Hourly Bus Service to Link Ventura and Santa Barbara

After years of complaints and requests, Ventura County transportation officials have negotiated a deal to establish the first regular bus service between Ventura and Santa Barbara.

The three-year pilot project is scheduled to begin next year, officials said. The program will cost $2.1 million, which will be paid for with state transportation funds.

The future of the bus program, which would provide hourly service between the two cities, will depend on whether there is enough ridership at the end of the three-year period to justify its continued operation, officials said.

“We have had request for service in the past but this year it escalated to a point and Santa Barbara contacted us this year as well,” said Maureen Hooper Lopez, director of transit programs for the Ventura County Transportation Commission.

The exact route has not been determined. But officials said the bus would likely connect Santa Barbara’s transportation center with either the Ventura County Government Center or the Pacific View Mall.

There is concern, however, that a connection at the mall could pose parking problems for the shopping center, Hooper Lopez said.

“We know how sensitive the mall is about having enough parking spaces, so maybe we would need a stop at both places,” Hooper Lopez said.

One Simi Valley resident said he welcomed the new service to Santa Barbara, but complained that the county’s regular bus service is far from adequate. He said more stops and more frequent service are needed throughout the county.

“They need to make a commitment to public transit and right now it’s being cheated,” said Aaron Hanson, who is also president of a county bicycle coalition. “It is not good policy to make this area more like L.A.”

The county’s bus service is not likely to improve much any time soon. The Transportation Commission’s staff has rejected public requests for additional service after it was deemed unreasonable or unnecessary. The staff’s recommendations will be presented to the commission on May 5.

The staff is recommending that only $130,000 of $20 million from the state be used for new bus services next fiscal year, with most of the money going toward road repairs. This money would be devoted to expanding two bus routes already in existence, one of which was requested by 94 people and the other close to 200. Both services would start in July.

The first program would increase service along California 126 to reduce the passenger load on buses serving the Government Center and Ventura College. The second program would add Saturday bus service to Moorpark College, the Thousand Oaks Library and the Oaks and Janss Mall.

Most requests for increased or additional bus service were turned down. For example, one request that was rejected was for a bus route between the Point Mugu naval base and the Camarillo Premium Outlet Shopping Center.

It was denied because it would not have the necessary number of riders and was deemed to be in response to “a future rather than existing need,” as stated in the criteria for funding.

“I can understand why the public may not like what they hear,” Hooper Lopez said. “From their perspective, they know what they want. But what they want doesn’t meet the criteria we have to follow.”

The criteria the Transportation Commission follows are set up by the commission and vary from county to county. They stipulate that increased services must not reduce riders on existing routes, must be in response to a present--rather than future--need and must be able to generate at least 20% of the money necessary to fund the service.

Although Ventura County spends less than half of the available money for transit, other counties, such as San Luis Obispo, spend almost all of it on public transportation.

According to that county’s staff reports, Morro Bay, San Luis Obispo and Atascadero have used 100% of their funds for transit in previous years.

Art Kinne, a resident of Silver Crest Senior apartments in east Ventura, requested bus service to his apartment complex. The commission staff denied the request, saying the additional time needed to get to the complex would cause buses to miss their connections.

“Therein lies the deficiency,” Kinne said. “They are doing nothing for east Ventura people to get to the redeveloped downtown and midtown. It’s like they are sticking their head in the sand about providing for the seniors in this county.”