Extension Still Planned : Low Ridership Plagues Private Encino Bus Line

A new, privately operated commuter bus service between Encino and downtown Los Angeles is struggling for passengers, but Los Angeles officials said they are sticking with plans to extend the city-subsidized service to other parts of the San Fernando Valley.

Fewer than 20% of seats on the Commuter Express line are filled each day, said Donald R. Howery, general manager of the Los Angeles Department of Transportation.

He termed the level of use “disappointing” but predicted patronage will increase after an upcoming advertising campaign.

The line offers three round trips during rush hours each weekday at fares lower than those charged by the Southern California Rapid Transit District.

Van Nuys-based Laidlaw Transit Inc. operates the service for $260,000 annually. The firm is under a three-year contract with the city and the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission, both of which are using their share of funds from the extra half-cent sales tax approved by county voters in 1982.

Initial Hope

At the outset, planners had hoped the service would be successful enough to allow 40% of annual costs to be recouped in fares. The two government agencies are each picking up half of the operating costs not covered by fares.

The firm’s three 45-passenger buses could carry 135 passengers a day each way.

In the month after service began Dec. 9, it had about five riders a day each way, said Jim McLaughlin, senior engineer for the transportation department.

But, in January, the number of riders rose to 25 a day each way, he said.

“I personally don’t think this line will fail,” McLaughlin said. “I think we’ll attract more and more people and we will be a success.”

Despite low patronage, he said, the city is studying the possibility of extending the service to the West Valley and Agoura and beginning similar lines elsewhere in the city.

Because it is privately operated, transit officials throughout the region have been watching the line to see whether it succeeds.

Among those welcoming the new service were RTD President Nikolas Patsaouras, who termed it a “step toward privatization of bus service, which we feel is appropriate in some cases. We don’t see it as a threat to the RTD.”

He referred to the concept of using private operators to fill gaps in the service of the huge public transit district in the hope that they can provide service more cheaply than the RTD.

The line operates between the city-built park-and-ride lot at Magnolia Boulevard and Hayvenhurst Avenue and six downtown intersections.

Buses leave Encino at 6 a.m., 6:45 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. Buses depart downtown at 4:15 p.m., 5 p.m. and 5:45 p.m.