Antelope Valley Transit OKs Century City Commuter Bus

Directors of a local transit agency voted Monday to restore bus service to Century City on Aug. 22, responding to complaints from commuters after the line was stopped last month.

The Antelope Valley Transit Authority (AVTA) halted commuter buses to Century City in early July because of low ridership and the loss of a federal earthquake relief subsidy. The decision came under fire at a July 25 meeting, when a small group of Century City commuters urged the AVTA’s three-member board of directors to reconsider.

These passengers proposed route changes and marketing ideas to boost ridership.

At a special meeting Monday, the AVTA staff endorsed these proposals, and the board voted unanimously to reinstate one weekday bus to Century City.

“We’re terribly delighted and excited and happy,” said Billie Dickey, a Pearblossom resident who works as a legal secretary in Century City.

She said the commuter bus will attract more people, now that its route has changed to serve other large employers such as UCLA and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

In addition, she predicted that more people will give up their car-pool or van-pool seats now that bus service is guaranteed through June 30.

“We’re very confident of our numbers,” Dickey said. “We think they’ll be into a second bus.”

AVTA, which also operates local buses and commuter service to Downtown Los Angeles, launched the Century City service in April. The Federal Emergency Management Agency paid most of the cost to help commuters hampered by freeways damaged in the Jan. 17 earthquake.

But the Antelope Valley agency ended the service when the federal money ran out. The bus service was attracting only 12 to 15 riders a day.

“Tax money is getting more and more difficult to come by,” said Bill Budlong, AVTA’s executive director. “We can’t keep expanding transit programs if we can’t identify a pretty good return from the fare box.”

The restored service will need 35 passengers a day to break even, Budlong said. But the agency has agreed to subsidize the bus while it builds its ridership. The bus will tentatively leave Lancaster at 6 a.m., stop in Palmdale 10 minutes later and arrive at Century City and Cedars-Sinai about two hours after that.

To attract new passengers, the service will be free between Aug. 22 and Aug. 31. Then the fares will be $190 for a monthly pass.