Disclaimer: The Southern California Transit Advocates is not affiliated with any governmental agency or transportation provider. Names and logos of agencies appear for information and reference purposes only.
The reverse trip on the Riverside Line is an express - it skips all intervening stations and only allows deboarding at the Riverside terminus. Which raised suspicions that it is actually a deadhead run to return the train to Riverside to pick up more L.A. bound commuters that just allows passengers. Certainly the platform for the train wasn't busy.
Near Pomona we pulled over to allow a Los Angeles bound Metrolink train to get past us, ditto near Ontario. Near Ontario Airport we had a freight go in the reverse direction (this was double tracked). The Riverside Metrolink is much more scenic than the San Bernardino line which I have ridden several times previously. It just seems more rural, as we go through orchards and modestly low-density areas. San Bernardino seems one long sprawl in comparison.
Woody and John were nodding a bit due to the early hour yet roused themselves to hear my tea-leaf like prognostications about the future of the MTA Board. John at one point noted the station in Ontario and asked if arrangements have been made to take people from the station to the nearby Airport. What he heard elicited a shaking head and comment, "connections between transportation modes is vital and must be taken into account".
We arrived at Riverside on time at 7:30 a.m. There was a crowd waiting to get on the train, confirming what its chief purpose was. I don't think there were 10 people riding with us. A Metrolink ambassador said the number riding it veried but hardly topped a dozen. The ambassador helped us find the notices about the Metrolink holiday trains, which is how we were able to promote them in the Dec. newsletter.
While buses have been arranged to drop people off catching Metrolink trains to Los Angeles no such situation pertains for anyone on a reverse trip Metrolink. We walked from the station to University and made our way downtown. That part of Riverside is closed in the early morning. Until we were about a block from the downtown terminal we saw nary an open shop. At the Transit Terminal we met up with Charles Hobbs, the last member of our hardy band.
At 8:15 a.m. we took the RTA #16 from the terminal - ridership was fair (10-15 people). At the Moreno Valley Mall we had a brief period between buses that allowed a hurried breakfast. We would have gotten off near the mall and eaten at one of the nearby fast food places, but the bus we wanted only stops and starts at the mall. That bus is #35, which was run with a van-bus with seating for maybe a dozen. The driver (as with RTA's smaller lines) worked for a contractor - Laidlaw. This line expresses to Banning. In about 40 minutes it connects two points that via local RTA routes otherwise would entail hours to travel between (and a great distance out of your way). My suspicion is this thrice a week bus is to facilitate Banning's population easy shopping access. It certainly is worthless for anyone with a job. We were the only passengers (and there were no stops after the mall until Banning).
San Gorgonio Memorial Hospital is the transit center for transferring from RTA to the Banning system. Almost the first thing we saw was a Beaumont/Cherry Valley Dial-a-Ride vehicle. Banning and Beaumont allow movement between their systems and accept each other's transfers. The Beaumont bus looked like it seated at least 30 - unusual for a DAR vehicle. We sighted it several times while in Banning near the Hospital and it always had at least a few riders.
Banning uses Bluebird buses, which seat about 30 (midway between a DASH and MTA size vehicle). 10:21 a.m. we caught the Southern route. Ridership was low - 5 or so. We got off near City Hall since the rest of the route duplicated what we would see on the Northern route. Due to the hard to understand Banning Bus schedule the Northern bus arrived earlier than expected. Ridership was more robust - about 14 people, although many began getting off in the next few stops after we boarded. We learned the buses were operating Saturday schedule for that Friday (which meant ending an hour earlier) and also that, starting January 1st, credits for paying the fare with a dollar would discontinue. Essentially since the fare was 50 cents, those who paid a dollar were given a slip good for another trip (to get their full dollar's worth). One fellow got on and plead poverty. The driver shot back he had about $15 in accumulated unpaid fares. The guy solemnly pledged to soon make good. After this fellow exited I asked the driver if this was unusual. He said the economy of the area was depressed and quite a few begged free rides. In some cases people even eventually paid off their accumulated tabs!
By Noon we were back at the Hospital and ready to ride the express bus to Cabazon. This has been running for about a year and was something I was especially interested in seeing. I was concerned with our tight connection with the RTA #36 we planned to take on to Yucaipa. I hoped there would be no delays. It turns out the attractor for Cabazon is one of those huge Factory Outlet Malls. And it was the busiest shopping day of the year. And the bus weaves its way through the Mall parking lot. It was gridlock of biblical proportions! And my hope of making the connection with the #36 died.
Ridership on the Cabazon Route was fairly low - about 7 (including a wheelchair passenger who exited while still in Banning). There may have been no boardings in Cabezon.
We jumped off the bus one stop before the Hospital to eat at a Carl's Jr. The schedule seemed to indicate when the bus would be in the area. We didn't realize it laid over at the Hospital. We were acting as if it passed our stop just in time to make its stop at the hospital...
By the time we realized the snafu, the bus was long gone. We rode a Banning bus to the Hospital and settled in for the next 36 minutes. I studied the historical pictures along the hallway while John and Woody brainstormed the T-shirt idea Woody got from taking a look at the Hospital Gift Shop.
3:31 p.m: We finally took RTA #36 - this was another minibus and had only one passenger other than ourselves. It most went via freeway to Yucaipa but diverted at one point to pull up in front of some hosuing development's recreation center. Happily we in only a few minutes caught the Omnitrans #14 after arriving in Yucaipa. Ridership for this was decent (8-10 at any one time). Charles Hobbs left when we got to the Loma Linda VA Hospital, where he could take the RTA #25 back to Riverside.
After arriving at the San Bernardino Transit Plaza we had a brief wait before catching the Omnitrans #1 which dropped us at the Metrolink station. We were the sole ones to get off there. The Metrolink for Los Angeles left at 6:24. This spends half an hour on a siding letting peak service trains pass it. So we didn't arrive in Los Angeles until near 8:30. After hearty goodbyes we quickly dispersed our separate ways.
It was educational to explore a system in a relatively low population area and see first hand how service routing can have a great effect. While RTA #36 connects Yucaipa and Banning in about 40 minutes three days a week, to travel between them on local transit at other times would take long hours via San Bernardino, Riverside and Hemet! Even our mistakes were instructive, highlighting the need to carefully study schedules, layover zones when catchting a bus at the start of its route, etc.
So, where should we go next year?