Good to Go

With the final phase completed, a public transit hub here becomes the largest such facility in the San Fernando Valley.

The 5.2-acre Sylmar/San Fernando Intermodal Transit Hub offers a variety of transportation services, including Metrolink commuter rail, Metropolitan Transportation Authority regional buses, Los Angeles Department of Transportation commuter express buses and the privately run Smart Shuttle.

The $6-million hub, located on Frank Modugno Drive, also has bike lockers and racks, private taxis on demand, transportation services for the handicapped, a child-care center with room for 75 kids, and 380 free parking spaces for commuters who drive to the station.

“It offers residents complete transportation services,” said LADOT spokeswoman Helene Jacobs. “There is a similar center in Chatsworth, but Sylmar has by far the largest bus transit center.”

The station’s first phase, the Metrolink station, opened in 1994, and the second phase, the child-care center, opened two years later.

This month, the final phase, a bus transit layover area, was completed. The one-acre addition has spaces for 11 buses, a bridge for the buses to exit and a passenger boarding area.

Construction on the last phase took about eight months and cost a little more than $1 million, Jacobs said. It was funded by an MTA grant and Proposition C, a half-cent sales tax passed in 1990 to develop rail transportation, subsidize bus operations, build carpool lanes and provide other highway-related transit improvements.

Jacobs said the only other facility in Los Angeles that supports the same number of transportation services as Sylmar/San Fernando is downtown L.A.’s Union Station.

On Tuesday morning, Sylmar commuters complimented the hub’s latest addition, saying it has brought much-needed organization to the station’s bus system.

“The bus service is so much better now,” said Jose Valencia, a construction worker who takes Metrolink from his Lancaster home each morning.

“I take different buses all the time and before they were just stationed outside on the street, so it was easy to miss them. Now, there’s an actual station for them and it’s much better.”

The Valley’s next transit center is scheduled for Warner Center in Woodland Hills, but it won’t be as large as Sylmar/San Fernando, Jacobs said, because it won’t offer rail service.

In November, the Los Angeles City Council approved the use of federal money for construction on part of the West Valley center, which is expected to cost $4 million and feature regional and local bus service.