Bus Riders Tire of Musical Chairs : Transit: High desert agency adds vehicles to crowded commuter lines. Patrons had staged protest, saying that they were being left behind.

As if rising before the sun each weekday for work isn’t bad enough, for Regina Cross and the 400 other daily commuters from the Antelope Valley it sometimes gets worse. Commuters are sometimes forced in the pre-dawn light to scramble for a way to get to work when their usual ride--an Antelope Valley Transit Authority commuter bus--leaves them behind.

And even if they are successful in securing a seat to the Los Angeles Basin, the commuters are not always so fortunate in getting aboard on the way home.

The Antelope Valley’s 16-month-old public bus agency has found its commuter service to be so popular that with increasing frequency potential riders are being left behind in the morning when the last buses depart the Palmdale park-and-ride lot and head to destinations in the San Fernando Valley and downtown Los Angeles.

There are also days, though less frequent, when riders are left behind when the last bus leaves in the evening to return to the Antelope Valley. The situation became so problematic for AVTA that the agency was forced to initiate a “We Won’t Strand You” policy, guaranteeing a ride home to any rider who can’t fit on the last bus. The guarantee has its downside, since the stranded riders must wait downtown after dark while a van is driven from the Antelope Valley to get them.

Commuter bus riders, deciding enough was enough, made certain their concerns were heard by staging a protest at AVTA offices last weekend. About 15 people showed up at the demonstration, which apparently had an impact.

On Thursday, the three-member transit agency board held a special meeting and agreed to add an additional bus--for a total of five--to its San Fernando Valley line as well as one to its downtown route, which will then have eight daily buses. The additional buses, which will be leased, may be in service as soon as Nov. 1.

“That will help,” said Cross, a Lancaster resident who has taken an AVTA bus to her downtown work site the past three months. “That’s all we were asking for. I’m glad that they’re finally starting to listen to us.”

Some riders object to bus seats being occupied by those making pleasure trips and not commuting to jobs.

Cross and other regular bus riders have asked AVTA to give priority seating to people who buy monthly passes, but transit officials said federal law prohibits the agency from doing so.

The problem of too many riders and not enough bus seats has cropped up several times since AVTA, a joint powers authority of the cities of Lancaster, Palmdale and Los Angeles County, took over the local bus service. The number of riders has increased from about 200 each way to nearly 400.

“There’s just been a tremendous growth in our ridership,” said Bill Budlong, AVTA executive director.

The agency has previously added buses as well as adjusted its schedule to better meet the needs of its commuter riders, he said.

“I think it’s a continuing demand we’ll see because the area we’re in,” board Chairman Leroy Harrington said. “I think we owe and we’re expected to provide this service.”

Commuters have warned that they will stop riding if there is continued uncertainty about securing a seat on AVTA buses.

Besides leasing two additional commuter buses, AVTA directors agreed Thursday to have grab rails installed in all its commuter buses so that riders would be able to stand during the ride if there are no seats available. Directors admitted, however, that riders may be reluctant to stand for the long rides.

Marlene Foreman, a longtime bus rider, said, “I think what they really need is competition.”