Pipeline Rupture Sidelines SCAT Buses

About 4,500 riders in Ventura County were stranded Tuesday when a gas pipeline rupture left South Coast Area Transit buses unable to refuel.

A mudslide near Fillmore broke the pipeline that SCAT uses to fuel its 46 buses, which run on compressed natural gas, said Laura Caskey, director of planning and marketing for the transit agency.

The pipeline will take four to six weeks to repair, Caskey said. Meanwhile, the transit agency intends to borrow diesel buses from neighboring counties and run limited service in western Ventura County, including the cities of Ojai, Ventura, Oxnard and Port Hueneme.

It was the first time in 32 years of operation that SCAT has been forced to completely halt bus service, Caskey said.

The disruption resulted in hundreds of phone calls to the transit agency’s headquarters in Oxnard.

“We are doing what we can to get service back on the road as quickly as possible,” Caskey said.

Starting today, SCAT will run its Sunday schedule throughout the week, with 18 buses running on 10 of SCAT’s 14 routes. Passengers need to consult the Sunday schedule to determine when buses will run.

Caskey said the agency hopes to borrow enough buses to restore regular service before the pipeline is repaired. It takes 38 buses to run regular weekday service.

For more information, call SCAT at (805) 487-4222 or (805) 643-3158, or visit the agency’s website at www.scat.org.