Agoura Hills : Panel Discontinues Vista East Bus Line

A bus line running from Ventura County to Westlake Village and Agoura Hills will be discontinued Feb. 1 by the Ventura County Transportation Commission, which started the line on an experimental basis in 1994.

The Vista East line has not carried enough riders to justify the project, said Mary Travis, manager of the Transportation Commission’s transit program. The line to be discontinued runs from Moorpark through Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village, Agoura Hills and Oak Park.

In July 1994, the commission received a $1.5-million federal grant to try new services, Travis said. The agency set up four express bus routes and two dial-a-ride services.

It was hoped, Travis said, that Ventura County residents would use the Vista East line to commute to work in Agoura Hills and Westlake Village. Those two cities, she said, helped fund the line, contributing $8,000 between them.

Travis said that ridership was especially low in Agoura Hills and Westlake Village, where the line will probably not be missed because many people use dial-a-ride. Notices that the line would be discontinued have been placed on buses, and to date, Travis said, there have been no complaints.