Downey Will Give Bus Line a Trial Run : Transit: Council votes to spend $458,000 for intra-city minivan service despite forecasts that the pilot program will not be fully utilized.

An experimental intra-city bus line will begin in Downey this spring despite a recent report that said few residents use public transportation already available.

City Council members recently allocated $458,000 in state transportation funds to pay for the pilot program, a four-route system that will use minivans to haul riders within the 12.7-square-mile city.

The city’s newest bus line will be evaluated after a year, said James Jarrett, director of community services. The city signed a one-year contract with Mayflower Contract Services Inc., which will provide the vehicles and the drivers.

“I’m just glad that we are finally going to try (the buses),” Jarrett said. “We’ll wait to see if (the new line) gets used or not, then make a decision on its future.”

Transportation consultants hired by the city last year found that just 12% of Downey’s 91,444 residents use public transportation such as Metropolitan Transportation Authority buses, Dial-A-Ride services for senior citizens and special services for youth and handicapped riders.

The consultants estimated that the new line would probably attract an average of 14 to 19 riders per hour, or fewer than five riders per vehicle. The minivans can carry up to 20 passengers.

“The (ridership) predictions look questionable,” Councilwoman Barbara J. Riley said. “I don’t want to spend a fortune on a system that is not going to be used. I’d rather give out vouchers for taxis--it’s much cheaper.”

Still, Riley and three others on the council said they were willing to give the bus system a trial run. Despite the dismal ridership figures, Riley said she thinks there is a need for low-cost transportation within the city limits.

“The MTA runs in and out of the city, but you can’t really get around unless you have a car,” she said.

Councilman Gary P. McCaughan voted against the new bus line, preferring instead to sell the transportation funds to another city, which would yield about 50 cents on the dollar.

“I’m not saying that public transit isn’t important,” McCaughan said. “But it is something we can wait on. I think we could have used the money to get us through these lean times.”

The money comes from Proposition A, the half-cent sales tax initiative that voters approved in the early 1980s. Since 1982, Downey has received about $1 million each year for transportation, paying for Dial-A-Ride and other transportation-related services.

The proposed bus service drew mixed responses from Downey residents in a survey last year by two transportation consultants, Santa Ana-based DAVE Transportation Services Inc. and Claremont-based A-M-M-A.

Although most respondents said they would welcome the bus, others said that by providing low-cost transportation, the city would attract more “non-English-speaking” residents and those who are “unemployed and homeless.”

Others said they feared that the new bus line would bring higher taxes. Some said the city isn’t big enough to have its own bus line. “Downey is so small,” wrote one resident, “we can walk to almost anywhere we need to go.”

Officials said they hope some Downey residents who also work in the city will use the new bus service. About 25% of the Downey work force lives in the city, according to the 1990 census.

Officials are also counting on members of one-car families, who make up more than half the city’s residents, to use the minivans for shopping and other errands. The final destination point for each of the bus routes is the Stonewood Shopping Center

The vans will run Monday through Friday from 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. beginning April 1. The fare will be 25 cents per ride.