Funding Proposed for Thousand Oaks Transit Center

Thousand Oaks’ efforts to build a transportation center uniting bus, taxi and airport shuttle services in one spot could get a $1.2-million boost from the federal government.

The House subcommittee that oversees transportation spending has recommended funding the proposed center, Rep. Anthony C. Beilenson, a Democrat representing the Conejo Valley, announced Wednesday.

“I am very pleased that the subcommittee agreed to my request and placed a high priority on helping Thousand Oaks with this project,” he said in a statement. “Public and private bus services and taxi cabs currently operate from several locations, and this one facility serving as the city’s main transfer center would improve the mobility of transit users.”

Thousand Oaks, acting through the county’s transportation commission, had requested $2.4 million for the project, said Roy Myers, a transportation analyst with the city. “We received about half of what we asked for,” he said, “but it’s money.”

Myers said the center would cost as much as $3 million in land acquisition and construction and take about two years to build. The city has secured about $300,000 from the state and $264,000 from the federal government.

Discussed by the city for more than five years, the center remains far from a reality. No site has been selected and no station design has been chosen, said Don Nelson, the city’s public works director.

Even the funding announced Wednesday remains just a possibility. The subcommittee’s recommendations must now gain the approval of the House Appropriations Committee, both the House and the Senate, and President Clinton. The process could take until October, Beilenson’s office said.

Still, city officials welcomed the news. “There was no certainty, there still is no absolute certainty, but we’re in a much better light today than yesterday,” Nelson said.