times and service charges.

About six months into the study, a former Dial-A-Ride dispatcher publicly accused ATE Management of overbilling the city, doctoring employee time cards and discriminating against elderly riders who complained of poor service.

The study by the management consultant firm Arroyo Seco Associates Inc. and financial analysis firm Municipal Resource Consultants indicated evidence of sloppy record-keeping, but no intent to defraud Santa Clarita.

Complaints have since dwindled to a handful a week.

“There’s room for improvement, but I think we’ve gotten over the hump, as it were,” Kilcoyne said.

Transit officials spend more time these days looking to the future--the eventual addition of bus service to the Antelope Valley, expanding the local route system, a larger maintenance facility, a second Metrolink station in Newhall and a documented plan for expansion.

“I’d like to have a transit master plan that shows where we’re going to be 20 years from now and lays out the steppingstones to get there,” Kilcoyne said.

Santa Clarita budgeted $4.5 million for transit services this year, an amount that Kilcoyne says only covers existing costs--including $800,000 to pay back bonds issued to purchase the city’s 29 buses.

“The biggest challenge I see is how are we going to fund our future expansion if our existing funding sources aren’t meeting our needs,” Kilcoyne said.

Revenues from Propositions A and C sales tax measures are down because of the economy, and several proposals to expand the local bus routes were turned down last month by the regional Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

“We’ve come a long way, I think, in two years. We’re not sitting on our laurels, though. There’s a lot to be done, there’s a lot of growth to be financed,” Kilcoyne said.

An open house is scheduled 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the Santa Clarita Metrolink station, Soledad Canyon Road and Commuter Way, in honor of the transit program’s second birthday.