Service Suggestions and Response to 1998 Ventura County Unmet Transit Needs Hearing
1. VISTA 101 and Conejo Connection
Both VISTA and LADOT run a number of services between Thousand Oaks and Los Angeles
County. Here are my suggestions for rationalizing all of these services:
a. Cancel MTA #161,#427 and Thousand Oaks Transit #4 (except for school trips), as
they will be replaced by one or more of the services noted below.
b. Adjust LADOT #422 to serve Calabasas (by staying on Ventura Bl to Calabasas Bl,
then getting on the freeway. Also serve both the Thousand Oaks Mall main transit
stop as well as the "commuter" stop it serves now. #422 would provide off-peak service,
at least every 60 minutes, between Oaks Mall and Warner Center; and every 20 minutes
during peak hours in both directions, providing both forward and reverse commute
service.
c. LADOT #423 will operate much as it does now, except it will only serve points between
Thousand Oaks and Kanan Rd, before continuing to Downtown LA. The stops in the Calabasas/Woodland
Hills area will be served by and expanded #422.
d. Combine VISTA 101 and Conejo Connection into a single service. Base service will
be every hour between Ventura and Thousand Oaks Mall. Four A.M. and four P.M. peak
hour round trips would extend from Thousand Oaks Mall to Warner Center, directly
via the freeway.
Service in Camarillo would be streamlined somewhat; a recommended routing is
(eastbound) US-101, Las Posas, Ventura Bl (Outlet Malls), Carmen, Paseo Camarillo
(City Hall), Lantana, Daily, Carmen, Ventura (Ventura/Arneill or Metrolink Station)
then back to US-101. Westbound would be the reverse of this route, serving City Hall
before the outlets. Early morning AM service to Warner Center would only serve the Las
Posas Park/Ride and the Camarillo Metrolink station.
2. VISTA 126 to Santa Clarita (Los Angeles County)
Currently, this route enjoys a 50% farebox ratio (as a "rural" service, it only requires
a 10% farebox ratio). Extending it to Santa Clarita (assuming no additional financial
support from LA County) would require one additional vehicle, an additional 30 minutes per run, or about nine additional service hours per day. Assuming the current
ridership did not increase as a result of the service extension, the farebox recovery
would still be an eligible 33%.
Recommended stops in Santa Clarita include the Valencia industrial park and the Valencia
Towne Center mall (a transit center is currently being developed there).
3. Connection to Santa Barbara County
Currently, Santa Barbara MTD is considering expanding express service between Carpinteria,
Santa Barbara and Goleta. I have approached them with the following idea: providing
an express route between Ventura (Buenaventura Mall), Carpinteria, Downtown Santa Barbara and Goleta. This service would replace the rather limited commuter bus now
running between Ventura and Santa Barbara. Service between Ventura and Carpinteria
would be provided at least every 30 minutes during peak hours, every 60 minutes during
the rest of the service day.
4. Metrolink (Ventura County Line)
a. one additional train, allowing improved service levels
b. extension of more peak hour service to Oxnard
c. mid-day service to Oxnard
d. late night train (say 8 p.m.) from LA to Oxnard
e. all Oxnard service extended to Ventura.
f. weekend service (3 or 4 round trips, scheduled around Amtrak) between Ventura
and Los Angeles.
Comment on this plan
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Charles P. Hobbs (transit@primenet.com)
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