Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Bus Ridership Grows 57%, Tops in Survey

City bus ridership grew by more than half in 1993, giving Santa Clarita the highest percentage growth rate of about 180 similar systems nationwide, according to a national trade group.

Santa Clarita Transit logged slightly more than 1 million passenger trips in 1993, up from about 643,000 in 1992. The 57% jump was the largest among local bus systems documented by the American Public Transit Assn. for that year.

The ridership surge topped growth by the small Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District in Portland, Ore., that increased 51.5% and Transfort in Fort Collins, Colo., that increased 40% to 1.1 million rides.

About 40% of the added local ridership are youths, many of whom were seeking an alternative to a $200 annual fee charged by the William S. Hart Union High School District for riding school buses. The annual fee began with the 1992-93 school year.

Otherwise, city transit officials attributed the increase to several bus system changes, including the printing of a timetable that lists all city routes, allowing free transfers up to 90 minutes after a one-way pass is bought and schedule adjustments to accommodate the Metrolink commuter rail station in Saugus.

Several other Southern California bus systems are listed in the association’s 1993 ridership report as well.

Foothill Transit in Los Angeles showed a 10.6% growth rate over 1992 to 9.9 million passenger trips and Long Beach Transit grew 2.5% to nearly 23.5 million, while Culver City Municipal Bus Lines remained steady with fewer than 3.9 million trips.

Other regional bus systems registered declining ridership, including Montebello Municipal Bus Lines, shrinking 8.2% to 5.4 million passenger trips; Orange County Transportation Authority, shrinking 7.5% to 42 million, and Los Angeles’ Metropolitan Transportation Authority, shrinking 7.3% to 370.1 million.

Santa Clarita took over local bus routes from Los Angeles County in August, 1991.