Few Commuters Share Rides, Survey Shows : Transportation: Only Orange County has more solo commuters. Local officials are taking steps to reverse the trend.

By CARLOS V. LOZANO

May 1, 1991 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

Although the overall number of Southern Californians who car-pool is increasing, Ventura County commuters are still among the most reluctant to ride-share, according to a survey released Tuesday.

A total of 2,568 commuters living in Ventura, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties participated in the survey conducted in late 1990 by the Los Angeles-based Commuter Transportation Services Inc., a nonprofit company primarily funded by the California Department of Transportation.

The purpose of the study is to help Caltrans develop ways to increase the number of ride-sharing programs in the region, said Jim Sims, president of Commuter Transportation.

“Ride-sharing needs to become as important and as common as recycling,” Sims said. “It’s part of what we have to do if we’re going to clean up our environment.”

Sims said the survey found that the number of Southern Californian commuters who are car-pooling, biking, walking or using mass transit increased from 17% to 22% during the last two years.

Of the 521 Ventura County commuters surveyed in 1990, 82%--or 429--said they drive alone to work because it is the most convenient way to travel. Only Orange County commuters were more likely to drive alone, as 85%, or 435 of 512 drivers surveyed there, indicated. In the five-county region, 78% drive alone.

But Ginger Gherardi, executive director of the Ventura County Transportation Commission, said the county is already taking steps to reverse this trend.

New air pollution rules require large employers, including government agencies, to have 1.35 people for each vehicle arriving at the workplace, or about four people for every three cars. The requirements will be phased in over a four-year period.

The cities of Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley have already submitted trip-reduction plans for their employees to the county for review. The county imposed trip-reduction restrictions on large businesses last year.

Officials in Thousand Oaks have called for a four-day workweek for city employees, which would result in City Hall being shut down on Fridays.

The city of Simi Valley will offer its employees $3 a day to car-pool or ride the bus. The city also plans to offer a compressed workweek for some employees but does not plan to close City Hall during the week.

Gherardi said another reason that the majority of Ventura County commuters surveyed continue to drive to work alone is that there is little mass transit.

Gherardi said the county needs to establish regular bus service to each of its 10 cities. It also needs to move forward with plans for commuter rail service in the east county, which would be run by the five counties.

The problem is a lack of money. Gherardi said the county does not have the funds to establish countywide bus service or to pay its share of operating the commuter trains that are scheduled to begin running from Simi Valley to downtown Los Angeles in 1992.

She said county residents will have to pay for mass transit if they want it.

“If you want to improve the environment, then unfortunately you are going to have to spend a little money on transit,” she said.

The survey also found that Ventura County commuters take less time to get to and from work than those in the other four counties.

The average travel time for Ventura County commuters is 30 minutes to work and 35 minutes home, the study showed. This compares with the regional average of a 33-minute trip to work and a 38-minute return.

Torben Christiansen, a research specialist who worked on the survey, said that of the 521 Ventura County residents surveyed, 23% said they worked in Los Angeles, while 74% work in Ventura County. But Christiansen said no effort was made to split the county into two separate surveys to see how east county and west county commuting patterns compare.

“Maybe that’s something we should consider in the future,” he said.

The average one-way commuting distance for Ventura County residents is 17.1 miles, according to the survey. The average for all five counties is 16.6 miles.

The survey also found that Ventura County commuters were less likely to complain about freeway traffic than those in neighboring counties.

“That’s because our freeways are not as congested as those in Los Angeles,” Gherardi said. “You take a big sigh of relief once you hit the Ventura County line.”