County Expected to Renew Bus Funding

The County Board of Supervisors will determine the fate of several bus routes Tuesday.

The board will vote whether to continue spending $20,000 annually to provide bus service from Ojai to the unincorporated area of Meiners Oaks and whether to extend agreements with local cities to maintain VISTA buses to Ventura County cities along Highways 101 and 126.

Based on a 1995 agreement, the city of Ojai funds all costs for its bus service within city limits, while the county subsidizes a route that extends to Meiners Oaks.

Local transportation officials expect the Ojai funds to be renewed.

“This is a pretty popular service and the board has been supportive in the past, so I expect them to pass it,” said Butch Britt, deputy director of public works.

Since 1994, the county has had an agreement with Ventura, Oxnard, Camarillo and Thousand Oaks to share the costs of VISTA, which travels between those cities on Highway 101.

The county also has combined with Fillmore, Santa Paula and Ventura to fund buses that use Highway 126 and stop in each of those cities.

Based on previous years, the two routes are estimated to cost in the range of $125,000 to $150,000 total, county officials said.

Officials believe the VISTA agreements will also be approved.

“All issues regarding VISTA have been resolved with the board, so I’m pretty sure they will go ahead with the agreements,” said Ventura County Transportation Commission Executive Director Ginger Gherardi.