Low Ridership

I want to respond to the article (“Low Ridership Plagues New Transit Service,” Sept. 7). When I first heard about VISTA, I was excited because I thought that I could finally do my part by using alternative transportation.

I looked at the schedule in the newspaper and began to chart the route I would take to get to work. My current commute is 34 miles round-trip and takes a total of 45 minutes per day. Under the VISTA system, my total commute time would be more than four hours per day.

Coming home is worse: It would be 7 p.m. by the time I would get home, and the commute would take 2 1/2 hours. Why would I want to do this?

This is one example of why the ridership may be low. I support public transportation, and I car pool as much as possible. But it is unreasonable to give up that many hours a day.

JAN R. GILMORE

Moorpark

It should be pretty obvious why VISTA ridership is so low: It takes far longer to get from point A to point B than it would in a car.

After I studied the routes and the time to get me from my home in Moorpark to my office in Ventura, I determined that it would take--one way--1 hour and 45 minutes. I could spend three to four hours a day commuting, and bureaucrats wonder why ridership is low? It’s not fast, stupid.

If VISTA’s purpose is to get people somewhere quickly, why not treat it truly as an express service? Get the people from major point A to B in the same time it would take if they were driving their own cars. For example, one could board the bus at the Moorpark train station and go directly to the Buenaventura Mall in Ventura for connecting intercity service to one’s work. If VISTA delivered you to work in an hour or less, ridership may improve.

My suggestions are as follows:

* Instead of spending lots of money on a media blitz, find out who your potential customers could be. Do some marketing, poll the community and find out what the community needs and if a ridership really exists.

* Direct service between major cities at peak hours. Why not have a truly direct express service between cities at 6, 7, 8 and 9 a.m. and 3, 4, 5, 6 p.m.? It has to be convenient and fast.

* How about smaller buses like the airport shuttles that run on propane? Maybe if the rider was to get between point A and B faster, one would not need a toilet on a bus.

* Improve on Metrolink. I discovered, to my disappointment, Metrolink is designed only to get riders to and from L.A. during peak hours. Try to incorporate an intra-county rail system within the Metrolink system to serve intra-county commuters needing to go the other way (i.e. Moorpark, Camarillo, Oxnard, Ventura).

VISTA’s fare of $1 is a lot of bang for the buck. Make it faster and the riders will come.

ROBERT A. DELLAERTMoorpark