Bus Rerouting Plan to Add Public’s Concerns : Transportation: Residents complain that a switch from current grid system to ‘hubs’ would inconvenience many.

A panel of community leaders persuaded transportation officials Saturday to incorporate more public concerns before they finalize a proposal to change the San Fernando Valley’s bus system for the first time in more than two decades.

The proposal would replace the traditional grid system of San Fernando Valley bus routes with a network of transit “hubs,” which transportation planners believe would better link commuters with key job and shopping destinations.

But homeowner group leaders attending Saturday’s workshop at the Encino Community Center could not agree on any aspects of the proposal, except that it should be revised.

“I just feel (the study) is grossly inadequate,” said Gerald Silver, president of the Homeowners of Encino.

Jerome Goodman, a member of Sylmar’s Community Planning Advisory Committee, criticized the proposal for eliminating bus service to Sylmar Juvenile Hall and not providing enough buses along Glenoaks and Foothill boulevards, key thoroughfares in the northeast Valley, where many transit-dependent people live.

“I can’t approve what your doing,” Goodman said. “You’ve made it worse in Sylmar.”

A few homeowner representatives suggested ways to improve the proposal. For instance, Wilford H. Ross, a member of the Van Nuys Homeowners Assn., suggested turning the abandoned General Motors plant in Van Nuys into a Park-and-Ride.

Attending the meeting to hear the comments and criticism were representatives from the three agencies that commissioned the $500,000 San Fernando Valley Transit Service Restructuring Study: the Los Angeles city Department of Transportation, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the county Department of Public Works.

The new scheme would eliminate the traditional grid bus system, establishing a hub-and-spoke pattern, with routes that would allow riders to travel on a single bus rather than transfer frequently, as now required. The study also calls for frequent shuttles to make short hops between and within communities.

Some of the hubs would be established at Metrolink stations in Burbank, Sylmar and Chatsworth, with a planned Red Line stop in Universal City. Other hubs would be located in central areas of Granada Hills, Sherman Oaks and Warner Center.

Silver of Encino said he was particularly concerned about how the community shuttle service would be designed, saying that it is essential that even those areas that now have low ridership continue to be served.

Russell Chisholm, manager of the yearlong study, said he would examine the concerns raised at Saturday’s meeting, along with 16 recommendations that arose during 11 other public workshops held since June 1.

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These suggestions included relocating the Granada Hills transit center to Cal State Northridge, establishing a North Hollywood Transit Center and adding service into Topanga Canyon.

“Part of the reason we are talking to the public is (the proposal is) not etched in stone,” Chisholm said. But, in the proposal’s defense, he added: “Overall, I feel very good about what we’ve got here. I’ve never seen a perfect system.”

Chisolm said he would send homeowner group leaders a revised version of the proposal within the next two weeks, with the public recommendations added.

Following the review by those leaders, a final draft of the proposal will be submitted to the boards of the three governmental agencies within the next six weeks. At that time, officials will have to consider financial limitations, such as MTA’s $126-million annual operating deficit.