New Shuttle Lines Planned for Commuters

Two new commuter shuttle lines in the San Fernando Valley are among five new routes being started throughout the Los Angeles basin by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in an effort to prompt more commuters to get out of their cars.

The routes--one that will run in a circular pattern around West Hills and another from Sylmar and Pacoima to Chatsworth--are scheduled to start in January.

Teresa Moren, director of the MTA’s corporate transit partnership, said the idea is to get away from traditional transit systems that concentrated on transferring suburban white-collar professionals to jobs downtown.

Instead, she said, the shuttles will transport many manufacturing workers to jobs in the suburbs.

“It’s kind of a reverse commute serving a blue-collar population,” Moren said.

Ken Coleman, an MTA account executive, said the shuttles will be “22-passenger, van-type shuttles, like you see at the airports” and will run about every half an hour during rush hours.

Cost of riding the shuttles is expected to be $1.50 each way or about $54 for a monthly pass. Employers are expected to subsidize fares for many of their employees. The shuttles will run on fixed routes. Planned shuttle hours are 6 to 9 a.m., and 3 to 7 p.m., weekdays only.

Eventually, Coleman said, the shuttles will provide a critical link in a network of services to include Metrolink trains and park-and-ride lots. Some commuters from Santa Clarita and beyond may be among those boarding the shuttles after stepping off trains, he said.

Coleman said the MTA has been working about three years to secure funding for the shuttle service from the Federal Highway Administration and other sources.

The federal government has provided a $695,000 grant for the Chatsworth shuttle and a $195,000 grant for the West Hills shuttle. Funding for continued operation of the shuttles will be reviewed in 1995, Moren said.

These Metrolink shuttle routes will run on a test basis from January, 1994, to June, 1995. Both shuttles will be evaluated after that time. The Chatsworth line will begin Jan. 17, 1994. The West Hills shuttle will begin Jan. 31, 1994.