Southern California Transit Advocates, although delayed in making comments on the service change proposals for Routes 8, 503, 504, 747, and 793/798 due to the lack of timely responses to our requests for information, would like to comment belatedly in the hope that our input may still prove useful as you implement changes.

Having reviewed the information provided, we agree that creating a new all-day service to North Hollywood Station is preferable to continuing the low-productivity weekday peak-hour Route 793/798 service to the Van Nuys and Sherman Oaks area. North Hollywood is, as you know, the major hub location in the San Fernando Valley and the connectivity to other agencies' service to a wide variety of destinations is significantly improved.

We also understand the necessity to cancel Route 8, given that three-quarters of its operations funding is now unavailable. However, we feel that some mitigation must be made for those passengers who will be significantly inconvenienced by the discontinuance of service to the northeast San Fernando Valley. We suggest that the new line make an off-freeway stop at Brand Blvd. to allow passengers the option of transferring to Metro Line 234 into the Sylmar/San Fernando area, rather than force them to make a relatively long backtrack from North Hollywood via Metro Line 224.

Realizing that the new service will also serve as a replacement for StationLink Routes 503 and 504, we understand the necessity to serve Newhall Metrolink Station and the park-ride lots in the southeastern portion of the city. However, we feel the proposed route within the city limits is overly long and attempts to accomplish more than is appropriate for a single line. We instead suggest that service operate via Sierra Highway, serve these three stops, then proceed directly to McBean Regional Transit Center via a more expedited route (we suggest Lyons Ave. - Orchard Village Rd. - McBean Parkway). There is sufficient local Santa Clarita Transit service to the remaining stops, all of which is easily accessed at McBean.

In our opinion, shortening the route within the city will allow the implementation of our suggestion regarding an off-freeway stop in Mission Hills/Pacoima without a running time penalty.

Finally, we commend Santa Clarita Transit for its two-year experiment with Route 747 to provide options for those passengers who travel to and from downtown Los Angeles in the middle of the day. While it was apparently not viable and we agree with reallocating its resources to the new North Hollywood service, we believe you gave it a good try.