Bus Riders Give Metrolink a Try : Transit: New passengers stranded by strike are enamored with the trains. But for many, the comfort is a luxury they can hardly afford.

Up and down Van Nuys Boulevard, the corners were knotted with people waiting for buses that never came, but aboard the quiet, almost antiseptic cars of Metrolink Line 104, the third day of a citywide bus strike passed Wednesday with hardly a mention.

To regular passengers--with their crisp collars and Wall Street Journals, their knitting needles and Walkmans--the bus strike meant simply a few new faces at the station, a few more people fumbling with the ticket machines.

But to dozens of stranded bus riders, a trip on the Downtown-bound Metrolink was a first glimpse at a transit system where the windows are not scratched by graffiti, the seats don’t smell and the ride is not quite so bumpy.

“I rode the bus, but I am not going back,” said John Stephens of Panorama City as he waited at the Van Nuys Metrolink station for the 7:23 a.m. train. “I am sick and tired of hitting every (bus) stop. Sometimes the air conditioner works, sometimes it doesn’t. But this is slick. There are two stops between here and Downtown.”

Stephens’ employer pays for most of his bus pass and would put the same amount toward a train pass. The few extra dollars he would have to kick in might well be worth the cost, he said.

Yet for many of the regular bus riders, the comfort of a Metrolink ride is a luxury they can hardly afford. The round-trip ride between Van Nuys and Downtown, for instance, costs $8--compared to about $3 for the bus.

“Oh, it’s wonderful, but the cost is prohibitive,” said Jacqueline Spoonts of Panorama City, explaining that she will return to the buses when the strike is over.

Metrolink officials said ridership on the Ventura County-Los Angeles line has increased 20% since the bus strike began Monday. The Santa Clarita-Los Angeles line increased about 6%. Other lines from San Bernardino, Riverside and Orange County were not affected by the strike.

Whether Metrolink will be able to maintain those gains after the strike remains to be seen.

The demographics of Metrolink ridership differ sharply from those of bus riders. Metrolink riders tend to be affluent suburban professionals while bus riders tend to be poorer workers, according to surveys conducted by the Southern California Regional Rail Authority and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

For nearly all Metrolink riders, taking public transit is a choice. For most bus riders, it is a necessity. Metrolink riders praise the train’s efficiency, but say they do not consider themselves dependent on transit.

Those survey results were validated as Line 104 hurtled silently past the warehouses and factories north of Downtown, when several riders were asked what they would do if Metrolink locomotive engineers went on strike.

“I would have to drive in,” said Steve Maggi, who lives in Oxnard and works in Burbank.

“Then I would just drive,” said Melanie Polk, who also lives in Oxnard and works in Los Angeles.

“It would be miserable, but I guess I would drive,” said Tim Trombly, who lives in Panorama City and works Downtown.

“You could call in sick,” volunteered Stephens, the regular bus rider from Panorama City.

But for Stephens and other bus riders, like Michael Taylor of South-Central Los Angeles, transit strikes are a real concern. “I’ve been stuck all week,” said Taylor, riding a special train between Downtown and his job in Burbank, added during the strike. “It’s been a problem, but you have to deal with it.”

Marta Rodriguez was trying to deal with it, but she kept shaking her head at the cost. “This is comfortable, but the price is too much,” said Rodriguez, on her way to Van Nuys to visit a friend. “You would end up working just for train fare.”