Thousand Oaks : Holiday Bus Hours Extended, Fares Cut

Hoping to nudge holiday shoppers out of their cars and into public transportation, Thousand Oaks officials have boosted bus hours and cut fees through Christmas Eve.

The red, white and blue Thousand Oaks Transit buses will run Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. And on weekdays, the buses will run an extra hour and a half until 8 p.m. As an added incentive, council members agreed to cut fares to 25 cents a ride.

For those who really, really love to shop, a shuttle will run between The Oaks mall and Janss Mall every hour the centers are open through Dec. 26--for a fee of 15 cents a trip.

Also, the city’s subsidized taxi service will extend its hours to 6:30 p.m. on weekdays through Friday.

Last holiday season, the extended shuttle hours served 788 passengers, according to transportation analyst Roy Myers. He predicted that subsidizing the extra hours this year will cost the city about $4,000.

But on the plus side, the move would free up parking space, cut air pollution, reduce driver stress and introduce more residents to the city’s transportation service, he said.