Let's Debate: Closing bus transit gaps between two regions

By: Nicholas Ventrone, Community Engagement Director
riversidetransit@gmail.com

I'm keeping this post short today as I'm working with The Transit Coalition Executive Director Bart Reed in building up a campaign in the Newhall Pass area north of Los Angeles. That campaign as well as the topic of today's Let's Debate is about closing bus transit gaps between two major regions that are normally separated by natural hillsides, mountains, water, or any other protected natural area. The Coalition is currently advocating for streamlined, all day regional bus transit connections for the highways or roads that link two major regions together within the Inland Empire.

To name some examples in the Inland Empire, there is the 91 corridor between Orange County and Corona, the I-15 that links Lake Elsinore, Corona and Ontario, and local connectors between Riverside and Fontana. Up in the Newhall Pass, there is no direct bus transit connection between Newhall and Sylmar. The closest transit option is transferring to the Metrolink Antelope Valley Line. With the transfers, a short bus trip across the pass can last hours. The peak hour commuter buses and the North Hollywood express line out of Santa Clarita run right past Sylmar and San Fernando. You know, with the high volumes of transit ridership in the San Fernando Valley, one would think that there would be a productive bus connector that branched into the Newhall and Santa Clarita region that operated at least once every hour. That's why we're here to advocate for such a route.

Anyway, let me know in the comments or on the social networking sites if your local region is need of better cross-regional connections. I'll talk to you again Wednesday.