Mobile Home Park Will Regain Bus Stop

To the relief of senior citizens stranded at Country Estates Mobile Home Park in east Ventura without bus service, the City Council voted to extend Route 11 and put them back on the map.

The council also voted 4 to 3 Monday to approve an additional $217,199 to keep five bus routes running until 9 p.m. on weekdays for a 12-month trial period.

South Coast Area Transit will make a final decision on the council recommendations March 5. If SCAT approves the changes, they could take effect July 1.

Ventura contracts with SCAT to provide bus service for the city.

The mobile home park on Blackburn Road once had its own bus stop. But in 1990 the stop was moved down the road to the Clinicas Del Camino Real and residents were instead offered minivan services.

Known as SCAT access, the minivan service is available to seniors and handicapped residents under the Americans with Disabilities Act. It costs $4 each way, requires 24-hour advance notice, and arrives within 45 minutes of the requested time.

But many residents prefer a bus.

“We want our bus stop back,” Country Estates resident Russell Murawski told council members last night before their vote. “Many residents in the mobile park purchased their homes because there was a bus stop there.”

Murawski, who is blind, said that among the 17 mobile home parks in Ventura, Country Estates is the only one that does not have a bus stop within a block of residences.

“We consider it discrimination that we don’t have one,” he said.

The council also directed city staff to explore whether it would be less expensive to provide citywide service for those with disabilities rather than use the SCAT minivans.