Uneasy Riders

Trini Chaney’s reaction to the proposed reduction of bus service along Nordhoff Street was quick and easy.

“It’s ridiculous,” Chaney, 27, of Van Nuys, said while waiting for the No. 166 bus at Nordhoff and Reseda Boulevard. “This bus barely runs enough already.”

Chaney, as with bus riders and their advocates throughout Los Angeles, was less than thrilled with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s plans to reduce some off-peak bus service and raise rail fares 50 cents to help improve the struggling agency’s bottom line. It is tens of millions of dollars in the red.

So along Line 166, some bus riders may soon routinely experience one-hour waits, up from 30 minutes, between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.

“If anything, they should run more--every 20 minutes at least,” said Chaney, who was concerned about being late for work at a nearby department store Wednesday morning.

Gloria Cruz, 21, of Northridge, who was waiting with Chaney, could barely believe it.

“Oh, no,” said Cruz, who was headed for work at a fast-food restaurant. “Oh, my gosh.”

And those bus riders are not alone.

The Bus Riders Union, a civil rights group that previously sued the MTA seeking reforms, vowed to fight any service reductions. And City Councilman Hal Bernson, who has a field office at Nordhoff and Wilbur Avenue, wants data that detail the reasons for proposed reductions systemwide.

But MTA officials said the proposal, announced Nov. 10 by the agency’s chief executive, Julian Burke, concentrates on lightly used routes and should not cause alarm for most riders. It involves less than half of the MTA’s roughly 180 bus lines, and only about 10% of all riders.

Two dozen lines operate in the San Fernando Valley, and half would be changed, effective in April and June. One million people board MTA buses every day; 119,000 of them in the Valley.

“We’re looking at the potential to reduce duplication of service,” said Dana Woodbury, a deputy executive officer for the MTA. “Riders wouldn’t be abandoned.”

Woodbury said light usage generally was defined as fewer than 20 passenger boardings per hour along a given route. While the routes vary in distance, most are within a 10-to-20-mile range, he said.

“Twenty boardings an hour is very low demand for a fixed route service,” he said. “These lines were considerably below that.”

Alternatives for riders will include measures such as the so-called smart shuttles with flexible routes, which began operating in the northeast and West Valley in October.

Woodbury said riders generally would not be expected to walk more than a quarter mile from their normal stops to find an alternative that will meet their needs. For example, riders may need to walk a bit farther to use a parallel bus route, he said.

“It’ll be less convenient for them,” he said. “Apart from that, service will still be available.”

Indeed, some of the proposed reductions are so slight that waiting periods at bus stops would increase only by one minute--from about 10 minutes to 11 minutes.

But other planned changes, despite MTA contentions that reductions must be made because of light ridership, may irritate some riders.

On Balboa Boulevard, Line 236, weekend travelers would need to forget the bus altogether. The MTA plans to cut Saturday and Sunday service.

The same goes for anyone looking for a weekend bus on Tampa Avenue, Line 154, which would lose its Saturday service. It does not run on Sundays.

That type of change could cause problems for such people as Shankara Iyer, 70, of Northridge.

Iyer, sitting on a wooden bench near Tampa Avenue and Nordhoff Street, said he depends on buses a great deal, especially for shopping and visiting his daughter.

Without the No. 154 bus to move him along on weekends, he worried that he would end up spending far too much time on foot.

“It’s very hard for passengers,” said Iyer, who is retired. “MTA should not go on the basis of money. It should go for the convenience of passengers.”

Other proposed changes in the Valley include Line 94, where service would be reduced between the Sylmar Metrolink station and Olive View-UCLA Medical Center; Line 168 along Lassen Street, which would lose Saturday service; Line 201 in Glendale, which would lose Saturday and Sunday service; Route 239 (a branch of Line 230) along White Oak and Zelzah avenues and Rinaldi Street, which also would lose buses on Saturdays and Sundays.

Routes where bus riders would have to wait longer between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. include Lines 84 and 85 on the edge of Glendale, where wait times would increase from 8 minutes to 10 minutes, and Line 234 along Sepulveda and Brand boulevards and Sayre Street, where waits would increase from 25 to 30 minutes.

Riders on lines 420 through Los Angeles, Van Nuys and Panorama City; 424 through Canoga Park, Warner Center, Ventura Boulevard and Los Angeles, and 522 through Reseda and Ventura boulevards and Los Angeles would experience a one-minute increase in wait times, from 10 minutes to 11 minutes, during off-peak periods.

It is all necessary, MTA officials said, if the transit agency is to have any hope of eliminating a $50.6-million budget deficit.

The overhaul proposal announced by Burke also calls for raising MTA rail fares from $1.35 to $1.85, effective in April. A $15-per-month surcharge for use of rail service would be added for those purchasing $42 monthly bus passes.

“It’s driven by the bottom-line needs to reduce expenses,” Woodbury said.

But those needs create other problems.

“It’s going to be devastating for people,” said Martin Hernandez, an organizer for the Bus Riders Union. “We’re going to fight it.”

Hernandez said the proposal will be challenged in meetings with MTA officials as well as in court, if necessary. The nonprofit organization previously challenged the MTA in court by alleging that massive spending on rail projects diverted funds from low-income and minority bus riders.

In an October 1996 settlement, the MTA promised to reduce overcrowding, improve existing services and add new routes and more buses.

The settlement also prompted the MTA to freeze the $1.35 cash fare and the 90-cent token price for buses for two years, increase security, continue the sale of monthly passes for three years and cut their price from $49 to $42, and provide 15-day passes for $21 and weekly passes for $11.

Hernandez and supporters said that any fare increase, even on the rail service, seems to violate the consent decree.

Already, previous changes in services forced some bus riders onto the rail system, they said.

“Now they’re saying you’ve got to pay more money [to ride the rail],” Hernandez said. “That’s ridiculous.

Francine Oschin, a spokeswoman for Bernson, said that a review of the proposal is worthwhile even if the changes are “strictly an MTA call.”

“When you talk about cutting back service,” she said, “that’s a tremendous impact.”

There was no argument on that point from several Cal State Northridge students who use buses at all hours to get to classes, work and home.

“There are a lot of people who do take this bus,” said Vanessa Saenz, 18, of Arleta, a freshman at CSUN who was waiting for a westbound bus to her job at a candy store. “Right now I have to go to work. This bus is really convenient for me.”

Across the street, Elizabeth Lopez, 20, of North Hollywood, and Imelda Avila, 20, of Los Angeles, were waiting for an eastbound bus.

“It takes me an hour to get here,” said Lopez, a sophomore at CSUN. “I’d have to do everything much earlier. It’d be a big, big mess.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Cuts Planned for Valley Bus Service

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s proposal to help eliminate its $50.6 million deficit would mean reduced services on various routes in the San Fernando Valley. The MTA’s changes are expected to begin in April and June. They include:

Line 84 (Los Angeles/Cypress Avenue/Eagle Rock Boulevard) and Line 85 (Cypress Avenue/Verdugo Road): Increase wait time from 8 minutes to 10 minutes between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.

Line 94: Reduce service between the Sylmar Metrolink station and Olive View-UCLA Medical Center.

Line 154 (Tampa Avenue/Ventura Boulevard/Burbank Boulevard/Oxnard Street), and Line 168 (Lassen Street): Cancel Saturday service.

Line 166 (Nordhoff Street/Lankershim Boulevard): Increase wait time from 30 minutes to 60 minutes between 9 a.m and 3 p.m.

Line 168 (Lassen Street): Cancel Saturday service.

Line 201 (Silverlake Boulevard/Glendale), Line 236 (Balboa Boulevard/Woodley Avenue) and Route 239, a branch of Line 230, (White Oak Avenue/Zelzah Avenue/Rinaldi Street): Cancel Saturday and Sunday service.

Line 234 (Sepulveda Boulevard/Brand Boulevard/Sayre Street): Increase wait time from 25 minutes to 30 minutes between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.

Line 420 (Los Angeles/Van Nuys/Panorama City Express), Line 424 (Canoga Park-Warner Center/Ventura Boulevard/Los Angeles Express), and Line 522 (Reseda Boulevard/Ventura Boulevard/Los Angeles Express): Increase wait time from 10 minutes to 11 minutes between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.