Commuter Decries Loss of Midday Bus Line to West L.A.

Dear Street Smart:

I reside in Van Nuys, near Van Nuys Airport. Since my car was totaled two years ago, I’ve been totally dependent on the bus system. When I have midday business to conduct in West Los Angeles, I’ve been taking the Commuter Express bus, Line 573. It serves the central San Fernando Valley, taking riders to Westwood and Century City.

As of Dec. 6, the Los Angeles Department of Transportation has cut this service without so much as a public notice or a hearing.

I feel that the Department of Transportation is not adequately serving the public. I’d like to see the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which operates most of the Los Angeles area’s buses, take Commuter Express away from the city and run it themselves.

Kym Richards

Van Nuys

Dear Reader:

Your frustration is understandable, but don’t count on the MTA to come to the rescue anytime soon. The agency has no plans to take over any Commuter Express runs, says Rick Jager, an MTA spokesman.

The MTA was formed in April through a merger of the Southern California Rapid Transit District and the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission. In 1991, the commission gave the city money to launch four new commuter bus lines connecting the Valley with other areas.

Your bus, the 573, was one of these, and it continues to be subsidized largely by the MTA.

The original plan called for runs in both directions between West Los Angeles and the Valley every 20 minutes during rush hour periods and every 50 minutes during the midday hours, says Philip Aker, supervising transportation planner for the city’s Department of Transportation.

But eventually, the city found that most Line 573 riders were Valley folks who needed a lift to and from their jobs over the hill. Few West Los Angeles residents were taking the bus to the Valley. Also, midday runs weren’t attracting many riders--sometimes fewer than 10 per trip, says Aker.

Recently, the MTA, grappling with a $126-million budget deficit, asked the city to cut costs on Commuter Express runs, including the 573. “In reviewing this particular line and the ridership, particularly during the midday, the demand just wasn’t there to justify the expenditure,” says Jager of the MTA.

The city preserved the morning and evening 573 runs that are most heavily used by Valley residents. But midday service from the Valley and some runs geared to West Los Angeles residents were halted this month.

A week before this occurred, notices were given to bus riders, Aker says. Apparently, you didn’t receive one. No public hearing was needed because this line is still considered a “demonstration” run.

Until more transit money turns up, the midday 573 runs probably won’t resume. “We can’t carry cab-size loads in a full-size bus,” says Aker.

Dear Street Smart:

Please help me understand why I have to stop at all three traffic lights near the place where Alameda Avenue splits off from Riverside Drive in Burbank.

I often drive east on Riverside Drive from Toluca Lake to visit a friend in Burbank. Every time I make this trip, I have to stop at the signals at Riverside and Rose Street, then Riverside and Alameda and finally at Alameda and Pass Avenue.

These three intersections are extremely close together. Why, oh, why were the signals set up to give you one red light after another?

Genia Shipman

Studio City

Dear Reader:

Yours is not the first complaint that Burbank has received about these signals.

Part of the problem stems from a realignment of this intersection that Burbank completed earlier this year. The project required the installation of a new signal at Riverside and Alameda.

Responding to a complaint similar to yours, the city’s traffic experts took a look last week at the lights you mentioned. They decided that you’re right--the signals do need some adjustment.

“We will try to get it synchronized so that traffic will be a little more free-flowing,” promises Michael Moss, a member of the city’s traffic engineering staff.

Dear Street Smart:

Who can I talk to about changing the timing on a traffic signal? It only needs about five more seconds of green-light time.

I’m concerned about the signal at the corner of Avenue San Luis and Mulholland Drive, just south of the Ventura Freeway at the west end of Woodland Hills.

If you’re driving east on the Ventura Freeway, the Valley Circle Drive-Mulholland Drive exit empties onto Avenue San Luis. You must then turn right and drive a short distance to the signal at Mulholland.

Between 7:30 and 8:30 a.m., this off-ramp backs up simply because the signal on Avenue San Luis is so short. Sometimes only about three cars get through the intersection.

What makes it worse is that some drivers heading south from Valley Circle will “fudge” through the intersection on a red light as they turn left to get to the freeway. That further decreases the green-light time for westbound drivers on Avenue San Luis who are waiting to go straight through the intersection.

Shirley Bavero

Agoura Hills

Dear Reader:

We referred your complaint to the Los Angeles Department of Transportation, which is in charge of this signal. Brian Gallagher, a city transportation engineer, checked it out. His findings are not likely to brighten your day.

The timing of this light is controlled by sensors in the roadway, Gallagher says. These devices allocate green-light time based on the number of vehicles lined up in each direction. “Every 90 seconds, the signal timing is updated to changing traffic demands,” he says.

During Gallagher’s visit, the greatest number of vehicles were heading south on Valley Circle, waiting to turn left to get on the freeway. As a result, that side of the intersection got the most green-light time. If the signal was set up to benefit more drivers on Avenue San Luis, an even larger backup would occur on Valley Circle, Gallagher says.

To avoid this troublesome corner, Gallagher suggests you exit the freeway a bit farther west at Parkway Calabasas and use surface streets.

If you’re patient, however, there are major road improvements on the horizon. In about a year, Gallagher says, Caltrans plans to reconstruct the Valley Circle-Mulholland interchange. The on- and off-ramps along Avenue San Luis will be removed, and traffic should begin to move much more smoothly through this intersection.