Council to Study Bus Service Changes

The Ventura City Council will consider Monday whether to extend evening bus service and whether to modify a bus route through east Ventura.

Under a draft plan released earlier this year, the South Coast Area Transit agency outlined three alternatives for bus service in Ventura.

In keeping with one of the SCAT proposals, Ventura city staff members are recommending that Route 16 service, which runs from Ojai to Main Street, be extended until 9 p.m. That way it can link with Route 6, which runs from Oxnard to Main Street and currently stops at 8:45 p.m.

Nazir Lalani, Ventura’s transportation engineer, says Route 6 has one of the highest fare box ratios in the city. SCAT wants to extend service on lines where people ride the most because it costs between $120,000 and $130,000 a year to run one bus.

After a vigorous council discussion in November, staff members are also recommending that the city modify Route 10 in east Ventura to reinstate a stop at Country Estates Mobile Home Park on Blackburn Road. Reinstatement of that stop would help many senior citizens and others who are eligible for public minivan transportation under the Americans With Disabilities Act but prefer not to use that service.

The new stop would provide easier access for patients of the nearby Clinicas Del Camino Real on Wells Road and the mobile home park.

In addition, council members will discuss whether it would be cheaper to provide citywide service for those with disabilities, rather than using the current SCAT Access minivan services for those riders. Oxnard is considering a similar plan, Lalani said.

The SCAT board will make a final decision March 5.