Note: A few days prior to the public hearing, Metrolink staff created a substitute proposal consisting of fewer service reductions than had been originally proposed. The statement below was submitted before the substitute proposal was released; the only comment that remained valid was the last paragraph, as all of the remaining changes we commented on were withdrawn from consideration.

Southern California Transit Advocates wishes to submit the following comments for the record regarding the proposed service changes and major service reductions, to be considered following the public hearing of April 2nd. We will address the proposals by line, in alphabetical order.

(Some of our positions from our previous comments of December 11, 2009 have not changed regarding weekend Antelope Valley Line and San Bernardino Line service; we are including references to those positions in these comments.)

Antelope Valley Line - We do not object to the reduction of midday weekend service, although we believe that the 8:52am trip southbound from Via Princessa (#210) will need to remain on the schedule to prevent deadheading the northbound trip terminating there at 8:37am back to Taylor Yard.

We strenuously object to the elimination of evening and late-night service, and urge that this service (#221, 222, and 223) remain on the schedule. To cancel this service will, in our view, severely limit the usefulness of the line as a major connector between the Lancaster-Palmdale area and the rest of Los Angeles County. We particularly note that the last of these makes a connection with the last westbound San Bernardino Line train (#337) at Union Station.

We continue to support the staff proposals for Saturday service reductions, conditioned on the remaining trips being spaced approximately equally from each other, or otherwise spaced based on ridership figures. We continue to object to the proposed reduction in Sunday service as this would result in only two trips remaining in each direction.

Inland Empire-Orange County Line - We do not object to the removal of the single weekend round trip, as proposed, but find the remaining portion of the staff proposal confusing. As near as we can determine, the existing passengers on the trip departing Irvine at 4:55pm (#806) will be delayed 35 minutes in order to run that train as a connection with the train arriving at Laguna Niguel/Mission Viejo at 5:21pm (#808). This would, in our view, result in two shortlined trains meeting each other in southern Orange County, forcing a transfer where one does not now exist and inconveniencing others by await of greater than a half-hour. We therefore have no choice but to oppose this proposal and suggest that both trains remain configured and scheduled as at present.

San Bernardino Line - We continue to support the staff proposals for weekday and Sunday service reductions, and still conditionally support the proposal for Saturdays if the remaining trips are proportionally spaced to each other. We again suggest the last trip on Saturday run in the 10pm hour.

Ventura County Line - We find ourselves in the unfortunate position of being unable to object to the newly proposed reduction of service to Camarillo, Oxnard, and Montalvo, based upon our knowledge of the Ventura County Transportation Commission's revenue shortfalls and methodology for funding Metrolink service in that county. We hope that some service north and west of Moorpark can be continued, in order to maintain a presence along this section of track shared with Union Pacific and protect SCRRA's rights of way on same. We hope that VCTC may be able to bridge the gap of any service reduction by increasing VISTA Conejo Connection service between the affected communities and Warner Center.

We continue to support the staff proposal eliminating most midday service, noting that there is connectivity from Chatsworth to Northridge via Metro Line 166, and in Northridge via DASH, during the midday period for those passengers who would use Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner service as a replacement for the canceled service.