Public Transit Policy, Analysis, Advocacy and Education
Newsletter of the Southern California Transit Advocates
Vol 5, No. 6, June 1997

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.

On Saturday, May 31, a few members of So.Ca.TA got up early in the morning to explore Santa Clarita. Members Dana Gabbard, Charles Powell, Charles Hobbs, Chris Ledermuller, Woody Rosner, Hank Fung, and June Messick went on this all-day journey. Chris Flescher was also in town from San Diego and came along as well.

At around 9:00 am, the members boarded the new Saturday Metrolink service to Santa Clarita at Union Station, heading for Santa Clarita. Just by the number of people who got on the train at Union Station, Metrolink has very good ridership on weekends.

About 45 minutes later, the group arrived at the Santa Clarita Metrolink station. The station is very nice, complete with an ornamental stairway area to the park & ride lot and a public restroom. The group then waited nearly 20 minutes until the Santa Clarita #10 arrived, heading towards Castaic.

The Line 10 bus was a 35 foot Gillig Phantom, one of the biggest buses they have for local service. The bus filled up all of its seats just at the Metrolink station alone, not just because of the train, but also because the station serves as a timed transfer center to all Santa Clarita Transit buses. One of the first major stops on Line 10 was Magic Mountain. There is a lot of ridership to Magic Mountain via public transit, but the bus was not fortunate enough to escape the traffic jam caused by the motorcade of park goers. It was this part of the trip which made the bus late. Then, most of the passengers got off at another major stop: Wayside Honor Rancho jail. By then, virtually everyone on the bus was a So.Ca.TA member. The bus did a turn through Castaic, but did not go near the famous lake. Once again the 10 went to Magic Mountain, held up by even more traffic to the park.

Charles Powell and Dana had planned out a carefully timed itinerary. It was all in vain, since the 10 was held up by traffic to meet the 25 originally planned for. The group still got off at the Valencia Town Center, right in front of a waiting Line 50 bus. After a few minutes of debating on riding the line, the driver waited patiently as the group finally boarded the 50, riding through a large perimeter of the Santa Clarita Transit service area, along San Fernando Rd. and Sierra Highway and back to the Metrolink station.

After the long ride on Line 50, at the Metrolink station the bus became Line 40, and the group got off at the Valencia Town Center for a lunch break. After getting about an hour's rest and sustenance at the mall's food court, it was a short ride on the 35 back to the Metrolink station, with a trip along Line 30 through Saugus and back to the Metrolink station. At this point, Chris Flescher stayed back at the Metrolink station so he could catch the 3:31pm train home.

The rest of the group remained together and took Line 15 south to the Santa Clarita Valley Senior Center. At the brief layover at the Senior Center, the members of the group struck a conversation with the bus driver. He said that while the passengers like the system, the drivers feel that the buses (mostly Gillig Spirits) are unreliable, many things are not getting repaired fast enough, drivers are paid very low, and that there should be a systemwide restructuring of routes that needs to be done, because of major gaps in service. After that interesting conversation, the bus was back in service and the group got off near the Santa Clarita Civic Center. Another break was taken at the library there, sitting down and reading books in air conditioned comfort. Dana did not forget to leave some So.Ca.TA flyers for the library.

Then, at about 4:15 pm, it was time to head to the bus stop so the group could ride back in enough time to rest at the Metrolink station. Since the library was near the Valencia Town Center, any bus could be caught at one of two nearby bus stops. It was finding out which bus stop to wait at that delayed arrival at the Metrolink station. Most of the buses were turning left onto Valencia Bl. instead of continuing straight on Magic Mountain Parkway. Then, after waiting about 20 minutes, a Line 25 bus showed up on Valencia Bl., heading back to the Metrolink station and catching the train in time, heading back to L.A. with a modest dinner at Burger King.

In summary, a good time was had by all. It was amazing to see how far 75 cents could take you in Santa Clarita, especially since riding back after a turnaround was allowed. The system did a good job in carrying passengers, though it was Line 10 that really had very good ridership. Most of the other lines did not have as many riders, especially since So.Ca.TA members accounted for most of the ridership on the buses. The system was easy to use, maps were fairly clear, though bus stops should list what buses serve each particular stop and where is it heading towards. If it weren't for the traffic jam at Magic Mountain, the whole system could have been done, as opposed to only a few lines. Also, it should be noted that while the Metrolink station is the official timed transfer point, all Santa Clarita buses serve the Valencia Town Center as well, creating a timed transfer zone between the mall and train station, which has all the buses leaving at the same time.

It was also important to hear how service could be improved in Santa Clarita, especially with what that Line 15 driver said. Santa Clarita Transit does not serve all parts of the area, mainly because of the unchecked sprawl. New developments for housing and shopping are sprouting nearly everywhere, too fast for the transit system to keep up. Also, a few mechanical problems were noted like a farebox problem and inoperable headsigns. The buses are also suffering vandalism problems like most of the MTA buses down here. So it would be time for Santa Clarita Transit to have better upkeep of their buses, and perform a restructuring study on how service can better be provided. Also, the city of Santa Clarita should limit the sprawl occurring in the area right now, so that restructuring would not be needed every time more massive developments are built.