Transit debating some cuts to Downtown LA routes  

A city bus returns from its morning route at the Transit Maintenance Facility on Constellation Road. Gilbert Bernal \ The Signal
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Santa Clarita Transit officials shared some good news recently after residents came to City Hall asking the city not to cut its downtown bus routes. 

Residents noted that safety and sanitation issues were among the top of their concerns in terms of what would happen if all their local options for downtown travel went away. 

The Metro alternative doesn’t provide the same level of security, which is especially important for potentially vulnerable commuters in the evening time, according to public comments given during a June 11 City Council meeting. 

The discussion began last year as the city started to evaluate its Transit Development Plan, a “roadmap” for its services, which also looked at ways it could draw more ridership through shedding less popular routes and adding options that residents requested in city surveys. The outreach was conducted over the spring and summer at local transit centers by Carlsbad-based Transportation, Management & Design. 

The city’s transportation consultants created some proposals based on the feedback from riders, which included requests for more local weekday service at the expense of the lesser-populated downtown routes. 

“Some of the ideas that popped up were adding additional frequency to the local service,” said Adrian Aguilar, the city’s transit manager. “But a lot of (the changes) have to do with changing where the routes traveled, so that again, they’re traveling along the corridors that people are using to get from point A to point B.”  

However, the one that drew the most feedback was cutting the downtown service. 

A group of residents who shared the city’s fliers on the proposed route cuts during their morning commute together came en masse to City Hall on June 11 to instill upon the City Council and staff the importance of the city’s safe, reliable service. 

Jerome Henderson said if the city cut its 799 lines, many would be forced to park at the “burglar-infested” Santa Clarita Metrolink Station in Newhall, which he said he would never do again, after his car was broken into twice there. 

He felt the proposal focused too much on improving local routes at the expense of working commuters. 

The city consultant’s ridership data indicated offering more local weekend routes would be the best way to attract new Santa Clarita Transit ridership, and the No. 2 reason given for how the city could increase ridership among its current users. 

More local weekday service also was the No. 1 suggestion for how the city could increase ridership from current riders. 

Aguilar said city staff heard residents’ concerns about cutting the downtown routes, and while there might still be some consolidation — which will be aimed at increasing the overall ridership — there also will be local downtown routes available. 

“We will continue to operate the service,” Aguilar said, adding there will be adjustments based on ridership. 

Using the downtown routes as an example, he said the city currently has eight trips a day, and that has resulted in some of those routes having lower ridership. 

Those trips that have the lowest attendance might be consolidated so that instead of every half-hour or hour, it’s every 90 minutes and spaced out evenly. 

Aguilar said the final TDP has not yet been presented to the City Council, but a revised plan will be brought back for members’ approval. 

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