Ventura Extends Cooperative Deal for Intercity Transit

The City Council on Monday approved the extension of a cooperative agreement with neighboring cities to provide intercity transportation services through June.

The agreement with Camarillo, Oxnard, Thousand Oaks, the county of Ventura and the Ventura County Transportation Commission will complete the final year of a demonstration program known as the Ventura Intercity Service Transit Authority (VISTA) Highway 101 program.

VISTA has been operating with no signed agreement for the last six months, while member agencies struggled to reach a consensus on new language for this year.

Started in 1994 as a demonstration program to provide intercity transit services to residents all over the county, VISTA has been funded mainly with federal air-quality grants. The remainder was paid for by each local agency.

The 1996-97 fiscal year is the final year of the program. The Ventura County Transportation Commission will consider in April whether it will continue the service.

Should Ventura continue to participate in the program after this fiscal year, city staff members estimate, the price will go from $12,372 to about $25,000.

Most of the money has come from federal grants but will no longer be available in the future. Instead, money would come from federal Transportation Development Act funds.