Smart Shuttle System
Re “City Should Test-Drive Shuttle,” Ventura County editorial, Nov. 14.
While I agree that Thousand Oaks would be well served by a Smart Shuttle transportation system, your editorial contained some information about the Smart Shuttle Demonstration Project in the San Fernando Valley that was not factual and could be very misleading.
There are four separate Smart Shuttle projects in Los Angeles, two of which are located in the San Fernando Valley. Each project is run in a different manner and each project has met its own challenges.
My company operates the West Valley Smart Shuttle contract. The principal focus for the West Valley Smart Shuttle has been on developing methods for providing effective transit service to an area that is poorly served by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The project has been highly effective at doing this and, contrary to the perception left by your editorial, is doing it at cost levels up to 70% below MTA cost to serve the same communities.
The West Valley Smart Shuttle routes do not “wander off course” but rather are dispatched off course with the service of an advanced computerized dispatching system. Such diversions are made daily and have succeeded in improving mobility for many patrons who just can’t get to a bus stop. Any inability to book reservations has been the result of the system’s popularity and convenience, not because the service wasn’t well run.
The way to fix the reservations “problem” is to get the MTA to expand Smart Shuttle service so that it can meet all the demand that exists. It is a classic “win-win” proposition: the MTA would save millions by withdrawing its antiquated service and Smart Shuttle could meet the needs of every caller.
Looking at the facts and the entire picture of past experiences, Thousand Oaks officials would find that to attain the system you describe as desirable would require advanced scheduling technology, a technologically advanced phone system and the commitment of the city to support the demands such a service will entail.
CHARLES J. DEVLIN
R & D Transportation Services
Moorpark
