HomeMy WebLinkAbout1997-01-28 - AGENDA REPORTS - TRANSIT DEVELOPMENT PLAN (2)AGENDA REPORT
City Manager Approv
Item to be presented by:
Ron Kilcoyne
NEW BUSINESS
DATE: January 28, 1997
SUBJECT: ADOPTION OF THE TRANSIT DEVELOPMENT PLAN
DEPARTMENT: Public Works
In late 1995, the Transit Division commenced preparation of the Transit Development Plan (TDP),
the first long range blueprint for transit development in the Santa Clarita Valley. The TDP was
prepared with a budget of $100,000, 75% funded with a grant from the Southern California
Association of Governments (SCAG) and 25% City transit funds. Michael Fajans and Associates
were hired to prepare the plan.
Upon adoption by the City Council, the TDP will compliment the Roads Master Plan and Trails
Master Plan, a long range vision will have been created for all modes of transportation. Elements
of the TDP will be incorporated into the City's General Plan when the circulation element is revised
later this year and this document will serve as the implementation plan for this component of the
circulation element. Also, completion of this plan will enable the City to better integrate planning
for all transportation modes.
The TDP includes a three-phase expansion of the local fixed route bus network that is funded by
anticipated growth in existing funding sources. Since this growth is dependent on population or
sales tax growth, the phases are not dated but are contingent on certain population thresholds being
reached. The TDP also calls for modest expansion of regional routes and use of smaller vans to
penetrate the many neighborhoods that cannot be efficiently served by traditional medium/big bus
fixed route service. Also the need to better integrate transit and land use planning is outlined as this
is one of the biggest challenges to efficient and effective delivery of transit services.
City Council adopt the Transit Development Plan.
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Draft Santa Clarita Transit Transportation Development Plan
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Aggenda Item: ,l1
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SANTA CLARITA TRANSIT
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TRANSPORTATION DEVELOPMENT. PLAN
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Draft Final Report ..
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December 27, 1996
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SANTA CLARITA TRANSIT
TRANSPORTATION DEVELOPMENT PLAN
DRAFT FINAL REPORT
Prepared by
Michael Fajans & Associates
In Association with
Manuel Padron & Associates
Smith Engineering and Management
Gail Murray Consulting
December 27, 1996
The preparation of the Santa Clarita Transit Transportation Development Plan was
funded in part using planning funds made available by the Southern California
Association of Governments for the benefit of the City of Santa Clarita
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iTABLE OF CONTENTS
Executive Summary 1
Introduction 1.1
' 1.0 THE CURRENT TRANSPORTATION ENVIRONMENT: OPPORTUNITIES
AND CONSTRAINTS 1.1
1.1
Population, Employment, and Travel Patterns
1.1
1.2
Inventory of Transportation Services
1.7
1.3
Activity Centers
1.17
1.4
Constraints to Transit Service
1.18
1.5
Potential Opportunities for Service Enhancement
1.29
2.0
GOALS, OBJECTIVES, AND STANDARDS
2.1
2.1
Mission Statement for Santa Clarita Transit
2.1
2.2
Goals and.Objectives for Santa Clarita Transit
2.1
2.3
Standards for Minimum Service Levels for Santa Clarita Transit
2.6
2.4
Quality of Service Standards for Santa Clarita Transit
2.10
3.0
TRANSIT DEVELOPMENT PLAN PROGRAM
3.1
3.1
Ultimate System Network and Development Guidelines
3.1
3.2
Rail Stations and Transit Centers
3.15
3.3
Cooperative Service Plans
3.23
3.4
Non -Traditional Services
3.26
3.5
Appropriate Equipment Types
3.33
3.6
Consistency with Adopted and Ongoing Planning Efforts
3.35
4.0
IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES
4.1
4.1
The Implementation Plan
4.1
4.2
Cost and Revenue Forecasts
4.6
4.3
Conclusions
4.11
Appendix A. Transit Route Descriptions
A.1
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Appendix B. Comparative Statistics
B.1
Appendix C. Summary of Public Comments at February 3, 1996 Santa Clarita
Transit Transportation Development Plan Workshop
CA
Appendix D. Tasks for Implementation of Non -Traditional Services
D.1
TABLES AND FIGURES
Tables
1.1
Metrolink Trains Serving Santa Clarita
1.8
1.2
Selected Metrolink Travel Times and Fares from Santa Clarita
1.8
1.3
Fixed Route Transit Routes in Santa Clarita
1.12
1.4
Santa Clarita Transit and LADOT Fares
1.12
1.5
Santa Clarita Transit Fiscal Year 1995 Operating Data
1.13
1.6
Santa Clarita Transit Local Fixed Route Operating Trends
1.14
1.7
Santa Clarita Park -and -Ride Facilities
1.15
1.8
Santa Clarita Activity Centers
1.17
2.1 Santa Clarita General Plan Residential Categories
3.1 Santa Clarita Ultimate Local Bus Route Network
3.2 Town Center Transit Center Alternatives
2.7
3.5
3.18
4.1.
Santa Clarita Transit:
Local Route Bus Requirements by Phase
4.2
4.2.
Santa Clarita Transit:
Revenue Hour Forecasts
4.4
4.3.
Santa Clarita Transit:
Current and Forecast Patronage
4.7
4.4.
Santa Clarita Transit:
Financial Forecasts
4.8
Figures
1.1
1990 Person -Trips from the Santa Clarita Valley
1.3
1.2
1990 Person -Trips to the Santa Clarita Valley
1.5
1.3
Santa Clarita Activity Centers and Local Bus Routes
1.11
1.4
Santa Clarita: Developed Areas not Effectively Serviced by Transit
1.21
1.5
Areas of Anticipated Santa Clarita Community Growth
1.32
3.1
Santa Clarita Ultimate Local Bus Route Network
3.4
3.2
Valencia Transit Center Detail
3.20
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The purpose of the project was to take a long-range view of transit needs for the Santa Clarita
community - the incorporated and unincorporated area served by transit. More than most transit
providers, Santa Clarita Transit serves a community that is undergoing tremendous change.
Only incorporated in 1987, Santa Clarita has and is anticipated to continue growing at a rapid
pace, generating both local and regional travel demand. In preparing the plan, the process was
initiated with an evaluation of the existing environment and transit service. The following
summarize the findings and conclusions regarding existing services.
Existing Services
1. Santa Clarita Transit operates with many constraints typical of suburban transit
operations. Relative to more urban areas, the number of vehicles per household is high,
and the land use patterns encourage the use of the automobile.
2. The physical. layout of the community with many natural barriers and utility corridors
makes it very difficult to provide transit service to all residents except at extraordinary
cost. Walled neighborhoods and lack of sidewalks contribute to lack of transit access in
some areas.
The organization of the transit service with a small number of City staff administering
private operations and maintenance has been financially beneficial for the City - the
overall costs per hour for local and dial -a -ride service are among the lowest in Southern
California.
4. Great strides have been made in provision of transit service in the Santa Clarita
community. Improvements in the provision and usage of local, fixed route transit service
has been most pronounced. The chart on the following page shows ridership trends.
5. The regional express service to Los Angeles continues to be well utilized even with the
initiation of Metrolink. The contractual cost per hour for this service was too high with
the previous contractor but was addressed in the new operating contract that took effect
in August 1996.
6. Other regional express routes need to be monitored to determine if they will remain or
become viable.
7. Existing dial -a -ride service has low productivity in terms of ridership per hour of service
and therefore is high in terms of cost of service per passenger carried. Community
geography contributes to this.
1500 Santa Clarita Transit Ridership Trends
Iwo,
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1991-92
local passengersEM
1992-93 1993-94
dial -a -ride passengers
1994-95 , 1995-96
® commuter bus passengers
w am am on on to" im Aw am Ow w w to w M Ow on so
IFuture Needs
The anticipated growth of the community, both in terms of infill and outward expansion of
residential, commercial, and industrial development, will require considerable growth in transit
service.
8 Local and regional transportation services will need to expand with the anticipated growth
of the service area community, potentially a tripling of population and travel needs within
' 15 - 25 years.
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9. Community members who attended a workshop session expressed an interest for. Sunday
service and a basic transit connection to the San Fernando Valley transit network. The
cost of Metrolink and improvements to community design to facilitate transit were also
themes of the session.
10 Important to success of transit service in Santa Clarita. will be to provide stability of
service while incrementally expanding and modifying service to meet the needs associated
with new development.
11. As new development continues, new local routes or expanded service will be needed in
the North McBean Parkway area, the Porta Bella/community center area, and west of I-
5, including the Marketplace, Stevenson Ranch, the Valencia Commerce Center, and in
the Castaic area. Improved service from Canyon Country to Valencia is constrained by
the lack of additional east -west arterial corridors through the center of the community and
the presence of gates which preclude continuous routings. A phased expansion of local,
fixed route transit service from 14 operational buses to 33 operational buses (with six
additional buses during peak periods) should provide an improved transit network suitable
for a service area population of 300,000 persons.
12. Plans to relocate the hub of transit service from the Saugus Metrolink station to the
Valencia Town Center are logical, will improve the efficiency of bus service, and will
provide improved community access. As the number of routes expands, the number of
buses will exceed the number that can be effectively hubbed every 30 minutes, and some
routes should be offset by 15 minutes, also providing more frequent service in the
community core. Peak period service to connect with commute buses and Metrolink
Trains at the Saugus Station should be maintained from Saugus neighborhoods.
13. The proposed Newhall Market Street Metrolink Station is a project that should be
pursued, providing better access to Metrolink trains for residents of Valencia and
Newhall.
14. Secondary transit centers should be created at the Princessa and Newhall Metrolink
Stations, and a future transit center should be developed when Newhall Ranch develops.
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15. The City should explore lower cost alternatives for some dial -a -ride trips. Improved
fixed route service, a. taxi voucher program, or.service routes providing neighborhood
access to transit centers, not necessarily all the way to destinations, may reduce the rate
of increasing cost for the dial -a -ride service as the community grows.
16. Community growth may allow provision of additional neighborhood express routes, such
as limited trips directly from Canyon Country and from the I-5 corridor, complementing
the addition of the Newhall Metrolink Station.
17. Potential new regional routes to be considered would include express service to West Los
Angeles, using the new I-405 HOV lanes, and a commute link between the Sylmar/San
Fernando transit center/Metrolink Station and employment centers in Santa Clarita.
When the Red Line is completed to Universal City, the City should consider an
additional or replacement route to that location.
18. The City should consider alternatives for express mutes which do not show adequate
ridership. Options include modified mutes, joint services with other transit operators,
use of bus pools or subscription buses, or assisting in the provision of van pools.
19. As clean fuels technologies are more widely used, the City should consider the use of
electric or CNG powered vehicles for some community transportation services.
20. Information on regional transportation services is diffused and confusing. When a
community transit center is established, Santa Clarita Transit should consider creating a
one-stop travel information center with information and tickets to all transportation
services, including assistance with car pool and van pool creation, providing a local
element complementary with the services provided by Southern California Rideshare.
21. Unless funding sources change adversely, there should be sufficient resources available
to expand the local, fixed route service at a rate somewhat faster than the anticipated
population growth. The growth rate of dial -a -ride service and regional bus services are
likely to be somewhat less.
Action Items for the City
There are a variety of actions the City needs to take to make these changes occur and to allow
the service to increase its productivity and usefulness to the community. These include:
1. Adopt the Santa Clarita Transit Transportation Development Plan as a guideline for
future development of the system. This should include the set of goals and objectives
to guide transit service. These will guide decisions on minimum levels of service
indifferent types of neighborhoods, and help ensure compatibility of land use and transit
decisions.
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2. Strongly support continuation of existing transit funding sources and politically pursue
discretionary funding sources .wherever appropriate.
1 3. Coordinate public works .and street engineering activities with the needs for transit
service and transit patrons.
a) Designate current and future transit routes and ensure pavement meets the proper
Traffic Index (TI), bus pads are provided, properly engineered turnouts where
required, etc.).
b) Ensure pedestrian access via sidewalks, space for passenger waiting space and/or
shelters, linkages to paseos, linkages to the trail network, and pedestrian access
across aqueducts, river and storm channels, etc., wherever possible.
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4.
Coordinate needs and desires for transit access with activities of the Planning Division.
a) To the maximum degree possible, focus residential moderate and higher density
housing developments in proximity to designated transit routes.
b) Ensure that public access to existing and planned transit routes is taken into
consideration in the subdivision approval process for residential development, and
that passenger amenities are provided as part of the development process
wherever appropriate.
c) Require that new commercial development provide pedestrian access from bus
stops that minimizes conflicts with parking lots.
d) Permit developer improvements in -lieu of the transit mitigation fee when more
appropriate.
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5.
Coordinate plans for the Newhall Metrolink Station/Transit Center with Community
Development Department plans for Newhall commercial redevelopment.
6..
Ensure that transit plans are compatible and mutually supportive with senior and youth
programs of the Departments of Parks and Recreation.
7.
Work with the Hart High School District to maximize the mobility of students in the
most efficient manner possible.
8.
Work with Los Angeles County to make their subdivision and development approval
more responsive to transit and community needs. In addition, the County should adopt
the City's Transit Mitigation Fee program for areas within the Santa Clarita Transit
service area.
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I INTRODUCTION
This draft report is the Transportation Development Plan for Santa Clarita Transit, the public
transit operator for the City of Santa Clarita and surrounding unincorporated area. In contrast
to a Short -Range Transit Plan which typically lays out a five to nine year program, the purpose
of this document will be to indicate trends and directions that Santa Clarita Transit should follow
during the next 10 to 20 years. The growth trends and development of regional transportation
facilities are not fixed, thus the plan must be flexible to adapt to changing conditions. However,
Santa Clarita Transit needs to have a plan for an ultimate system - although one cannot be
certain when community growth, funding resources, or external events will bring it to fruition.
In preparing the Transit Transportation Development Plan, the consultant team has reviewed
City, SCAG, and MTA planning documents, interviewed key informants at the City, other
agencies, and in the private sector. The current operations of local fixed route, dial -a -ride, and
commute express were evaluated and compared to those of similar communities. A workshop
was also held to elicit views of community residents.
1.0 THE CURRENT TRANSPORTATION ENVIRON-
MENT: OPPORTUNITIES AND CONSTRAINTS
This section describes the setting of transit in Santa Clarita, and details problems related to the
existing operation. It describes transportation -related facilities in Santa Clarita, including the
highway network, transit services, paratransit services, and park-and-ride lots. The discussion
begins by describing predominant travel patterns; transportation facilities and services are then
described; and finally, key activity centers are identified. The constraints to more efficient
transit service are indicated, as are potential opportunities for service enhancements.
1 1.1 POPULATION, EMPLOYMENT, AND TRAVEL PATTERNS
Existing and Forecast Population
The City of Santa Clarita; incorporated in 1987, encompasses over 40 square miles in the center
of the Santa Clarita Valley. About 35 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Santa Clarita
is in a triangular area primarily north of the junction of Route 5 and Route 14. The city is
composed of a series of distinct communities, including Canyon Country, Newhall, Saugus and
Valencia. Development is predominantly residential, with areas of industrial and commercial
uses as well as strip retail uses along major streets.
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Michael Fajans &Associates
Santa Qarita Transit Transportation Development Plan -draft final report 1.1
With a population of 110,000 at incorporation in 1987 that is expected to exceed 180,000 by the
year 2010, the city is one of the fastest-growing communities in Los Angeles County. The
surrounding unincorporated area is also growing,. so that the current Santa Clarita Valley
population (City plus unincorporated) of more than 165,000 is anticipated to grow to a
population of approximately 270,000 residents within the next 10 years based on existing
development entitlements. Other development proposals under consideration or anticipated by -
Los Angeles County could raise the Santa Clarita Valley build -out population to more than
400,000, including 75,000 additional residents in the proposed Newhall Ranch project west of
I-5 and south of Route 126. According to the 1991 Santa Clarita General Plan, some 46 percent
of the City land area was vacant in 1990, while 75 percent of the unincorporated land within the
City's planning area was vacant.
Santa Clarita has a relatively young population, with 28% of the population under aged 18 and
only 6.3% over age 65 according to the 1990 census, compared to a statewide proportion of
approximately 10% over age 65. With a median household size of 2.84, a median household
income of approximately $53,000, and an average of 2.1 vehicles per household according to
the. 1990 Census, the community does not have socioeconomic characteristics that indicate the
type of problems that plague many cities. Although fewer than 3 % of households did not have
access to an automobile in 1990, there are pockets in Newhall and along Soledad Canyon in
Canyon Country where income levels were well below community averages and the number of
households without. access to an automobile was well above the community average.
Existing and Forecast Employment
According to SCAG estimates, there were approximately 38,000 jobs in Santa Clarita in 1994,
a reduction from a peak of 45,000 jobs in 1990. Including the unincorporated area, the total
1994 employment was estimated at approximately 51,000, which is projected to increase to more
than 125,000 jobs by 2010. The major employment center in the community is the Valencia
Industrial Center, with approximately 15,000 jobs. Growth is anticipated throughout the
community, but the Valencia Commerce Center northwest of the interchange of I-5 and Route
126 will provide the largest single employment area.
Key Travel Patterns
The Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) is the metropolitan planning
agency responsible for the region's socioeconomic demographic forecasts. SCAG's forecasting
model shows that in the year 1990, of the 106,000 work-related person -trips originating in the
Santa Clarita area (the zone includes the surrounding area as well as the City), about 41 % stayed
within the area. Other key destinations include the San Fernando Valley (29%) and West Los
Angeles (14%). Of the 415,000 non -work person -trips originating in the Santa Clarita area,
about 76 % remained within the Santa Clarita Valley, with about 13 % going to the San Fernando
Valley. Figure 1.1 summarizes key trip patterns originating from Santa Clarita Valley. SCAG's
future forecast suggests that the number of both home -to -work trips and. non -work trips in the
Santa Clarita Valley will triple. Home -to -work trips will spread out farther to other parts of Los
Angeles County, perhaps even as far south as Orange County.
Michael Fajans & Associates
Santa Qarita Transit Transportation Development Plan-draftfinal report 1.2
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Figure 1.1:' 1990 Ferson-Trips from the Santa Clarity Valley
KEY
100% Percent of Home -to -Work Trips originating from Santa Clarita Valley
100% Percent ojNan- Work Trips origin atingfromSan taClaritaValley
VENTURA COUNTY
SAN FERNANDO
VALLEY
29%
13%
14%
4%
WESTSIDE
SANTA CLARITA VALLEY
41% (trips staying within valley)
76% (trips staying within valley
10%
4%
OTHER LA
COUNTY
1% 1ANTELOPE
VALLEY
<1%
<1yo
OTHER COUNTIES
(San Bernardino, Riverside,
Orange)
3%
<1%
DOWNTOWN
LOS ANGELES
Of the daily work trips that arrived to the Santa Clarita Valley for the year 1990, the majority
of person -trips once again began in the Santa Clarita Valley (71 %); 15 % originated in the San
Fernando Valley; 8% originated in the Antelope Valley; and minor percentages originated from
other areas in the SCAG region. For non -work trips, the vast majority of trips were within
Santa Clarita Valley (93%), with about 3% coming from the San Fernando Valley. Figure 1.2
summarizes key trip patterns arriving to the Santa Clarita Valley. By the year 2015, home -to -
work trips are forecast to double and non -work trips more than double.
Based on SCAG's demographic forecasts for Year 2015, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan
Transportation Authority (MTA) performed traffic simulations as part of its analysis in
developing Los Angeles County's 20 -Year Transportation Plan (20 -Year Plan). This model
exercise led to the following conclusions related to Santa Clarita/North County:
Los Angeles County's largest increases in population will occur in Santa Clarita and
Palmdale, adding over 275,000 people each over the next 20 years. Adjacent
communities such as Lancaster and the west San Fernando Valley will also experience
major growth. While experiencing very high growth, the resulting population density
is still low compared to the rest of Los Angeles County.
The percentage growth in employment is expected to be very high, though the resulting
employment density is still low compared to the rest of Los Angeles County.
Morning peak period freeway speeds in the traffic simulations generally show free-
flowing conditions (over 40 mph) in the study area for the current. year. Traffic
simulations for the year 2015, which incorporate improvements adopted in the 20 -Year
Plan, shows a dramatic worsening of freeway travel speeds (0 to 15 mph). This appears
to be due to major growth in the North County which has severe roadway constraints in
the Newhall Pass between Santa Clarita Valley and San Fernando Valley. Forecasts
indicate this will be one of the slowest freeway sections in Southern California. Arterial
speeds show a similar dramatic decline in vehicle speeds.
The MTA transportation forecast model indicates that mobility in the North County will be
severely hampered in the future, highlighting the need for transportation alternatives other than
the single -occupant automobile.
Highway Network
The following major routes, included in the National Highway System, serve the study area:
Interstate 5 - Golden State Freeway
Route 14 - Antelope Valley Freeway
Route 126 - San Fernando Road, Magic Mountain Parkway, Henry Mayo Drive
Santa Clarita lies at the north end of the Los Angeles metropolitan region, and I-5 connects the
region with the Central Valley, Northern California, and Oregon and Washington. Route 14 is
Michael Fajans & Associates
Santa Qanta Transit Transportation Development Plan -draft final report 1.4
Figure 1.2:1990 Person -Trips to the Santa Clarita Valley
KEY
100% Percent of Home -to -Work Trips arriving to Santa Clarita Valley
100% Percent of Now Work Trips arriving to Santa Clarita Palley
VENTURA COUNTY
SAN FERNANDO
VALLEY
SANTA CLARITA VALLEY
71% (trips staying within valley)
93% (trips staying within valley)
15%
3%
OTHER LA
COUNTY
ANTELOPE
VALLEY
8%
<1%
<1%
OTHER COUNTIES
(San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange)
the major corridor between the high desert cities of Lancaster and Palmdale in the Antelope
Valley and the metropolitan area. The two freeways join just south of Santa Clarita, connecting
to the San Fernando Valley via the Newhall Pass. Route 126 provides a connection from Santa
Clarita to Ventura and the beach cities of Ventura County approximately 40 miles to the west.
The roads listed above provide the segment of Route 126 between I-5 and Route 14.
The MIA's adopted 20 -Year Plan identifies projects in Los Angeles County that are expected
to be funded over the next 20 years. The projects included in this plan are reflected in the
SCAG's Regional Mobility Element (RME) for the south coast region. The MTA 20 -Year Plan
includes baseline projects (projects under construction or have full funding commitment) for the
following highway/high occupancy vehicle lane (HOV) projects related to the study area:
• Route I-405 HOV from Route 101 to Route I-5
• Route 118 HOV from Route I-5 to Ventura County Line
• Route 170 HOV from Route 101/134 to Route I-5
• Route 14 HOV from San Fernando Road to Escondido (in segments)
• Route 126 arterial widening
• Route 138 widening from Avenue T to 90th
The MTA's 20 -year plan identifies additional projects to be implemented in a 20 -year. timeframe:
• Route I-5 HOV from downtown Los Angeles to Route 14 (in segments)
• Route I-5/14, I-5/118 and 118/I-405 HOV interchanges
• Route 14 HOV from Route I-5 to San Fernando Road
• Route 14 HOV from Escondido to P-8 (in segments)
• Route 138 widening from 90th East to 165th
These improvements will lead to a network of HOV lanes which link the North County
communities of Lancaster, Palmdale and Santa Clarita with a fairly comprehensive network of
HOV lanes throughout Los Angeles County.
Community Arterial Network
Santa Clarita -has a network of four to six lane major arterial routes. Many of these are
relatively high-speed routes (45-55 mph speed limits) with limited traffic signals. The terrain
clusters development in linear canyons in some portions of the community, and major slopes,
the Santa Clara River, flood control channels, and utility corridors further restrict travel to
arterial routes. Sierra Highway and Soledad Canyon Road are major arterials which also carry
regional trips avoiding Route 14 during congested periods. A Caltrans plan to extend Route 126
from I-5 to Route 14 along the Santa Clara River was rejected. The City has plans to prepare
a new circulation element. New arterial routes are needed to reduce existing congestion and
allow for anticipated growth. However, the exact alignment of future, new arterials through the
center of the community is not resolved at this time.
Michael Fajans & Associates
Santa Clanta Transit Transportation Development Plan -draft final report 1.6
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1.2 INVEN'T'ORY OF TRANSPORTATION SERVICES
This section describes the various rail and bus transit services that exist or are under
consideration in the Santa Clarita area. It also briefly describes park-and-ride facilities that are
used by transit riders and those who car or van pool, as well as taxi and airport bus services.
Although many junior and high school students in Santa Clarita ride the transit system, there is
also school bus service provided by the Hart High School District.
Passenger Rail/Rail Transit Facilities
Metrolink. The Southern California Regional Rail Authority (SCRRA) operates Metrolink, a
i five -county commuter rail network of over 400 miles. Metrolink's five commuter routes all
■ connect at Union Station near downtown Los Angeles, where connections to other trains can be
made or where riders may board buses, vans or the Metro Red Line subway to downtown Los
Angeles locations. Metrolink's Santa Clarita line began service from downtown Los Angeles
to Santa Clarita's Saugus station in the fall of 1992. This station off Soledad Canyon Road
serves as a major transit center, including a bus ramp directly serving the station platform,
restroom facilities, passenger drop-off area, and a parking lot for about 500 vehicles.
When the 1994 Northridge earthquake destroyed the Route 5114 interchange, seriously disabling
access between the North County and the rest of Los Angeles County, an extension of Metrolink
from the Saugus station to Palmdale was immediately constructed. This extension added a
' second station in Santa Clarita at Via Princessa in - the Canyon Country area, a facility
accommodating about 420 parking spaces. Using the existing Saugus Metrolink Station
represents a five to ten minute backtrack for residents of Valencia or Newhall travelling to Los
Angeles. This discourages use by people in those neighborhoods. The City of Santa Clarita is
developing plans for a third station at Newhall which will improve access to rail service for
people living in Valencia and Newhall.
A total of 9 trains in each direction serve Santa Clarita each weekday, in the general time
periods outlined in the table below. Four of the 9 trains in each direction extend Metrolink
service to Lancaster. Santa Clarita buses meet trains terminating at Santa Clarita to provide
connections to Lancaster. Currently, Metrolink does not offer weekend service.
Metrolink ridership to or from the two Santa Clarita stations averages about 1,100 daily, or
about 275,000 trips annually. About 500 persons board the five AM peak period trains, of
which about 60% use the Saugus Station and 40% use the Via Princessa Station. There are a
M few but growing number who reverse commute to Santa Clarita although there are only two
reverse commute trains and their travel times are five to six minutes longer because of single
track sections. There is also limited commute travel from the Antelope Valley to the Santa
Clarita Station.
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Michael Fajans & Associates
Santa Qarita Transit Transportation Development PlandraJt final report 1.7
TABLE 1.1 METROLINK TRAINS SERVING SANTA CLARITA
SANTA CLARITA
Trains to Los Angeles
Trains from Los Angeles
Metrolink Line
a.m.
peak
mid-day
p.m. peak
a.m.
peak
mid-day
p.m. peak
Santa Clarita
Line
5
2
2 (includes
1 late)
2
2
5 (includes
1 late)
Metrolink fares vary according to howinany zones are passed during a trip. A minimum fare
of $3.50 is charged for travel within one zone, adding $1.00 for each successive zone for up to
seven zones. The following table summarizes typical travel times and fares between Santa
Clarita and selected destinations.
TABLE 1.2. SELECTED METROLINK TRAVEL TIMES AND FARES FROM
SANTA CLARITA
Travel Times
Selected Destinations
Fares
Saugus
Via Princessa
A) Sylmar/San Fernando
2 -Zone Adult Fares:*
A) 19 minutes
A) 24 minutes
B) Burbank
$4.50 one way
B) 30 minutes
B) 35 minutes
$8.00 round trip
$35.00 10 -trip ticket
$112.00 monthly pass
A) Glendale
3 -Zone Adult Fares:*
A) 36 minutes
A) 41 minutes
B) L.A. Union Station
$5.50 one way
B) 50 minutes
B) 55 minutes
$10.00 round trip
$45.00 10 -trip ticket
$144.00 monthly pass
Discounts offered for midday and evening off-peak trips, elderly/disabled, youth (age 6-18),
students of participating colleges and universities, and school groups. Children under 6 free ,
when accompanied by adult with ticket.
Santa Paula Branch. A railroad right-of-way exists on an east -west corridor connecting Santa
Clarita with Ventura .County (Fillmore and Santa Paula). A portion of the old railroad corridor
in Valencia has been displaced for development access; alternative linkages would need to be
identified. Newhall Ranch intends to preserve the segment of right-of-way within its ,
development area to allow for potential development into a rail passenger corridor, and has
indicated a desire to establish a rail station and associated park-and-ride to serve the area.
Metrolink -type service or "alternative rail technology" (referring to a self-propelled rail car
using diesel or an alternative fuel) have been discussed as ways to. provide passenger service
along this corridor. As of yet, no funding has been identified. The development of rail in this
Michael Fajans & Associates
Santa Clarita Transit Transportation Development Plan -draft final report 1.8 1
corridor would also allow a more direct trip from the Antelope Valley to the Santa Clarita
employment centers in the Valencia Industrial Center and Valencia Commerce Center.
Amtrak Routes. No Amtrak rail service operates through Santa Clarita. Of the eight trains
in each direction which travel between San Diego and Los Angeles, three of these trains in each
direction extend to Santa Barbara daily (four on weekends). Los Angeles County stations
northwest of Union Station include Glendale, Burbank Airport, Van Nuys, and Chatsworth.
Amtrak also offers train service between Bakersfield and the San Francisco Bay Area with four
trains in each direction daily. Once a day in each direction, an Amtrak bus drops off or picks
up passengers from the Hampton Inn in Santa Clarita in its route between Bakersfield and the
Los Angeles and Glendale Amtrak stations. A late night bus from San Diego to Bakersfield
makes a stop in Santa Clarita at 2:50 in the morning.
California Intercity High Speed Rail Corridor. A State commission is currently studying the
feasibility of a high speed rail system for California, connecting Northern and Southern
California. A recent decision has favored a Route 99 alignment which would link Los Angeles
Union Station to.Central Valley and Bay Area population centers. Plans anticipate a potential
Santa Clarita Station on the west side of I-5 between Valencia Boulevard and Magic Mountain
Parkway. An alternative routing would use a corridor via Route 14 to Palmdale and then to
Bakersfield via the Tehachapi Pass. A station would be located near the junction of Via
Princessa and Route 14 if that corridor was selected. Travel time to Union Station would be 20
to 25 minutes via a high speed rail link, depending on technology selected and noise impacts in
the urban area.
It is difficult to assess what impact high speed rail service would have on Santa Clarita. Some
limited stop commute trains are envisioned, but fare levels are likely to be considerably higher
than are current Metrolink fares. Implementation is unlikely until 2005 or 2010 at the earliest.
Some degree of commercial, tourist recreational (Magic Mountain related), or residential
development might cluster near the station, which would represent a modification of current
Santa Clarita land use policies.
Fixed Route Transit Services
Santa Clarita Transit, a function of the City, took over embryonic transit services in 1991 which
had been managed by Los Angeles County. Under the auspices of the City, a number of local
lines plus express service to downtown Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley have been
created or improved. As can be seen in the following tables, ridership has increased
tremendously during the past five years.
Regional Bus Service. Santa Clarita Transit operates one basic route with City owned vehicles,
the 799 line which provides express service from Santa Clarita to downtown Los Angeles,
supplementing Metrolink train service. Nine AM peak period trips leave the Saugus Metrolink
Station between 5:15am and 7:05am. Ten PM peak trips return, leaving 8th and Spring Streets
from 3:24pm to 6:45pm. This service was taken over from another operator in early 1992. In
1995, four reverse peak trips (identified as route 794) were initiated between downtown Los
Michael Fajans & Associates
Santa Qarita Transit Transportation Development Plan.drafl final report 1.9
Angeles and the Valencia Industrial Center, which is also where the City's maintenance and
storage facility for buses is located. This route uses buses which had previously been
deadheaded back to the maintenance facility (operated not in service) prior to initiation of the
route.
Ridership on the 799 service did not seem to be substantially affected by Metrolink rail service,
ridership is currently at the same levels as prior to initiation of rail service. Lower fare levels,
more commute trips, neighborhood stops in Valencia and Newhall which do not require patrons
to backtrack to the Saugus Station, and more direct service to downtown workplaces (no transfer
required at Union Station) seem to contribute to continued ridership following introduction of
rail service. While the service is productive in terms of ridership per trip, the cost per hour of
service provided, at approximately $95 to $115, was excessive compared to other Southern
California express operations.[ Some of the high cost relates to drivers paid to return to Santa
CMta after driving an express trip (two of three buses are left in Los Angeles, but the drivers
return with the third bus).
The City has sponsored three other routes since 1994, making permanent three routes that were
initiated after the Northridge Earthquake. Ten buses are utilized to operate three routes. Until
August 1996, these routes used equipment operated through a contract with Antelope Valley Bus
Incorporated. Route 795 supplements Metrolink service between Lancaster and Santa Clarita,
with three trips a day continuing to the County Olive View Medical Center in Sylmar. Route
796 operates five AM peak trips from Santa Clarita to Warner Center between 5AM and 7AM
and returns to Santa Clarita via Chatsworth as route 791. Route 798 provides five peak period
trips from Santa Clarita to Van Nuys, with return trips to the Valencia Industrial Center as route
793. The route numbers reverse during the afternoon peak period when the 798 operates from
Van Nuys to Santa Clarita and the 793 from Santa Clarita to Van Nuys. With the additional
service made permanent during the 1994-95 fiscal year, annual commute express ridership of
95,000 to 114,000 patrons increased to 178,000 riders.
The City of Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) operates a route (Line 573)
connecting Santa Clarita with the San Fernando Valley and Westwood and Century City. It is
an extension of a route that operated between Granada Hills and Century City and uses Balboa
Boulevard between Granada Hills and Encino. There are four trips in the morning peak and five
in the afternoon.
Local Bus Service. Figure 1.3 illustrates local fixed -route bus service in Santa Clarita. A
summary of bus routes and service characteristics is presented in Appendix A. There are eight
all day routes, mostly operated every 30 minutes from 5am to 8pm on weekdays and from 8am
to 7:30pm on Saturdays (some routes once an hour). The 10 and 20 route are the same except
for branches to Castaic (10) and Val Verde (20) which are each provided hourly service and the
See Appendix B. Santa Monica and Torrance operate two way express service, with fewer deadhead hours
required. Note that the effective hourly cost of this service was reduced when the City started a new operating
contract in August 1996.
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Santa Qarita Transit Transportation Development Plan -draft final report 1,10
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15 and 25 which have hourly branches to the Senior Center in Newhall (15) and Calgrove
Boulevard (25).
TABLE 1.3. FIXED ROUTE TRANSIT ROUTES IN SANTA CLARITA
Operator
Routes
Santa Clarita Transit
Local: 10, 15, 20, 25, 30/31, 35, 40, 50
Fare Category
Special routes: 5, 55, 60, 65
Express: 791/796 to Warner Center & Chatsworth
793/798 to Van Nuys
794/799 to downtown Los Angeles
Lines 791,
795 to Lancaster & Sylmar
LADOT
573 to Westwood & Century City
Overall, Santa Clarita Transit operates a peak fleet of 28 vehicles for fixed route local and
express buses, which is a similar size as other Los Angeles County operators such as Antelope
Valley Transit Authority, Montebello, Gardena and Torrance. Over 1.35 million annual
passengers were carried on the local fixed route services during the 1995-96 fiscal year. Table
1.4 indicates fare levels and Table 1.5 summarizes total system operating data for Santa Clarity
Transit as produced for .the MTA Table L-6.TPM/TDA Form (including dial -a -ride services,
described in the following section).
TABLE 1.4. SANTA CLARITA TRANSIT AND LADOT FARES
Santa Clarita
Santa Clarita Transit Express
LADOT-
Fare Category
Transit -Local
Express
Lines 791,
Lines 794,
Line 573
793, 796,798
795,799
One -Way Fare:
- Adult
$0.75
$2.50
$3.00
$1.90 to SFV
$2.30 to
- Student
$0.50
$1.25
$1.50
Century City
Under age 5 free
Under 5 free
Under 5 free
- Seniors/Disabled
$0.25
$1.25
$1.50
Monthly Pass:
- Adult
$20.00
$70.00
$100.00
$66 to SFV
$78 to Century
- Student, Seniors,
$10.00
$35.00
$50.00
City
Disabled
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Santa Carita Transit Transportation Development Plandraft final report 1.12
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The statistics in Table 1.5 compare favorably with most similar transit, operations with the
exception of the ratio of vehicle service hours to total vehicle hours for the express service, as
described previously in terms of operating cost. The cost of the dial -a -ride service, at
approximately 22% of the overall transit operating budget, is also high compared to other
Southern California communities where it can be as low as four to five percent (Montebello and
Torrance). However, there are other cities that do spend as high a percentage of transit
expenditure on dial -a -ride service.
TABLE 1.5.. SANTA CLARITA TRANSIT FISCAL YEAR 1995 OPERATING
DATA
Total Annual
Local Fixed-
Route Service
Express Fixed-
Route Service
Dial -a-
Ride
System
Total
Total Vehicle Miles (000)
1,295
224
379
1,898
Vehicle Service Miles (000)
1,164
183
311
1,658
Total Vehicle Hours (000)
67
15
25
107
Vehicle Service Hours
(000)
60
7
23
90
Peak Vehicles
19
9
9
37
Unlinked Passengers (000)
1,106
107
60
1,273
Passenger Revenues (000)
$453
$301
$19
$773
Operating Cost less
Depreciation (000)
$2,721
$816
$1,000
$4,537
Base Fare
$0.75
$3.00
$0.75
A comparison of how Santa Clarita's operating statistics compare to similar -sized operators in
Los Angeles County is found in Appendix B. For fixed route local service, Santa Clarita shows
an efficient operating cost per vehicle service hour, but tends to carry fewer passengers per
service hour than other operators in Los Angeles County. This is predictable since other
operators are in more urban environments.
Table 1.6 exhibits trends in Santa Clarita Transit's fixed route local service. Review of progress
over the past four years indicates that the Santa Clarita Transit fixed route network is steadily
improving in terms of passenger productivity indicators. Ridership has increased by
approximately 235% while the number of vehicle revenue hours increased by about 60%.
Passengers per revenue vehicle hour has been increasing while the subsidy per passenger trip
has been significantly reduced. During 1995-96, ridership has grown by 23% compared to
1994-95, and passengers per revenue hour averaged approximately 22, an increase of 18% in
productivity from 1994-95.
Michael Fajans & Associates
Santa Clarita Transit Transportation Development Plan,draJt final report 1.13
TABLE 1.6. SANTA CLARITA TRANSIT LOCAL FIXED ROUTE OPERATING
TRENDS
Year
Annual
revenue hrs.
Annual
passengers
Passengers/
rev. hr.
Subsidy/
passenger
% Farebox
return
1991-92
39,579
406,168
10.2
$337
7.1%
1992-93
48,778
769,137
15.8
$2.37
9.4%
1993-94
53,391
859,792
17.2
$1.68
20.1%
1994-95
60,028
1,107,068
18.4
$1.83
18.2%
1995-96
62,760
1,366,614
21.8
$1.55
17.9%
Dial -a -Ride Service
The City of Santa Clarita also provides demand -responsive service using a fleet of 14 ADA -
compliant paratransit vans and small buses. Curb -to -curb service is available to elderly and
disabled residents from 6:00 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
on Saturday, with no Sunday service. While many communities limit dial -a -ride service to the
disabled who require dedicated service, Santa Clarita Transit's dial -a -ride service carries many
seniors who prefer the door to door service but whom could probably utilize fixed route service.
Peak usage periods are from 8AM to 4PM when 8-9 paratransit vehicles are used. Only 2-4
vehicles are utilized prior to 7AM or after SPM. The general public can use this service
weekdays from 6:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. when fixed route service ends for the night. The fare
is $:75 for adults, students, seniors, and the disabled. Trips can be made for any purpose, and
there are no restrictions to the amount of trips that can be taken per day, as long as space is
available.
Ridership surveys indicate that 42% of riders use the service for medical appointments, and 20%
use it to access the Senior Center. The remainder of trips are for a variety of shopping, work,
and miscellaneous trips. The Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital Adult Day Care program contracts
with the dial -a -ride service for the transportation of its clients. A 24-hour advance notice is
desired for reservations. Key operating characteristics of Santa CMta's dial -a -ride service are
included in the table summarizing fixed route operating characteristics. At a cost of more than
$16 per ride, the Santa Clarita dial -a -ride service tends toward the higher end, although there
are systems which cost up to $24 per trip. The most efficient dial -a -ride services provide
service for $7 to $10 per trip (Arcadia, Claremont, La Mirada, and Redondo Beach).
After three years of approximately 51,000 annual riders, almost 60,000 trips were made on the
dial -a -ride system during the 1994-95 fiscal year. Ridership was down about three percent
during 1995-96 compared to the 1994-95 high. As described previously, at 22% of the overall
transit budget, Santa Clarita devotes a high proportion of its transit resources to the dial -a -ride
service.
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Park -and -Ride Facilities
The following lists major park-and-ride facilities in Santa Clarita. Four locations offer transit
connections; the other six are oriented toward carpool use and are not served by transit.
TABLE 1.7. SANTA CLARITA PARK-AND-RIDE FACILITIES
Name and Location
Transit Connection
Approx.
%
spaces
occupied
Santa Clarita Transit Center
Metrolink; SCT 10, 15, 20,
500
60%
22122 Soledad Canyon Road
25, 30, 35, 40, 50, 55, 796,
798,799
Princessa Metrolink
Metrolink; SCT 795
400
42%
18646 Via Princessa/Rte 14
Mann Theater
SCT 796, 798
175
35%
23415 W. Cinema Drive at Valencia Blvd
Newhall - West Lot
SCT 795, 796, 798, 799;
50
180%
20516 San Fernando Road, west of Rte 14
LADOT 573
Newhall - East Lot
None
32
168%
20100 San Fernando Road, east of Rte 14
Oak Creek
None
130
34%
23610 San Fernando Rd, 'h mi.west of Rte 14
Lutheran Church
None
40
20%
27265 Luther Drive, Canyon Country
College of the Canyons
None
100
67%
25000 Valencia Blvd, adjacent to I-5
(no weekend parking)
Price Club
None
110
98%
18649 Via Princessa at Sierra Hwy
Golden Valley
None
340
48%
Route 14 at Golden Valley Rd (3 lots)
C....--- --" ------ - - - -
-
- - -
.,..u...� ,V, ,U, spaces au,u ucwupancy races: -tirajr - ivonn Los Angeles Lounty Mobility Implementation
Plan,." Meyer, Mohaddes Associates, February 1996, Table 6-1.
It is evident that additional spaces are desirable at the junction of San Fernando Road and Route
14 (both on the west and east sides). Besides these lots, most of the park-and-ride facilities still
have underused capacity.
Michael Fajans & Associates
Sarna G7arita Transit Transportation Development Plan -draft final report 1.15
Taxi Services
Taxi service is provided in the Santa Clarita area by the Checker Cab and Eagle Cab
Companies. ,Both companies charge an "enter cab" fee of $1.30 to $1.90 and a per -mile charge
of $1.60. There is no taxi voucher system in effect to subsidize taxi service.
School Bus Transportation
Each of the elementary school districts provides bus service. The William S. Hart Union High
School District has four high schools and four junior high schools in the Santa Clarita area. The
district has a total of 46 buses, 14 are large buses used to transport the general student
population to and from school, and the remainder are used for field trips and sports events, are
spares, or are smaller vehicles used for special education needs. In response to financial
problems, the district started charging students for school buses in 1991 and increased the
distance from school required to qualify for transportation. The fee is now $100 per semester,
and the payment is due to the central office in one payment. The result has been that many
students have shifted to use Santa Clarity Transit where a student monthly pass costs $10, or
only $50 per semester and the students can use the buses anytime. Prior to charging a fee, the
school district carried approximately 2,500 students each way to the junior and high schools.
Now, only about 900 to 1,000 students use the school buses and the remainder use Santa Clarita
Transit, walk, or get rides to school.
Airport Access
Residents of Santa. Clarita generally use the Burbank -Glendale -Pasadena Airport or the Los
Angeles International Airport (LAX) for commercial airline flights. Besides taxi service, the
following options are available for transportation to and from the airport:
• Van Nuys Fly -Away Shuttle. Passengers can drive and park their automobiles, or take
a Santa Clarita 793 or 798 bus to the Van Nuys Fly -Away bus terminal location at
Woodley Avenue/Saticoy in Van Nuys. Shuttle service between Van Nuys and LAX is
every 15 minutes in the morning peak (5 a.m. to 8 a.m.), then every 30 minutes until
1 a.m. About five trips are available between I a.m. and 5 a.m. Fares are $3.50/adult
one-way and $6.00/adult round trip. Parking is $1.00 per 24 hours.
• Antelope Valley Airport Express. This service only offers a single stop in Santa Clarita
during its route between Lancaster and LAX. Curbside pick-up and drop-off occurs in
Newhall at San Fernando Road/Route 14 (Carls Jr. lot). Seven trips are made daily
about every 2 hours; between Santa Clarita and LAX is about an hour. The one-way
fare is $20 per person.
• Valencia Airport Shuttles. Door-to-door service offered 24 hours a day in the Valencia
area only takes passengers to LAX or the Burbank airport. While fares depend on
destination and size of group (up to 6 allowed), a cash one-way fare for one person is
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$37 to LAX and $30 to Burbank. Advance reservation of 48 hours is recommended.
Trips take about an hour to LAX and 30 minutes to Burbank.
Of course, travel patterns and options to the.airport would change greatly if the Palmdale Airport
is expanded for commercial use.
1.3 ACTIVITY CENTERS
Santa Clarita has several attractors which may be desirable to link transit service. Table 1.8
indicates those uses which are identified as the major activity centers in the community. To
identify potential attractors, one factor would be to identify large-scale employers. Although
many of the jobs are seasonal, Six Flags Magic Mountain is the largest singleemployer in the
TABLE 1.8. SANTA CLARITA ACTIVITY CENTERS
Activity Center
Location
Existing Transit Connections
(Route A)
Six Flags Magic Mountain
Magic Mtn Parkway west of Rte 5
#30 weekday
#10/20 Saturday
College of the Canyons
Valencia Blvd/Rockwell Canyon
#15/25 weekdays
California Institute of the Arts
McBean Parkway/Tournament Rd
#15/25 weekdays, Saturday
The Masters College
Placenta Canyon Rd/Quigley
None
Canyon Rd
Valencia Town Center/
Valencia Blvd/McBean Pkwy
All SCT routes weekdays, Saturday
Government Center
Santa Clarita Valley Senior
22900 Market Street
#15 weekdays, Saturday
Center (Newhall)
Valencia Industrial Center
Ave Stanford/Rye Cyn Rd
#5, 10/20 weekdays
Mayo Newhall Memorial
McBean Pkwy/Orchard Village Rd
#35 weekdays, Saturday
Hospital
#55, 65 schooldays
#15/25 Saturday
William Hart Union High
24825 N. Newhall Ave.
#35 weekdays, Saturday
#55, 65, select #15/25, 50
schooldays
Saugus High
21900 W. Centurion
select #40 schooldays
Canyon High
19300 W. Nadal St.
select #10 schooldays
Valencia High
27801 N. Dickason
#55, select #10/20 schooldays
Michael Faianr & Associates
Santa Banta Transit Transportation Development Plandraft final report 1.17
community, with 3,000 jobs. Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital, with almost 1,100
employees, is another large employer, while H.R. Textron, the largest single employer in the
Valencia Industrial Center, has approximately 750 employees. The regional U.S. Post Office
facility in the Valencia Commerce Center is building up to approximately 1,800 employees, the
largest single employer which does not have transit service available for its employees. There
are many other employers with 200 to 500 employees, including the colleges, the City, and
commercial and industrial firms. Over 1,000 persons are employed at Town Center, but at a
variety of retail firms.
Transit service would be desirable where very large employers or clusters of employment are �.
found. Also desirable are locations which attract additional. populations who may want to use
public transit (e.g., tourists, students, elderly and disabled).
Practically all of the activity centers identified above offer some level of transit service. The
exception is The Masters College, located on Placenta Canyon Road. Because of locked gates,
public or transit access are not permitted on Placenta Canyon Road between The Masters
College and Sierra Highway.
1.4 CONSTRAINTS TO TRANSIT SERVICE
One of the tasks of this long-range transit plan is to identify "service deficiencies" among current
transportation services. In this context, "service deficiencies" refers to a transportation planning
term -of -art which does not imply that there is currently inefficient service. Indeed, Santa Clarita
Transit is a progressively run, rapidly expanding, diversely serving and uniquely productive
operation which, in addition to facing the normal challenges of transit in a suburban
environment, faces unusual challenges to service patterns which result from the configuration
of the community's land use and street network, a configuration primarily dictated by terrain,
major drainage courses, and utility rights of way. The following general elements of service
deficiency can be noted:
• There are some areas of the community which are not presently practical to serve
because of street pattern considerations. Other areas are not able to be served within the
limitations of present available resources.
• There are some features of the community's development which are not particularly
"transit friendly" - which make it difficult to deliver attractive transit service or difficult
for people to conveniently access the reasonably available transit service. Some of these
features may be subject to remedial actions. Others stand as lessons of things not to be
replicated in future development. Still others pose a contradiction; the very aspects
which are in some substantial senses transit unfriendly are also at the very root of Santa
Clarita Transit's ability to provide area coverage, service frequency and quick point-to-
point movement within the resources at its disposal.
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I• In most established communities the bulk of a transit system's operating pattern remains
static for.lengthy periods of time. Change is infrequent and incremental. By contrast,
Santa Clarita and the surrounding area serviced by its transit system is a rapidly growing
community. Growth is not just concentrated on the fringes of current development.
There are vast infill areas and transportation network additions which will affect
movement patterns and opportunities across the existing community. In a community
growing rapidly in this particular manner, major changes in service pattern may be
indicated to keep pace. In just a year or two from now a pattern that is reasonable and
logical today may be dotted with concentrations of unserviced opportunities and unmet
needs in a configuration that defies incremental change.
The challenge in such a community is to establish service patterns which anticipate major
land use/network change and yet retain enough stability and sense of route pattern logic
to maintain and build on the ridership habits of current patrons. In Santa Clarita it
appears considerably. more important to establish service structure which responds to the
rapidly emerging pattern of the community than to expend energies on serving the small
pockets and enclaves of potential existing ridership demand which may not be well served
or practically served by the present operation.
• Santa Clarita Transit's local lines operate on a pulse system focused on the Saugus
Metrolink station. The system is focused there partly because Metrolink is a significant
boarding and alighting point for numbers of riders. But more importantly, the Metrolink
station happens to be an available space where the vehicles from all of Santa Clarita's
local routes can meet simultaneously in a terminal environment. However, the Metrolink
station may not be the most important concentration of boardings and alightings or
crossroads of the local route system. A terminal closer to the logical focus of the route
system and destination concentration could offer more attractive serviceand free
operating resources currently expended in the "backtracking" and "multi -lining"
necessitated by the current location of the pulse terminal at the Metrolink station.
• Santa Clarita Transit operates a number of commute lines both with its own fleet and
through contracts with other operators. In general these operations appear logical and
productive. However, there may be ways of increasing attractiveness and efficiency of
some commute lines and opportunities for additional productive services to other
destinations, including "lifeline service" to the San Fernando Valley. There may also be
opportunities to sponsor or assist club buses, bus pools, or van pools to markets which
do not justify scheduled public bus service.
• Santa Clarita Transit achieves the excellent service coverage, quality of service and
productivity it currently does within the resources it has at its disposal largely because
of very favorable operating costs and because it is able to operate its local lines at an
average system speed 50% faster than suburban norms. As the community and the
system matures, these advantages are likely to become less marked. A challenge will be
to find new operating efficiencies and new resources to maintain the present quality and
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Santa Qanta Transit Transportation Development Plan -draft final report 1.19
productivity of service in a future cost and operating environment less favorable than the
present one.
Detailed discussion of the above general observations follows.
Route Coverage and Community Transit Accessibility
Santa Clarita Transit provides half-hour service on a route system which provides reasonable
transit accessibility between most residential areas of the community and most activity centers.
Particularly good access is provided to Town Center and the Saugus Metrolink station. The
route pattern is a logical one given the configuration and constraints of the major street system
and the locations of principal activity centers in the community.
If one considers the standard transit route coverage criterion of a quarter mile bandwidth to each
side of each route - a zone that generally reflects the maximum distance most people are readily
willing to walk to transit - approximately 40 percent of the community population is not served
by regular transit service, as shown in Figure 1.4. Stevenson Ranch is only served by a school
tripper and low density development in Sand Canyon south of Highway 14 is unserved.
Significant portions of Saugus and new development along McBean Parkway north of Newhall
Ranch Road are not served by existing routes. Most community activity centers are well within
the "bandwidth" of at least one route; a notable exception is The Masters College in the "central
triangle". The fact that the "Princessa" Metrolink station is only served by one line and that
only peripherally is unimportant since all the local lines come into the "Santa Clarita" station
at Saugus.
However, an assessment based on simple bandwidths is misleading and tends to significantly
overstate the real level of transit accessibility in the community.. Simple bandwidth is an
accurate measure of real transit accessibility only where there is a regular, closely spaced grid
of readily traversable paths directly to the transit route. In Santa Clarita, a closely spaced
infrastructure of readily traversable direct paths to transit is frequently. absent. Aqueducts,
drainage courses, and electrical transmission corridors are prevalent barriers in the community.
And much of the newer development is in walled neighborhoods with internalized "pocket
patterns" of curvilinear streets. These constraints are also reflected on Figure 1.4. For
example, while central portions of Valencia appear to be within a quarter mile of Route 50 on
San Fernando Road, there is no way for pedestrians to get across the south fork of the Santa
Clara River which separates the neighborhood from San Fernando Road from south of Magic
Mountain Parkway.
As a result of the barriers and the neighborhood patterns, the distance along the actual paths
people must follow to access a transit route is frequently double, triple or more the direct linear
distance from their homes to the apparently nearest transit route. This problem and potential
responses to it are subsequently discussed under the topic of "transit -friendliness". The point
here is to simply note that real transit accessibility in Santa Clarita in many areas of the
community is less than half the apparent accessibility level indicated in the simple bandwidth
analysis and that, while the coverage density of service which Santa Clarita Transit places on
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the street compares favorably with suburban norms, there is much accessibility work to be done
for the community to realize .the full benefit of this level of service.
Route Pattern
Local Service. Santa Clarita Transit's route pattern is a logical one given the configuration and
confines of the area's major street system and the locations of community activity centers.
However, two particular aspects of street system configuration and activity center location place
particular stress on the transit route structure: the absence of a continuous collector or arterial
street across the "central triangle" and the location of the system's pulse terminal at the
Metrolink station. Absence of a continuous street across the middle of the "central triangle"
dictates the awkward route of the 50 line (almost like a giant circle with a long tail) and causes
inability to provide a practical, efficiently routed, accessible service for much of the existing
development within the triangle.
The "pulse terminal" at the Saugus Metrolink station is off -center to the logical crossroads of
the route structure, resulting in a loss of potential operating efficiency as compared to a terminal
closer to the logical system crossroads. Addressing both these matters, currently active elements
in planning, will enable more effective service delivery to the community within the available
transit resources. A related consideration in development of a more efficient route structure is
the possibility of a new Newhall Metrolink station. Details of these considerations are discussed
below.
Previous community planning envisioned an east -west roadway link connecting the presently
unlinked easterly and westerly segments of Via Princessa and connecting Wiley Canyon Road
across the south fork of the Santa Clara River, San Fernando Road and the railroad tracks to Via
Princessa. Community opposition has discouraged the Wiley Canyon Road extension. Another
alternative currently being considered would link the disconnected segments of Via Princessa
with one another and with an easterly extension of Magic Mountain Boulevard. Another
possibility might be to link an easterly extension of Lyons Avenue to the completed Via
Princessa. With some east -west roadway continuity in the manner of the above alternatives, it
would be possible to provide better service from Canyon Country to the colleges and
employment centers in Valencia without as long a route as is presently utilized by Route 50.
Without some form of such a continuous east west link, practical and efficient service to existing
and future developed areas within the "central triangle" will never be possible. The logical
crossroads and destination concentration of the Santa Clarita Transit route structure - the most
desirable location for a "pulse terminal" - is in the immediate vicinity of Town Center. The
present "pulse terminal" at the Saugus Metrolink station adds over 3 miles to each run on several
of the lines as compared to a logical location at the Town Center crossroads. The frequency of
train service and the local transit patronage the trains generate does not justify the route mileage
costs of bringing all the lines there on all runs all day except for the fact of the absence of a
suitable terminal at Town Center. This is not to fault the choice of the present "pulse terminal".
In a system like Santa Clarita's, a pulse terminal is clearly needed; the site was available and
suitable for the function; it is not a bad location if one close to Town Center is unavailable. The
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fundamental point is that a pulse terminal at Town Center would create the opportunity to make
more efficient use of the community's transit operating resource.
Local transit always faces the question of how to strike a balance between linear arterial routes
and meandering local street routes. On arterial routes buses can move quickly from point to
point across the community but access to the bus line is distant for many people. On the more
meandering neighborhood street routes, access to the line is much closer for many more people.
But travel times from point to point across the community are often painfully slow. In Santa
Clarita the question of arterial vs. local routes is really not much of an issue. Santa Clarita
Transit is predominantly an arterial system and will remain so. This is because the local street
system in the already built neighborhoods is far too discontinuous to support local routings of
1 even minimal reasonable efficiency and because the local street system in the yet to be built
areas is certain to be similarly discontinuous due to the dominating considerations of severe
terrain and barriers imposed by drainage courses, aqueducts and other utility corridors. With
that recognition, emphasis must be placed on the "transit -friendliness" elements of community
fabric (as discussed below) to make the arterial -based system as accessible to people as practical.
Regional Bus Service. All commute express services operate from the Saugus Metrolink
Station, providing local bus connections as well as parking. They travel via the Cinema park-
and-ride lot, Valencia Boulevard, McBean Parkway, Orchard Village Road, Lyons Avenue, and
San Fernando Road to Route 14, making limited stops with a final one at the informal park-and-
ride lot at San Fernando Road and Sierra Highway, adjacent to the entry to Route 14. The
' advantage of this routing is that each express destination is provided via a single express route
with good 15 to 30 minute frequencies during commute periods. However, the disadvantage of
this route is 24 minutes of travel time from the Metrolink station to Route 14, plus travel time
to access the Metrolink station. The overcrowded condition of park-and-ride facilities at San
Fernando and Sierra appears to reflect customer desire• to minimize travel time. Thus, as the
community grows, it may be desirable to have some trips access the freeway more directly.
Potential routings are suggested in the Potential Opportunities for Service Enhancement section.
Transit -friendly Community Features
There are many large and small details of a community's fabric that crucially affect how well
or poorly a community is able to take advantage of given set of transit services. In a transit -
friendly community, one in which the fabric is structured to make it easy for people to get to
and from transit and easy for transit to get from place to place and close to the places where
people want to go, transit may attract many "choice" riders. In an unfriendly community fabric,
the same level of transit service is likely to attract only "transit -dependents". A transit -friendly
community fabric makes transit more productive and a greater asset to the community.
Following are ways Santa Clarita can. improve the transit -friendliness of the community fabric.
Sidewalks and paved waiting places. Sidewalks and paved waiting places are notably absent
on many segments along Santa Clarita Transit's routes including near many of the logical
boarding and alighting points. The choice of walking and waiting in wet and muddy grass after
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Santa Carita Transit Transportation Development Plan -draft final report 1.23
the sprinklers have been on or walling and waiting within the travelled way of an arterial street
is clearly discouraging to potential transit riders. While it is often difficult to retrofit sidewalks
in built residential environments, Santa Clarita should definitely mount a program to place paved
waiting pads at all bus stops and to build those essential paths leading to them which can be
constructed without intruding on sensitive established environments.
Access to paseos. An outstanding feature of Santa Clarita's development in the Valencia
community is the paseo system, a system of walking/jogging/biking trails through the community
generally separate from the street system. The paseo system even includes grade -separated
crossings of the busier arterial streets at numerous places. The paseo system has the potential
to offset some of the impediment to transit access posed by the community's predominant local
street pattern of internalized enclaves. However, where some of the earliest paseos cross transit
streets, pedestrian access is prevented between the paseo and curbside where the buses would
stop. At the newer paseo crossings, access is provided but is sometimes circuitous, obscure and
uninviting. The following actions could resolve this deficiency:
• retrofit the older paseo crossings to provide reasonable access to bus routes.
• place paved waiting pads in logical positions at all paseo crossings of bus routes.
• provide reasonably direct and readily visible access between paseos and bus routes in
new developments.
Access to "internal" streets. As previously noted, the dominant local street pattern in Santa
Clarita is one of internalized enclaves walled off from the arterials and major collectors where
transit runs. In some of the newer neighborhoods, the difficulty this street.pattern poses for
transit access is overcome by providing pedestrian passages where streets stub -up at or run along
the boundary walls. An effective treatment is leaving a gap in the main wall at a point fronted
by a short parallel wall a few feet closer to streetside. This treatment maintains the noise
protection and visual privacy of the enclave community while facilitating direct pedestrian access
to transit. It would be reasonably practical from physical and cost standpoints to retrofit such
pedestrian accesses in existing neighborhoods. However, such action might prove extremely
controversial among neighbors who value the sense of privacy that the established pattern
provides. Any attempt to provide retrofit pedestrian access in this manner should be undertaken
in a low-key, pilot project manner and any individual proposals which meet significant resistance
should be quickly withdrawn.
A more important point is to make sure that this type of pedestrian accessibility is built into new
neighborhoods at every reasonable opportunity. Santa Clarita is a community which will never
be able to implement in any substantial way the neo -traditional grid street pattern favored by
transit planners (because of the constraints of severe terrain, drainage courses, aqueducts and
other utility corridors). Independent pedestrian access is a primary way Santa Clarita can make
its "enclave neighborhood" patterns have a transit friendliness approaching that of the neo-
traditional grid.
Access across drainage courses and utility barriers. The barriers to transit access posed by
drainage courses, aqueducts and utility corridors has been noted at several points above. While
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good work has been done in developing pedestrian/bike trails along these corridors, the transit
lines run in parallel to them and the challenge is to find more ways to get across them. In
addition to bridges which involve considerable expense, the possibility of "seasonal crossings" -
hardened at -grade travel surfaces across drainage courses which would simply be unavailable at
times of high water - could be considered.
Access across arterials. In the paseo system, Santa Clarita has done an outstanding job of
developing a community -wide network of pedestrian -bicycle paths grade separated from busy
arterials, a system unmatched in most suburban environments. However, along some of the
arterial streets where Santa Clarita Transit operates, the pedestrian environment is not nearly so
friendly as on the paseos. A number of the points where pedestrians must cross arterials to get
to or from transit stops are intimidating, unprotected from high speed traffic or very
inconvenient. Where such conditions are severe, the effect is that the public has practical access
to only one direction of the transit route's operations.
Two conditions are of primary concern. One involves high speed arterials where there no traffic
signals providing protected crossings in proximity to transit stops where the pattern of
surrounding development indicates likely need for pedestrian crossings to access one direction
of the line (and where grade separated crossings are nowhere nearby). Segments of Soledad
Canyon Road provide examples of this condition. The other condition is where there is traffic
signal protection but where the street is so wide that the timing of the pedestrian crossing phase
provides insufficient time for a slow walker to cross the entire street width. If the median refuge
' is narrow, the crossing seems more than just inconvenient; it is intimidating.
Part of this problem will naturally be addressed as the community develops and infills. New
1 grade separations across arterials will be built on new segments of the paseos and community
trails systems. Presently unsignalized intersections will be signalized as infill increases cross -
street traffic volumes. With attention to details of access from the paseos to transit stops and
' to pedestrian crossing needs at signalized intersections, a substantial portion of the current
problem will eventually be solved by ongoing development. However, that long-term eventuality
is of little satisfaction at locations where there are pressing present needs, at locations which do
not fall within the natural scope of planned future development, or at locations where
development incorporating the potential remedy is many years off. Following are some near
term remedies to be considered.
' The City has already received regional approval for a State transportation grant of $680,000 in
Transit Enhancement Action funds to improve pedestrian access to transit at 25 locations
including five new interconnected signals with pedestrian actuation along Soledad Canyon Road.
While the current grant project will address some of the more obviously difficult unprotected
crossings on the system, revisitation of this grant source or committing local "highway" funding
to fund signals at locations along transit routes where need is clear but funding from
development sources seems doubtful is a logical future direction. However, even a pedestrian
activated signal cannot be installed unless demand meets Caltrans warrants for signals.
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Part of the problem at existing signalized intersections may be that some of the public do not
'
understand what the pedestrian signal indications mean, or that their walking speed is such that
they cannot cross the arterial on one light. This can be a particularly important aspect for
seniors who are an important component of transit ridership. Among the efforts that can be
taken to address this concern are the following:
• Place in
articles transit and community service publications explaining the proper
interpretation of pedestrian signal indications at median -divided crossings.
• Follow the lead of other communities in placing supplementary placards over pedestrian
phase actuation buttons. The placards indicate whether the interval provides time for full
or only median -width crossingfor normal -paced individuals.
• In new and retrofit intersection design projects, provide median widths which afford
comfortable rather than just minimally adequate (our understanding is that the courts have
,
held that medians as narrow as 2 feet wide constituted adequate) pedestrian refuge.
• If there are existing intersections which do not provide full crossing intervals, consider
extending the cycle and phases proportionately or other reasonable retiming strategies as
necessary to provide full pedestrian crossing intervals.
Street patterns. Modern transit planners favor the neo -traditional grid street pattern as a transit -
friendly environment. The "modern suburban" pattern of walled pocket neighborhoods with
curvilinear local streets which are linked to a network of arterials and collectors but.not to the
'
local streets of adjacent neighborhoods is viewed as the antithesis of a transit -friendly
environment. Most of Santa Clarita has developed on the "modern suburban" pattern. It is very
unlikely that this could change to a significant degree in the yet to be built portions of the
community. The pattern of development in Santa Clarita is largely dictated by severe terrain,
drainage courses, utility corridors and the influences of the already built street and neighborhood
pattern; not by planner/designer preference. Local street discontinuity, curvilinear forms and
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pocket neighborhoods are inevitable here.
The keys to making developing areas in Santa Clarita transit -friendly lie in assuring that the
pedestrian links to transit replicate the level of accessibility possible in a grid neighborhood (as
discussed extensively earlier) and that the arterial -collector network is of a pattern which permits
logical and efficient routings through the community at a density which provides broad area
coverage. In this latter regard, key matters appear to be such additional east -west links as the
planned extensions of Newhall Ranch Road and of Decoro Drive and development of the less
clearly defined network across the central triangle of the community. Continuity of The Old
Road along the west side of I-5 will also allow creation of more logical transit service to
growing residential and commercial areas along that corridor.
One consideration which has a key effect on whether the pattern of the street network is
conducive to efficient service by transit is the prevalent existence of gated communities with '
private streets. The difficulty with gated communities is that they tend to preclude transit
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Santa Clarita Transit Transportation Development Plan -draft final report 1,26 1
service to more than just the gated area. By making logical, efficient routings into adjacent
neighborhoods impossible, they have the effect of denying the possibility of transit service to
significant portions of the City. Current examples which adversely affect transit service include
gates blocking a connection from Calgrove Boulevard to Valley Street, Placenta Canyon, and
discontinuity of Rainbow Glen Drive between Soledad Canyon Road and Sierra Highway. From
a transit perspective, General Plan policies which prevent development in new gated
communities or additional development in existing ones. (this latter with an eye to provide
incentive to getting rid of existing gates) would be desirable.
Another aspect of street form that affects the transit -friendliness of a community involves the
use of "tum -outs". These are widened areas of the roadway at bus stops where transit vehicles
1 can make their stop without obstructing the normal travel lane. On relatively low-volume
streets, turn -outs add general benefit: a convenience factor for motorists and a safety element
for transit. On high volume streets, particularly those with high speed profiles, turnouts
continue to enhance convenience for motorists but tend to reduce transit operation efficiency.
This is because of the difficulty transit vehicles have in merging back into the dense, high speed
traffic in the travel lane once they have pulled into the turnout. In general, turnouts should only
be employed on the busier, high-speed arterials and collectors where they can be developed with
sufficient length to provide a satisfactory acceleration lane for transit vehicles.
' Shopping center form. In the modern suburban shopping center, the actual shops are set back
a considerable distance from the road(s) and the shop buildings are fronted or surrounded by
' auto parking. Banks and fast-food restaurants with drive up windows are placed closest to
streets and intersection comers. The transit patron dropped at streetside must typically walk
across vast areas of parking and circulation aisles to reach the shops. If transit is invited in to
i drop its passengers at the actual shopping concourse, everyone with a destination elsewhere is
subjected to an off-line deviation while the transit vehicle wanders through the parking aisles.
Neither situation is conducive to optimum attractiveness of transit. The setback shopping center
is.also discouraging to the general walking environment, affecting access to transit stops by other
people who have nothing directly to do with the shopping centers themselves. Remedies include:
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• Provide clear paths between transit stops and the shopping concourse. The paths should
be as reasonably direct as practical and minimize the need to cross circulation aisles or
weave between parking stalls.
• In new development emphasize placing shop buildings close to the street frontages and
intersection corners where they can be accessed readily by pedestrians and transit riders.
Put the auto parking in back. Put the drive -up banks and fast-food outlets at the back
of the parking lot where their traffic will interfere least with everyone else (including
street traffic).
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Growth and Infill: Productivity Increase vs. Operating Efficiency Decrease. ,
It has been previously noted that Santa Clarita Transit achieves the good area coverage and ,
schedule frequency it now does with the resources at its' disposal because it is able to operate
at an average system speed roughly 50% faster than the typical suburban local service average.
It achieves these speeds for two primary reasons; the first is the rather high average traffic '
speeds which generally prevail on the arterial and collector streets along which Santa Clarita
Transit operates. The other is that large segments of the routes are along frontages relatively
devoid of development and difficult for pedestrians to access - in other words, segments where
there is rarely need to stop for boardings and alightings. With time and development, both these
conditions are likely to change. With infill development and the types of pedestrian access ,
improvements described herein, there will be need to stop for boardings and alightings along the
current "void segments". With continued community growth, averagetraffic speeds will tend
to decrease and transit vehicle speeds as well. The net result will be a need for more vehicles ,
and drivers in order to operate the same route miles at the same frequency of service. And if
point to point speeds on the system decline, "choice riders" may perceive the service as less
attractive.
The fundamental point is that there is a synergism between productivity, operating efficiency and
the operating environment. A crucial factor for Santa Clarita Transit is to identify and work '
hard to preserve those aspects of its operating environment which contribute to productivity and
operating efficiency.
Some elements are simple conventional wisdom for transit planners - like resisting proposals to ,
put arterial stops in tight little turn -outs from which the vehicles can never escape. Others may
run counter to conventional transit planning paradigms. For instance, it would be conventional
for transit planners to be rather indifferent to traffic congestion or to presume that traffic
congestion makes transit relatively more attractive. Yet in this case, the high average travel
speed environment is at the essence of Santa Clarita Transit achieving what it does. In Santa '
Clarita the logical approach is to support measures which help transit vehicles go fast - even if
the primary intended beneficiary is auto traffic.
The second crucial factor for Santa Clarita Transit is to aggressively develop new components
to its operating pattern with inherent efficiencies that offset deterioration of current favorable
conditions in its operating environment. Examples include developing a new pulse terminal near '
Town Center, closer to the logical crossroads. of the system and developing revised route
structures which take advantage of new east -west arterial -collector connections as well as making
sure the alignments of new east -west connections are most conducive to effective routings.
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1 1.5 POTENTIAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR SERVICE ENHANCEMENT
' Given the preceding analysis and community input, there are a variety of potential opportunities
for modifications to existing Santa Clarita transit services that would represent enhancements to
service. The following section describes some conceptual plans that have been developed for
service enhancements by staff and some initial consultant -developed concepts. Upon
consideration of this report, appropriate concepts will be refined in the next stages of formulating
Santa Clarita Transit's Transportation Development Plan.
Community Workshop
A workshop to discuss transportation concerns of Santa Clarita residents was held on February
3, 1996. Approximately 35-40 residents, city officials, and city staff attended the session. The
background environment of community growth trends and planned Los Angeles County
1 transportation improvements were presented to the attendees who indicated their concerns about
future access issues.
A summary of public comments is provided in Appendix C. Some common themes emerged
from the workshop. Many attendees indicated the need for a second east -west route across the
' community. Participants indicated a great deal of interest in both regional bus service and the
local bus service. Sunday service and lifeline transit access to the regional network in the San
Fernando Valley were most frequency cited as desirable. The cost of Metrolink, the limited
' schedules, and lack of weekend service were also cited as concerns. Better information on
ridesharing options was requested, and the possibility of a high speed rail station was discussed
following the State High Speed Rail Commission's recent announcement of preference for the
1 Route 99 alignment alternative which would have a station along I-5 in Santa Clarita.
Participants felt that Santa Clarita land use patterns were not supportive of transit, and that the
lack of sidewalks and pedestrian access between arterial routes and residential areas was a
' problem for encouraging transit usage.
Planned Service Enhancements
Staff have developed a variety of improvement concepts for Santa Clarita Transit. These range
from new stops that can be located on existing routes once traffic signals or sidewalks are
installed, to a plan to relocate the transit center/transfer point to the vicinity of the Town Center,
to plans for a third Metrolink station in Newhall with accompanying route modifications. These
are all logical modifications that should improve the overall transit network and increase
' ridership. The relocation of the transit hub/transfer point to the vicinity of the Town Center will
be particularly beneficial, as it will reduce the need to operate multiple routes in parallel to the
Metrolink Station and make the transfer point a major destination in itself, particularly for non -
commute service.
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Conceptual Enhancements
There are two categories of potential service enhancement: regional linkages and local services.
Regional Linkages. There are two current opportunities in this category and two future ones
with further community growth and the completion of the Red Line subway to the Universal City
Station respectively. These opportunities would be as follow:
• Provision of express service between Santa Clarita and West Los Angeles.
While the LADOT line 573 makes four morning peak period trips from Santa Clarita to
Westwood and Century City and five return trips between 4:40 pm and 5:45 pm, it is an
extension of service that operates on local arterial streets from Granada Hills to Encino and thus
has an extended travel time relative to driving or van pooling. Typical travel times from San
Fernando and Sierra Highway are one hour and seven minutes to an hour and 21 minutes to
Westwood,.with an additional 10 to 13 minutes to reach Century City. Afternoon return trips
are even slower, with an hour and 26 minutes on the schedule between Westwood and San
Fernando Road at Sierra Highway.
Given the impending completion of HOV lanes on sections of I-405 through the San Fernando
Valley, travel time from San Fernando Road and Sierra Highway to Westwood should not
exceed 45 to 50 minutes. Given that 14 percent of work trips originating in Santa Clarita are
bound for West Los Angeles, it would appear that there is a market for enhanced express service
in this market.
• Peak period service between the Sylmar/San Fernando Metrolink Station/transfer station
and the Valencia Industrial Center (VIC).
At present,. Santa Clarita Transit operates a Line 10 tripper leaving the Metrolink station at 7:33
am for the Valencia Industrial Center. This bus provides service to the Industrial Center for
people using the train arriving from the Antelope Valley at 7:24 am and the train from Los
Angeles at 7:27. Reverse commute to jobs in Santa Clarita comes primarily from the San
Fernando Valley, so the rail linkage from Los Angeles with stops in Burbank and Sylmar/San
Fernando does not serve a large geographic area unless a patron takes a bus to Metrolink, the
train, and then the Santa Clarita bus.
A direct bus from Sylmar/San Fernando to the VIC and Town Center timed to the train and the
bus transfer facility would save at least 15 minutes travel time and one transfer for patrons
arriving at Sylmar/San Fernando by bus. The combined train and bus travel time from Sylmar
to the VIC is 42 minutes, while a direct bus leaving Sylmar five minutes after the train could
reach the VIC in 20. to 25 minutes, using a direct 1-5 routing. This route could be a commute
period branch of the proposed Sylmar/San Fernando to Santa Clarita lifeline service.
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• Additional origin routes for commute services
' A'future opportunity will be to provide more direct express regional service, reducing the
amount of time buses travel through the community making local pick-ups on the way to Route
14. An example would be trips serving Canyon Country operating directly from the Via
1 Princessa Station (supplementing train schedules) to Route 14 via Via Princessa or the Golden
Valley park-and-ride lot once a direct Golden Valley Road connection to Route 14 is completed
from Sierra Highway. As community growth shifts more westerly and northerly, express bus
' service along the I-5 corridor would seem to be warranted as well, perhaps operating from
Castaic (or the possible future Newhall Ranch) with pick-ups at park-and-ride lots at McBean
and Lyons, serving Stevenson Ranch and the future Westridge development area.
1 • Red Line/Universal City route
' Another future opportunity will be regional service to the Red Line Universal City Station and
employment center via the new HOV lanes on Route 170. The route could continue to the high
density employment areas at or near the Warner, NBC, and Disney Studios on Riverside Drive
and Alameda Avenue.
Local Services
' Figure 1.5 illustrates the areas which will be the focus of future household and employment
growth in the Santa Clarita Valley. This indicates projects with 500 housing units or more that
are either underway or have received entitlements. It does not include the potential Newhall
Ranch development west of Magic Mountain and along Route 126 west of I-5 which is proposed
to house 75,000 residents and provide 19,000 additional jobs at build -out. With the exception
of development occurring in the vicinity of Via Princessa and Sierra Highway, the majority of
new development will be in more central, northern, or western portions of the community.
' Central development includes the Porta Bella project south of the Saugus Metrolink Station and
several projects along Newhall Ranch Road east and west of Bouquet Canyon.
Residential development is also planned or occurring north along McBean Parkway from Decoro
Road up toward San Francisquito Canyon and in the vicinity of Valencia High School.
Stevenson Ranch and the Westridge area anticipate residential development west of I-5 between
McBean Parkway and Magic Mountain Parkway. The Marketplace retail project along The Old
Road between McBean and Lyons is currently under construction and will warrant better transit
access than is provided by the 35 Line at present. Substantial residential development is also
anticipated to continue to the north and west of Castaic. The Valencia Commerce Center,
located west of I-5 and north of Route 126 is expected to contain up to 20,000 jobs at build -out,
compared to fewer than 5,000 jobs at present.- It will represent a major activity area that
warrants local peak period service at a minimum.
Future local service will thus need to include a connection to a Metrolink Station and the planned
' Town Center transit hub from Porta Bella and the North McBean Parkway growth corridor.
Improved local commute service from residential areas to the Valencia Industrial Center and
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' Valencia Commerce Center will also be important future services. By operating via the Town
Center transit hub, the Town Center will be well served for commute as well as shopping trips.
' Given the growth of employment in the northwestern portion of the service area and the location
of a lower-income community with greater transit dependency in the Newhall area, consideration
should be given to a direct line linking these areas via the planned Town Center transit center.
Although not fitting either into the category of regional or local service, Santa Clarita Transit
' should consider the implementation of a one stop travel information center. This function,
which could be part of a new transit center/hub at Town Center, would provide travel
information for all transportation services, Santa Clarita Transit, Metrolink, etc., and
' complement the activities of Southern California Rideshare.
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2.0 . GOALS, OBJECTIVES, AND STANDARDS
This section lays out a mission statement for Santa Clarita Transit, and presents a set of goals
and objectives to.guide the future strategies for the transit provider. It also indicates service
standards in relation to development density and patterns, and suggestssome measures that
should be utilized to monitor the performance of Santa Clarita Transit. When a set of goals,
objectives, and standards are selected, they will be utilized to focus the Transit Development
Plan Program.
2.1 MISSION STATEMENT FOR SANTA CLARITA TRANSIT
The following mission statement is recommended for Santa Clarita Transit:
To provide a mix of transportation services to enhance local and regional mobility in the
Santa Clarita community, transporting people and facilitating their accessibility
efficiently, effectively, and safely while respecting the environment.
2.2 GOALS AND OBJECTIVES FOR SANTA CLARITA TRANSIT
GOAL 1. Create a diversified transportation system.
Objectives
a. Provide effective, attractive and innovative alternatives to the single occupant
automobile.
b. Contribute to the area's economic and social well-being by improving access to
employment, shopping, and activity centers for the maximum number of
residents.
C. Operate the current system efficiently, economically and safely to provide transit
services at the lowest reasonable cost.
d. Serve those with limited transportation options: the mobility -impaired, senior
citizens, low-income persons, and youth.
e. Work with local and regional agencies to promote an integrated, seamless
transportation system that meets access needs, including local and regional bus
service, dial -a -ride, taxis, jitneys, rail, vanpools, carpools, buspools, bicycling,
walking, and autos.
GOAL 2. Develop and implement Capital Improvement Plans for short-term and long-
term enhancements in support of a multimodal transportation system.
Objectives
a. Develop a long-range capital improvement plan for bus and rail transit facilities.
b. Take a proactive approach to transit planning and work with City departments and
the County to incorporate transit -serving projects into long-range capital
improvement plans.
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' C. Acquire and/or reserve rights-of-way for future bus rights-of-way, rail systems
and possible extensions, stations and park-and-ride lots in accordance with
' regional plans.
GOAL I Assist in preserving air and environmental quality while accommodating
growth.
Objectives
a. Reduce overall vehicle emissions and ease traffic congestion by increasing vehicle
occupancy.
b. Develop new ridership and increase patronage on established routes.
'
C. Provide new service where new development requires and supports it.
d. Market transportation alternatives as the commuter's choice to increase vehicle
occupancy during the most critical peak periods.
C. Use clean fuel vehicles as part of the fleet mix where feasible.
f. For use in the permit process for new employment centers, work with City and
County staff to develop generic transportation plans focused on alternatives to
employee parking (and its cost) -- including subsidies for transit, pooling, offering
transit user tax credits, and/or a guaranteed ride home program.
g. Work with schools, colleges and employment centers to stagger start times in
' order to spread peak demand, increasing the ability of the existing fleet to serve
them well.
h. Assist businesses to use transit services to comply with clean air requirements.
i. Work with the Santa Clarita Valley Telecommuting Center to coordinate its use
with transit access and to reduce trips by increasing its usage.
GOAL 4. Provide services tailored to existing community development patterns and
activity centers.
Objectives
a. Provide higher frequency fixed route service to all activity centers and within 1/4
mile of 95% of residents in neighborhoods containing at least 400 units of
moderate or higher density housing (6.7 or more housing units per acre).
b. Provide fixed route bus service within 1/2 mile of at least 75% of residents in
suburban density (3.4 to 6..6 housing units per acre) neighborhoods.
C. Serve low density and hilly residential areas with personalized services such as
dial -a -ride, taxis, service routes, or other hybrid, non-traditional transit where not
feasible to serve with fixed route transit.
d. Provide a high level of peak hour transit service to employment centers from
higher density neighborhoods and from areas with low rates of car ownership.
e. Focus routes with frequent headways and all day service to serve community
commercial centers and neighborhoods with substantial low-income and/or elderly
populations.
f. Tailor midday transit service to serve a portion of non -work trips within and
leaving the area.
Michael Fajans & Associates
' Santa CTarita Transit Transportation Development Plan -draft final report
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GOAL 5.
Work with City and County departments to achieve development patterns
'
that reduce vehicular trips.
Objectives
Experiment with multi -occupant to develop
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a.
Develop coordinated plans for land use, circulation and transit with City and
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County departments to concentrate high density housing, employment and
commercial areas close to transit corridors.
b.
Recommend adding public transportation to the list of .public facilities to be
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synchronized with new development in the growth management policies of the
C.
General Plan.
C.
Recommend amending the City's General Plan to designate larger areas in and
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adjacent to the Valley Center and near rail stations for high and moderate density
d.
residential use.
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d.
Work with City and County departments to require rights of way in new
e.
development for walking, bicycling, and access to transit. This includes through
public streets, sidewalks, bicycle paths, design of intersections for easy pedestrian
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f.
crossings, and linkages between paseos and arterial streets.
e.
Encourage the City and County to permit a higher floor area ratio and lower
parking requirements for commercial developments that provide transit facilities
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and subsidize shared -ride programs.
f.
Work with the City and County to establish maximum parking limits for major
development that is located on routes with frequent transit service.
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g.
Comment on environmental documents and serve as part of the project review
team for the City and County and be an advocate in the community for conditions
on land use decisions that support transit use.
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GOAL 6.
Adapt to differing environmental and social conditions, new land uses, and
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changes in the regional transportation network.
Objectives
a.
Experiment with multi -occupant to develop
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modes the most effective new
services, including shared -ride taxis, variable route circulators or service routes,
vanpools and buspools.
b.
Consider subsidizing vanpools as a cost-effective alternative to bus services or as
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a transition to providing regional commute bus service.
C.
Experiment with subscription buses for commute trips to Santa Clarita
employment centers, and to major employment areas in the region not currently
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well served, such as West Los Angeles.
d.
Work with Santa Clarita employers to develop shuttle services to workplaces from
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Metrolink and/or transit centers.
e.
Contract with multiple providers if beneficial to the City for maximum flexibility
in providing tailored services.
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Develop a fare structure related to costs of different services, with premium fees
for more personalized services.
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Santa Clarita Transit Transportation Development Plandrafl final report 2.3 '
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GOAL 7. Build community support for the transportation system by using it to create
a sense of special identity for Santa Clarita.
Objectives
a. Focus transit services to reinforce the community center, the community
commercial centers, and major concentrations of employment.
b. Develop a new transit center at the Town Center, including a commute store to
market transportation alternatives targeted to Santa Clarita.
C. Locate attractive transportation information kiosks in commercial and recreational
centers.
d. Work with residents to permit through buses in gated communities and pedestrian
access to arterials in .walled communities.
C. Provide a high quality service so that residents can be confident that service will
be reliable, safe, and represent a pleasant experience.
f. Create a high profile for transit by participating in community emergency
planning.
g. Support a high quality family environment by providing services that meet the
needs of youth.
h. Coordinate with the School District to minimize the cost of youth transportation
to both agencies to avoid duplication.
GOAL 8. Identify and pursue all potential sources of funding to support a mix of
transportation modes.
Objectives
a. Seek tax funds, grants, and capital and operating funds from all levels of
government.
b. Develop partnerships with other public transit agencies to strengthen funding
requests.
C. Develop partnerships with the private sector to fund innovative services which
address their needs.
d. Increase revenue from the farebox through patronage growth and selected fare
increases.
e. Control expenses to enhance budget flexibility.
f. Seek additional revenue by qualifying projects for the County's Congestion
Management Plan.
g. Develop specific and cost effective programs to utilize fee revenues gained
through the City transit mitigation fee.
GOAL 9. Coordinate with Metrolink and transit providers in the San Fernando and
Antelope Valleys.
Objectives
a. Establish regular channels of communication.
b. Develop joint goals and plans to attain maximum utilization of services for
inter -area trips.
Michael Fajans & Associates
' Santa Clarita Transit Transportation Development Plan -draft final report 2„¢
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C. Coordinate services to minimize deadheading and increase utilization. '
d. Coordinate schedules and market each other's services to facilitate reverse
commutes. ,
e. Coordinate fares and develop a regional transit pass.
L Enhance regional services to minimize transfers for commute trips.
g. Develop a regional plan to promote and operate. carpools, vanpools, and '
subscription buses in coordination with Southern California RideShare.
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Michael Fajans & Associates
Santa Clarlta Transit Transportation Development Plan -draft final report 2.5 ,
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GOAL 10.
Implement an aggressive marketing and customer service plan to promote
widespread use of alternatives to the auto.
Objectives
,
a.
Conduct studies and research to understand customer needs and attitudes for
targeted communications and outreach programs.
b.
Conduct periodic on -board surveys to obtain demographic profiles to assist in
,
preparation of targeted promotional materials, and community .surveys to
determine why others are not using the services.
C.
Identify low productivity trips, routes or segments on a quarterly basis and adjust
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marketing programs to boost ridership.
d.
Use bus stops and transfer points to promote transit with attractive and readable
information and schedules.
'
e.
Respond to customer complaints in a timely manner and address problems that
arise repeatedly.
f.
Train drivers to be marketing representatives for transit.
'
g.
Develop an interactive phone system to provide route and schedule information
in several languages.
h.
Target all public agencies and major employers with educational campaigns.
Include materials they can distribute to new hires who.have not yet established
commute patterns.
i.
Work with the Chamber of Commerce, -TMAs, key businesses, and City
'
economic development staff to maximize support for transit marketing plans.
Plans should include reciprocal promotion of transit by business and business by
transit. Work with businesses to determine bus announcements for important
'
destinations.
j.
Develop targeted marketing plans and users' guides for persons who are elderly,
'
disabled or dependent on transit service. Work with senior citizen programs and
the senior advisory committee to obtain volunteers to assist with marketing to
these groups.
'
k.
Establish new outlets in public agencies, shopping areas and large businesses for
transit pass sales, route maps, and schedule information.
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Santa Clarlta Transit Transportation Development Plan -draft final report 2.5 ,
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2.3 STANDARDS FOR MINIMUM SERVICE LEVELS FOR SANTA
CLARITA TRANSIT
Stability and service reliability are important characteristics for transit service. Thus, one of the
key challenges for Santa Clarita Transit is to provide service to a rapidly growing community
without constantly modifying the route structure and schedule.
As discussed in the first section, there are two primary challenges in providing service to Santa
Clarita. The first is to provide service to new areas of development; and the second will be to
adapt the route structure to new arterials as they are completed so as to provide improved
linkages between Santa Clarita communities. Two immediate challenges will be to adapt the
route network to the creation of a third Metrolink station, to be located near Market and San
Fernando in Newhall, and also adapt to the creation of a new transit center in the Valencia Town
Center area.
Major route changes should not occur more frequently than every three years, and service to
new or growing demand areas should be provided once they achieve a critical mass without
disrupting the majority of the existing network. It is not possible to add small increments of
service to an existing route network without potentially causing great disruption. With a timed
transfer local network and .30 or 60 minute headways, a small extension of a route may make
it impossible to maintain the schedule and meet time if the current schedule is stretched to its
operational limit. With eight basic routes and approximately two buses per route, a new route
with one bus represents a six percent increment, while a new two -bus route represents a 12%
increment in service hours.
' Transit service is most efficient and productive where higher density and high trip generating
land uses are adjacent to or within a quarter mile of arterial routes that have transit service. I1
is not feasible from efficiency or effectiveness criteria for transit routes to wander through
' neighborhood and collector streets in search of ridership. In addition to generating neighborhood
opposition, such routes would become discontinuous and very slow in relation to other modes,
thus discouraging potential riders who have a choice in their travel mode.
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In establishing new services, Santa Clarita Transit decisions should be based on the density and
quantity of new development, and the ability to develop a logical route extension or new route
without requiring route miles and revenue hours in excess of those which will be productive.
For transit planning purposes, a population density of less than 10,000 persons per square mile
is generally considered low density, while a density of 10,000 to 20,000 per square mile is
considered medium density, and more than 20,000 persons per square mile is considered to be
high density. It is difficult to have productive fixed route transit where the population density
is below 10,000 persons per square mile.
The Santa Clarita General Plan sets residential zone categories from residential estate density
to residential high density. Table 2.1 indicates the residential plan designations and associated
density ranges. The minimum density of 3.4 dwelling units per acre in the suburban plan
category translates to about 6,000 persons per square mile, while the 6.7 dwelling units per acre
Michael Faians & Associates
1 Santa Clarita Transit Transportation Development Plan -draft final report 2,6
minimum of the moderate density category translates to approximately 12,000 persons per square
mile, bracketing the midpoint density for the suburban category which would yield
approximately 9,100 persons per square mile.
TABLE 2.1. SANTA CLARITA GENERAL PLAN RESIDENTIAL CATEGORIES
Category
Minimum
density
(units/acre)
Maximum
density
(units/acre)
Midpoint
density
(units/ac)
Midpoint
density
(person/sq.mile)
Residential Estate
0.0
.5
.25
480
Residential Very Low
.5
1.0
.75
1,440
Residential Low
1.1
3.3
2.2
4,225
Residential Suburban
3.4
6.6
5.0
9,120
Residential Moderate
6.7
15.0
11.0
19,000
Residential Medium High
15.1
25.0
20.0
33,300
Residential High
25.1
32.0
28.0
44,800
Source: M. la)ans H. Associates Irom Santa Clarity General Plan
In 1995-96, the average Santa Clarita local route generated approximately 22 passengers per
revenue vehicle hour. Thus, with two buses operating for 15 hours, the average route generated
about 660 passengers per weekday. With approximately 5,500 daily weekday riders on the local
fixed route service and aTopulation of 165,000, about 33 rides were generated daily in Santa
Clarity per 1,000 population -- a rate which has grown each year. Based on surveys at other
transit properties, this average level of transit use is lower for low density areas and higher for
high density areas. Thus, 10,000 residents on average would generate 330 daily bus rides, but
it might require 12,000 residents in suburban density housing but only 5,000 residents in
medium high density housing to generate that many riders.
In general, new fixed route transit service is probably not warranted unless it can generate at
least it passengers per revenue vehicle hour within two years of implementation -- only 50%
of the average ridership of existing routes for 1995-96. With 30 minutes headways, this would
generate 330 passengers per day, equivalent to the existing Routes 15/25 and 30. As cited
above, to generate this number of patrons would require 5,000 residents in moderate to higher
density housing within a quarter mile of the route, but as many as 11-15,000 residents in lower
density housing types that would generate fewer than the average. of 33 daily trips per 1,000
population. To get 5,000 residents within a quarter mile on either side of a transit route would
require a linear distance of approximately one half mile of similar development at the moderate
housing density level, while generating 11,000 residents in suburban density housing within a
quarter mile of a transit line would require more than two linear miles of such development.
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While it is desirable to provide transit service as soon as new development occurs, it is often not
feasible because the pace of any specific development area usually requires quite a few years to
generate the number of patrons to support the service adequately, as described above. Also,
roads are built as demand increases, often the complete arterial network of a development area
may not be in place to allow an efficient routing.
Proposed Service Standards
As established in the previous section, the goal for amount of service to be provided in Santa
Clarita should be related to the number and density of households, employment concentrations,
and other activity centers. Assuming that the current level of transit funding is maintained on
a per capita basis, the following service standards are recommended for Santa Clarita:
• provide the highest frequency of fixed route service to all activity centers and within 1/4
mile of 95% of residents in neighborhoods containing at least 400 units of moderate or
higher density (6.7 or more housing units per acre) housing;
• provide fixed route service within 1/2 mile of at least 75% of residents in suburban
density neighborhoods (3.4 to 6.6 housing units per acre), with school and commute time
trippers to supplement where needed;
• serve low density suburban areas and low density employment areas with fixed route
service if they can be served productively in conjunction with service to suburban and
higher density areas;
• for areas not qualifying for fixed route service under the criteria above, provide
alternatives such as dial -a -ride, subsidized taxis, service routes, or other hybrid non-
traditional services at premium fares as financial resources permit;
• meet ADA requirements for complementary paratransit, and continue to serve the non -
ADA senior population with door to door paratransit service only if financial resources
permit; and
• at a minimum, provide basic connections to the regional public transportation network
in the San Fernando and Antelope Valleys.
Routing Standards
There are a variety of standards that are typically used in planning fixed route networks. These
principles are applicable to Santa Clarita, and have generally been followed in the development
of the existing services. These principles include:
Michael Fajans & Associates
' Santa Oarita Transit Transportation Development Plan -draft final report 2.8
• Route Alignment. The one-way route miles should not exceed 1.3 times the most direct
distance between terminal points unless geography or street layout require a more indirect
routing.
• Route Diversions. Diversions from the main route should only be provided if they do
not exceed five minutes, and the number of boardings facilitated by the diversion is
greater than the number of on -board passengers inconvenienced by the diversion.
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• Loops. These may be included at the end of a route. The total time to complete the ,
loop portion should not exceed five minutes.
• Branches. These may also be included at the end of a route. Only one branch should
be served on a trip, and each branch should have a different route number to avoid
confusion.
• Tumbacks. If more than 75% of a route's ridership occurs on the central 50% of the
routing, turnbacks or a new route should be utilized to increase the level of service on
the core route.
• Headways. If resources permit, policy headways for regularly scheduled weekday
service should be 30 minutes, with 60 minute maximum headways for evenings,
weekend, or lightly utilized branches.
• Pulse Scheduling. Fixed route .service in suburban areas should be "pulse scheduled"
wherever possible to allow full network access with one transfer.
• Interlining. Routes should be interlined to connect destinations and reduce the need to
transfer.
• . Cycle Times. Scheduled cycles should be in 30 minute increments including layover
and/or recovery time to facilitate pulse scheduling and interlining.
• Bus Stops. Stops should be provided every 500 to 1,000 feet where pedestrian access
can be provided to nearby development. Each stop should have a hard surface waiting
area and similar access to the origin or destination areas. Benches should be provided
wherever possible, and schedule information made readily available. Shelter from the
elements should be provided at any stop that generates 25 daily trips or more.
Financial Standards
There are measures that are commonly used to gauge the financial performance of a transit
operation. These standards include:
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Michael Fajans & Associates
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' • Operating Cost per Revenue Vehicle Hour. This is the primary measure of operating
efficiency. This cost factor should not increase at an annual rate in excess of the rate of
' inflation.
• Farebox Recovery Ratio. This is a measure of passenger fares as a proportion of all
' operating costs. Desirable minimum proportions would be 10% for the dial -a -ride
service, 20% for the fixed route local service, and 30-35% for the commuter express
service. The 10% and 20% farebox recovery level represent state mandated levels for
established service.
' 2.4 QUALITY OF SERVICE STANDARDS FOR SANTA CLARITA
TRANSIT
' There are various measures that are typically utilized to measure the quality of transit service.
These include the following:
• Schedule Adherence. On-time performance is defined as no more than five minutes late
and never early. Buses shall leave each time point on-time no less than 95% of the time
' or equal to the previous year's performance, whichever is better.
• Missed Trips. No trip shall be canceled due to lack of personnel or equipment.
' • Accidents. Buses shall travel no less than 75,000 miles between chargeable accident or
equal to the previous year's performance, whichever is better.
' • Road Calls. Buses shall travel no less than 10,000 miles between mechanical road calls.
' • Bus Utilization. A minimum of 80% of revenue vehicles shall be available and in use
during peak service hours.
' • Dial -a -ride. At least 99% of requests for service shall be met within 30 minutes of the
requested time. Wait time for reservations should not exceed three minutes.
' • Public Information. Santa Clarita Transit should function as a clearinghouse for
information on transportation alternatives. Transit tickets, passes, and route information
should be provided at multiple outlets. Passenger telephone information should be
' available at a minimum during all hours of operation.
• Overloads. With the exception of school trips, no local service should operate on a
regular basis with more than 1.25 passengers per seat. No commute or dial -a -ride
service should operate with more than one passenger per seat.
' • Clean buses. Dirt and graffiti should be removed from buses or facilities on a daily
basis. Bus interiors should be cleaned of trash at each trip end.
Michael Fafans & Associates
' Santa Clarita Transit Transportation Development Plan -draft final report 2.10
3.0 TRANSIT DEVELOPMENT PLAN PROGRAM
This section represents a key aspect of the development of the Santa .Clarity Transit
Transportation Development Plan. Based on Section 1, the evaluation of the current
transportation environment; and Section 2, a set of goals, objectives and standards for Santa
Clarita Transit, this effort presents a Transportation Transit Development Plan. It includes
recommendations for the ultimate system network, both for local and regional fixed route
service. Based on the anticipated growth and arterial network, a timed transfer network utilizing
four transit centers is recommended, with the largest transit center relocated from the Saugus
Metrolink Station to the Town Center area. Future opportunities for cooperative ventures with
other transit providers are analyzed, and a set of recommendations for approaches to non-
traditional transit. services are included, including the steps required for implementation.
Discussion of types of transit .equipment to be utilized and clean fuel vehicles is also
incorporated.
3.1 ULTIMATE SYSTEM NETWORK AND DEVELOPMENT
GUIDELINES
There are three primary components of the Santa Clarita Transit system network, the local fixed
route system, the local dial -a -ride service, and the regional route network -- providing
connections to the larger Los Angeles metropolitan area. Both fixed route and regional routes
are anticipated to expand with the growth of the Santa Clarita community. The dial -a -ride
service provides service to the disabled community as mandated by federal and state legislation,
but also provides the same level of door-to-door service to the senior. population. This service
is provided at very high cost per patron, and alternatives for serving portions of the market are
discussed in the section on Non -Traditional Services.
For the local network, extensions of or completions to the existing arterial network are required
in order to rationalize the routes. A set of development guidelines to be followed by the City
and recommended to the County for projects within the service area are also promulgated.
Adoption of these guidelines will make it easier to attract riders to transit, and by increasing
transit ridership, will reduce the level of subsidy required to support the transit service. For the
regional routes, the creation of new HOV lanes on I-5, I-405, and State Routes 14; 118, and 170
will improve the viability of express services.
LOCAL FIXED ROUTE NETWORK
Based on Santa Clarita and County General Plans, the Santa Clarita Transit service area is
anticipated to double in population, and may grow to nearly three times current population if the
proposed Newhall Ranch development is approved and constructed at a level approaching the
75,000 population currently envisioned. A service area population of 300-400,000 would
involve both infill of development, such as Porta Bella south of the Saugus Metrolink Station
and planned new development along Newhall Ranch Road; and extension of development into
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new area, such as west from Castaic, north along McBean, and south of Route 126 west of I-5
(Newhall Ranch).
' The proposed ultimate Santa Clarita local fixed route network, utilizing standard transit buses
on main streets, and shown in Figure 3.1 and summarized in Table 3. 1, is based on anticipated
' development patterns, especially the primary roadway network configuration.. The network
requires approximately 33 buses for basic 30 minute headways throughout the day, compared
to 14 buses at present. An additional four to six small to medium sizes buses would be needed
' to operate two peak period only routes and two peak period route extensions to the Saugus
Metrolink Station. The network assumes the development of the Newhall Ranch according to
the May 1995 Land Use Plan, and several routes are extended into the proposed development,
' extending cycle times and adding buses.
At present, Santa Clarita Transit maximizes connectivity by linking all local fixed route service
at the Saugus Metrolink Station to facilitate timed transfers. Despite increasing population
density, the geographic barriers in Santa Clarita are significant and the majority of land use
remains sufficiently low such that the principle of hub and spoke service will remain more viable
' than a grid transit network which relies on higher frequency service for transfers. However,
with anticipated growth, Santa Clarita Transit should shift from a focus of all local service
meeting at the Saugus Metrolink Station/Transit Center to an operation focused on three transit
centers. The four proposed transit centers are described in more detail in the Rail Stations and
Transit Centers Section.
A total of 18 local route segments (a single route that extends in two directions from the transit
center counts as two route segments) would link at the proposed Valencia Town Center (VTC)
' transit center, while five routes would serve the Newhall Metrolink Station/transit center, and
four routes would meet at the Princessa Metrolink Station/transit center. With a more complex
transit network and some routes serving two transit centers, it will not be practical to have all
' 18 route segments meet at Town Center each 30 minutes. The ideal network would offset some
service by 15 minutes from the other routes calling at VTC. This would provide more frequent
links in the central core of the community, such as between the Town Center and Henry Mayo
Hospital, College of the Canyons, the proposed Porta Bella/civic center project, or Newhall,
without creating too long a wait time for those transferring to a route that is offset by 15
minutes.
' This network provides good linkages to the Newhall and Via Princessa Metrolink Stations.
These will double as secondary transit centers for transfers between local routes: ' Shifting the main transit center/transfer center from the Saugus Metrolink Station to Town Center leaves
Saugus Metrolink with only one route (70E) supplemented by peak service to the Corporate
Center, Commerce Center, and Val Verde (20). Two dial -a -ride vehicles can be used during
' morning and evening peak periods to connect the Bouquet Canyon (15M) and .Seco Canyon
(30M) areas with the Saugus Metrolink Station. At those times of day, spare vehicles not
required to meet dial -a -ride service demands are available.
Michael Faians & Associates
' Santa Carita Transit Transportation Development Plandraft final report 3.2
Other features of the proposed structure include direct service between Newhall and the Valencia
Industrial Center (Route 10), peak period service to the Valencia Commerce Center from the
Town Center (Route 20) and express service from Newhall (Route 60) via the freeway. Canyon
Country residents would have a choice of routes from the Via Princessa Station, either to the
Town Center via Soledad Canyon or the new Via Princessa/Magic Mountain Parkway link, or
to the Newhall transit center, incorporating a fixed route connection to the Senior Center. A
small transit center in the vicinity of Chiquito Canyon Road and Highway 126 would provide
a choice of destinations and routes to residents of Val Verde and the future Newhall Ranch
development.
When the entire network is in place, routes 10, 15, 30, 35, 70 and 80 would pulse at the VTC
at the same time. Routes 20, 25, and 45 will pulse at the VTC 15 minutes later. Routes 10,
35, 45, and 70 will pulse at the Princessa Transit Center (PTC) at the same time. The Chiquito
Canyon Transit Center (CCTC) will be served by routes 30, 35, and 70, and may include a
park-and-ride lot for regional services.
Required Network Improvements
The following arterial segments which are not presently built but are shown on the arterial plan
would be required for full implementation of these routes.
1) The 20 route requires the completion of Backer Road from Hasley Canyon across Henry
Mayo Drive and the extension of Magic Mountain Parkway to connect with Backer Road.
2) The 25 requires bus access through the current gate at Calgrove/Valley (could use Wiley
Canyon but Valley has more potential riders). The 25 also requires the extension of the
Old Road between McBean and Valencia Boulevard.
3) The 25 also requires the extension of Via Princessa to the intersection with Porta Bella
Main Street, Main Street through Porta Bella, and Magic Mountain Parkway to Porta
Bella. The segment between VTC and NTC would not be implemented until these
roadway links are in place.
4) The 30W requires the extension of Chiquito Canyon south of Route 126/Mayo Drive to
Pico Canyon (in Newhall Ranch), the extension of Pico Canyon into Newhall Ranch, and
the extension of Magic Mountain Parkway to Pico Canyon.
5) The 35E requires the connection southeast of Route 14 between Sand Canyon and
Canyon Park Blvd via Lost Canyon or some other new route through proposed high
density housing. It also requires the central connection between Via Princessa and Magic
Mountain in or around the proposed Porta Bella project.
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6) The 35S requires the extension of Pico Canyon through the Newhall Ranch development '
before it can be extended beyond the Marketplace.
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TABLE 3.1 SANTA CLARITA ULTIMATE LOCAL BUS ROUTE NETWORK
Route/
p Buses
Run Time
Description
Activity Centers Served
hubs
ION
2
20-25
Castaic to Valencia Transit Center/Town Center (VTC)
industrial Center (Vic),
V
as now
Town Center (VTC)
l0E
3
40
Sierra and Sand Canyon to VTC via Sierra Hwy, San
Princessa Transit Center
Fernando, Railroad, San Fernando, Magic Mt, Valencia,
(PTC), Newhall Transit
V N P
McBean. (during appropriate hours, trips may jog to
Center (NTC), Senior
Senior Center via Market Street.
Center, VTC
15N/'
2
20-25
LARC Ranch to VTC via Bouquet Cyn, Magic Mt.,
Saugus High, VTC
McBean. (existing 40) (peak period supplemental
V
service to Saugus Metrolink (15M))
15S
2
20-25
Masten College to VTC via (one way loop 12th,
Masters College, NTC, Cal
Placeritos, Quigley Cyn, Placenta Cyn), Arch, 13th,
Arts, College of Canyons,
V N
San Fernando, Market, Railroad, Lyons, Wiley Cyn,
VTC
Tournament, Rockwell, Valencia, McBean.
20
2
20-25
Val Verde to Saugus Metrolink via Hasley Cyn, Backer
Commerce Center (VCC),
Rd; Magic Mt, Tourney, Valencia, McBean, VTC,
Magic Mt., Kaiser,
V
Magic Mt., Soledad Canyon (peak period only route).
College of Canyons, VTC,
Saugus Metrolink
25
4
50
VTC to VTC via McBean, Valencia, Old Rd., Calgrove,
College of Canyons,
Valley, Lyons, Railroad, Market, San Fernando, Circle
Marketplace, NTC, Porta
V N
J, Via Princessa, Porta Bella Main Street. Magic Mt,
Bella/civic center, VTC
McBean (both directions)
30N
1
12-13
Tamarack to VTC via Seco Cyn, Bouquet Cyn, Newhall
VTC
Ranch Rd, McBean. (peak period supplemental service
V
to Saugus Metrolink (30M))
30W
1
12
Magic Mountain to VTC via Magic Mt., Toomey,
Magic Mt., Kaiser, VTC
Valencia, McBean
V
2
25
Newhall Ranch extension - Chiquito Canyon and Route
Newhall Ranch, Chiquito
C
126 to VTC via Chiquito Cyn extension, Pico extension,
Canyon Transit Center
Magic Mt. extension, and above route
(CCTC)
35E
3
35-40
Sand Canyon (north of Soledad) to VTC via Sand
PTC, La Mesa Jr. High,
Canyon, Lost Canyon, Canyon Park, Jason, Via
Porta Bella/civic center,
P V
Princessa, Porta Bella Main Street, Magic Mt., McBean.
VTC
35S
2
25
Marketplace to VTC via Lyons, Railroad, Market,
Marketplace, NTC, Hart
Newhall, Dalbey, Orchard Village, McBean.
High, Placenta Jr. High,
V N
H. Mayo Hospital, VTC
3
40
Newhall Ranch (Pico Cyn. extension and Route 126) via
C
Pico Cyn and above route.
CCTC
45N
3
30-40
Princessa TC to VTC via Whites Canyon, Plum Cyn,
PTC, VTC, Sierra Vista
Bouquet Cyn, Haskell Cyn, Copper Hill, McBean.
Jr. High, Canyon High,
P V
(Valencia High diversion)
45S
1
15
Stevenson Ranch to VTC via (one way loop Heming-
H. Mayo Hospital, VTC
way, Kavenaugh, Carroll, Faulkner, Hemingway, Poe,
V
McBean), McBean.
Michael Fajans & Associates
Santa Qarita Transit Transportation Development Plandrajt final report 3.5
I
I
I
I
60
2
25-29
Castaic to NTC via Sloan Cyn, Park Forest Rd., Old
Castaic Middle Sch., VCC,
Road, Backer Road, Henry Mayo Dr., 1-5, Lyon,
NTC
N
Railroad. (peak period only)
70E
3
40
Shadow Pines to VTC via Soledad Cyn, Sierra Hwy.,
PTC, Saugus Metrolink,
Via Princessa, Sierra Hwy., Soledad Cyn, Valencia,
VTC
P V
McBean.
7OW
2
25
Val Verde to VTC via Chiquito Canyon, Henry Mayo
VIC, VTC
Dr. (Route 126), Rye Canyon, Decoro, Tibbitts, Magic
V C
Mt., McBean.
CCTC
SOW
1
12
Newhall Ranch (Valencia & Pico Cyn.) to VTC via
VTC
Valencia, McBean.
V
SON
1
12
Tesoro del Valle (San Francisquito Canyon) to VTC via
VTC
V
McBean.
Total
33 base
6 peak
39 Total
7) The 45N requires the improvement of Copper Hill, its connection to McBean, and the
connection of Plum Canyon and Whites Canyon. These improvements should be
complete in less than five years.
8) The 60 requires the completion of Parker Road/Sloan Canyon connection from Castaic
to Park Forest Road (Hillcrest Parkway) and the Backer Road improvement cited in #
1 above.
9) The north segment of 70W requires the extension of Henry Mayo Dr. to Rye Canyon
(could use Avenue Stanford as an alternative), the extension of Decoro to Rye Canyon,
and some connection between Dickason/Tibbetts in the VIC to Magic Mountain Parkway
as shown as an extension of Tourney Road on the arterial plan.
10) Route 80 requires the connection of McBean Parkway and San Francisquito Canyon Road
and the extension of Valencia Boulevard west into Newhall Ranch.
Full development of the proposed network may not be complete for 15-20 years, but portions
may be implemented within 5-10 years.
DIALrA-RIDE SERVICE
As described previously, Santa Clarita Transit provides door-to-door transit service to the senior
and disabled population of the community. Reservations are required, ideally 24 hours in
advance. At present, the majority of rides are to the senior centers or medical appointments.
However, over 60% represent "standing orders", regularly scheduled daily or weekly trips. As
the cost of dial -a -ride service is approximately $15-18 per trip compared to $2-3 per trip for the
fixed route system, Santa Clarita Transit needs to be very cautious about expanding the role of
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Santa Clarita Transit Transportation Development Plan -draft final report 3.6
dial -a -ride in the community. To utilize transit funding most efficiently, Santa Clarita Transit
needs to develop services that will shift portions of the non -disabled demand for dial -a -ride into
other, more cost-effective transportation services. Most feasible alternatives seem to be dial -a -
ride feeder routes and service route transit. In the first case, the scheduled dial -a -ride service
would only handle local trips, such as delivering patrons to the nearest transit center or nearest
fixed route, not to a destination. across town. Service routes would be scheduled, non -
reservation service by smaller vehicles which could penetrate neighborhoods and deviate off -
route as required.
REGIONAL ROUTE NETWORK
At present, Santa Clarita Transit operates to three regional commute destinations, downtown Los
Angeles, Warner Center, and Van Nuys. SCT operates a fourth route which provides limited
commute and midday service to and from the Antelope Valley, supplementing the four Metrolink
trains that operate the full Lancaster to Los Angeles Route. LADOT provides an additional
commute route from Santa Clarita to Westwood and Century City. A fleet of 22 buses are
required to operate the current service, including the four buses LADOT needs for the 573
Route.
It is difficult to assess whether other operators (such as LADOT and Metrolink) will provide
more, less, or the same level of regional service to Santa Clarita in the future as at present. For
planning purposes, it will be assumed that Metrolink service will remain at current levels, nine
trains a day in both directions, including five trains in the peak direction during the peak period
but only one reverse commute train in the afternoon and two in the morning. Because freight
activity shares the track, there are no trains to Los Angeles from the Saugus Metrolink Station
between 8:53 AM and 3:25 PM. There are no northbound trains leaving Los Angeles for Santa
Clarita from 7:30 AM to 1:56 PM.
Ideally, Metrolink would operate at least one more commute train in each direction, and several
midday trains. In the morning, there is no train between 5:29 AM and 6:23 AM, arriving in
Los Angeles at 6:19 AM and 7:14 AM, respectively. A train at 5:55 AM would be ideal for
getting people to Los Angeles for a 7 AM start time. In the afternoon commute, trains leave
Los Angeles at 3:45 PM, 4:10 PM, and then not again until 4:57 PM. An additional train about
4:30-4:40 PM with the 4:57 PM pushed a few minutes later would give better commute
flexibility and allow Santa Clarita Transit to eliminate several bus trips.
Santa Clarita.Transit should pursue the following modifications to existing services and develop
potential new services. These would be phased in as markets develop with the anticipated
growth of the community and with the implementation of the planned extensive HOV
improvements that will provide greater time benefit for transit users.
1. Provision of express service between Santa Clarita and West Los Angeles.
While the LADOT line 573 makes four morning peak period trips from Santa Clarita to
Westwood and Century City and five return trips between 4:40 pm and 5:45 pm, it is an
extension of service that operates on local arterial streets between Granada Hills and
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Santa Qarita Transit Transportation Development Plan -draft final report 3.7
I
Encino and thus has an extended travel time relative to driving or pooling. Typical
Route 573 travel times from San Fernando and Sierra Highway are one hour and seven
minutes to an hour and 21 minutes to Westwood, with an additional 10 to 13 minutes to
reach Century City. Afternoon return trips are even slower, with an hour and 26
minutes on the schedule between Westwood and San Fernando Road at Sierra Highway.
Given the impending completion of HOV lanes on sections of I-405 through the San
Fernando Valley, travel time from San Fernando Road and Sierra Highway to Westwood
should not exceed 45 to 50 minutes. Given that 14 percent of work trips originating in
Santa Clarita are bound for West Los Angeles, it would appear that there is a market for
enhanced express service in this market. There are several relatively high density, high
parking cost destinations in this market, including UCLA, Wilshire Boulevard office
buildings and Century City, which should enhance its potential as a route. Patrons would
also have the opportunity to transfer to frequent Wilshire Boulevard service operating in
�I both directions.
Given the current cost to Santa Clarita of the extension of the existing route and the new,
lower contract rate for Santa Clarita Transit operated express service, it should be
possible to convert the route to express service with four or five AM and PM peak trips
for little additional expenditure. It would require the acquisition of four additional
highway coaches for Santa Clarita Transit.
2. Potential Reallocation of Service on Route 799 to Downtown Los Angeles.
Nine of the 22 buses used for regional routes operate on the 799 route to and from
downtown Los Angeles, which parallels the Metrolink service to some degree. While
Metrolink is 25 minutes faster to downtown, the advantage of the bus service is less
expensive monthly pass rates and the potential of single seat service from Santa Clarita
to a downtown workplace. Most Metrolink patrons need to transfer to the Red Line
subway or connecting DASH or MTA service. By eliminating two of nine existing
commute trips and providing a slightly longer span of service during the peaks, Santa
Clarita could save three buses which could be reallocated to other services. The opening
of a Newhall Metrolink Station, by eliminating the need for Newhall and Valencia
residents to backtrack to the Saugus Station, may also reduce demand on the 799 route.
If Metrolink added several additional commute trains (see discussion above), and/or if
fare levels where comparable, it might be possible to eliminate even more service on this
route.
I Modifications to Routes 7961791 and 7981793.
The on-off movements need to be evaluated on these routes to determine if the routes
provide the best combination of minimum travel time and maximum opportunity for
direct service to key destinations in the San Fernando Valley. For example, while the
798 provides service to the Flyaway bus terminal at Van Nuys Airport and the
governmental center on Van Nuys Boulevard, it does not serve a cluster of high rise
office buildings at Sepulveda and Ventura Boulevards in Sherman Oaks. With the I-405
Michael Fajans do Associates
Santa aarita Transit Transportation Development Plan -draft final report 3.8
HOV lane, it may become more productive to remain on the freeway further south unless
there is substantial patronage to the Veterans Administration Hospital or transferring to
MTA routes to access Cal State Northridge.
As additional development occurs at Warner Center, it may be beneficial to modify the
Route 796/791 distribution loop through the Center to maximize proximity to high rise
development that has much higher employment densities and is usually associated with
fee parking in structures. Santa Clarita Transit should monitor development patterns and
work with TMAs to identify destinations of Santa Clarita residents.
4. Additional Service on Route 795.
This route connects the Saugus Metrolink Station/transit center with Palmdale and
Lancaster in the Antelope Valley. It supplements Metrolink service and extends several
trains that only operate between Santa Clarita and Los Angeles. Midday service is
provided approximately every two hours. When Santa Clarita shifts its primary local
service hub to Town Center, this route should be extended to Town Center to maintain
the ability to transfer. Another useful modification of this route would be to extend
commute period trips into the Valencia Industrial Center and Valencia Commerce Center
as the latter develops. This would provide single seat transit service from Antelope
Valley park-and-ride lots to the primary employment locations in Santa Clarita. At some
point, there may be sufficient demand to operate hourly during the midday period.
Two additional regional destinations are recommended as follow:
5. Service between the Sylmar/San Fernando Metrolink Station/Transit Center and Santa
Clarita.
The MTA San Fernando Valley Restructuring Study recommended a new Route 570,
described further in the Service Coordination Section. This linkage would connect Santa
Clarita, and particularly the Newhall section, to Sylmar/San Fernando, operating to the
transit center at Hubbard and San Fernando Road. While also a Metrolink Station, many
San Fernando Valley bus routes also meet there, providing good transfer opportunities
to a variety of San Fernando Valley destinations.
In order to maximize potential for job access in both directions, the recommended route
would travel south from the Valencia Town Center transfer point through Newhall along
San Fernando Road to Route 14. In the morning, the buses could use the I-5 corridor
to return via the Valencia Industrial Center (early) and Magic Mountain (late) providing
job and recreational access to those locations for San Fernando Valley residents. The
route would reverse in the mid-afternoon to early evening period.
As cited in Section 1.5, such a route would provide a faster Metrolink to Valencia
Industrial Center connection for reverse commutes, approximately 15-20 minutes faster
and possibly one less transfer. One bus could provide hourly - headways on the
recommended route. Two buses would be required for 30 minute headways. With such
Michael Fajans & Associates
Santa Clarita Transit Transportation Development Plan -draft final report 3.9 �/'
a route, the three daily Route 795 trips between Santa Clarita and the Olive View
Medical Center could be eliminated, replaced with consistent connecting service via the
Sylmar/San Fernando Station probably supplemented by extended dial -a -ride service. If
this line is successful and transit funding is limited, it might replace the 798/793 Van
Nuys service, forcing a transfer for some direct trips but providing for many more
transfer opportunities at the major Sylmar/San Fernando transit center.
6. Red Line/Universal City route
Another future opportunity will be regional service to the Red Line Universal City
Station, scheduled to open in 2002, via the new HOV lanes on Route 170. The route
could continue to the high density employment areas at or near the Warner, NBC, and
Disney Studios, as well as St. Joseph Medical Center. While these sites can be accessed
at present via bus from the Burbank Metrolink Station, this route would provide a faster
and probably less costly transit alternative for this market. A transfer to the Red Line
would also provide better access to the Hollywood and mid -Wilshire market which is
served very indirectly by current Metrolink or line 799 bus service. If transit resources
are short, this route might ultimately replace the Route 799 line if a good transfer policy
is developed. Two buses would be required for hourly service on this route.
7. Additional origin routes for commute services
Although frequent service on a specific commute route is beneficial, giving commuters
a choice of schedules, there may be opportunities for operating commute service from
different Santa Clarita origins, including additional park-and-ride lots, making the bus
service more competitive with driving in actual door-to-door service.
At present, the commuter bus travel time from the Saugus Metrolink Station to entering
the Route 14 freeway at San Fernando Road is 24 minutes, the reason the park-and-ride
lot at San Fernando Road and Route 14 is overcrowded. Reducing travel time through
the community making local pick-ups on the way to Route 14 would be beneficial. An
example would be trips serving Canyon Country operating directly from the Via
Princessa Station (supplementing train schedules) to Route 14 via Via Princessa (or the
Golden Valley park-and-ride lot once a direct Golden Valley Road connection to Route
14 is completed from Sierra Highway).
As community growth shifts more westerly and northerly, express bus service along the
I-5 corridor may be warranted as well, perhaps operating from Castaic (or the possible
future Newhall Ranch transit center) with pick-ups at several park-and-ride lots.
Potential sites would include I-5 ramps at Valencia, McBean, Lyons, and/or Calgrove,
serving neighborhoods such as Stevenson Ranch and the future Westridge development
area. If additional park-and-ride lots and transit service are not provided along the I-5
corridor, significant increased park-and-ride capacity will be required along the Route
14 corridor, particularly at San Fernando Road where demand already exceeds supply.
Michael Fajans & Associates
Santa Qarita Transit Transportation Development Plan -draft final report 3.10
8. Additional destinations for commute services
There are several other destinations that can be considered for commute service. Routes
to employment centers in Glendale or Pasadena are possibilities. While Metrolink has
stops in Burbank and Glendale, the downtown Glendale employment center is midway
between the rail stations, necessitating a transfer to a shuttle to access most jobs. A
direct bus might be more productive. Pasadena has two employment centers, the
downtown area which includes Caltech, and the Jet Propulsion Lab north of downtown.
As development spreads. to the west and north, there may ultimately be demand for
commute service to Santa Clarita from Ventura County along the Route 126 corridor and
from Tejon Ranch and Frazier Park in Kern County to the north. See the section on
Cooperative Service Plans for more discussion on these potential routes.
It is difficult to determine the required resources for future regional services, but with some
reallocation of existing service, it may not require more than 5-10 additional buses, a smaller
proportional increase than that anticipated for local, fixed route service. The exception would
be operating multiple origin routes in Santa Clarita and Newhall Ranch for regional routes, as
described previously.
There is also uncertainty about the future of other operations. Expanded Metrolink service could
result in diminished need for Route 799. A successful linkage with the Red Line and MTA
routes at Universal City could also mitigate need to operate multiple routes to Los Angeles: A
station on a high-speed rail line between Los Angeles and the Bay Area could also have
unanticipated impacts on regional service. While it might displace some Route 799 and
Metrolink travel, its fare structure and limited local stops may discourage local usage while
encouraging community growth - leading to more demand for transit services. The designated
Santa Clarita Station site for a high speed rail line is west of I-5 at Valencia Boulevard. It may
be desirable to reserve the site as a park-and-ride lot.
DEVELOPMENT GUIDELINES
Details of a community's fabric affect how well or poorly a community takes advantage of
transit services. Development patterns can be defined as "transit -friendly" or "transit -
unfriendly." In a transit -friendly community the fabric is structured to make it easy for people
to get to and from transit, easy for transit to get from place to place, and easy for transit to get
close to the places where people want to go. Such a development pattern will increase transit
efficiency and boost transit ridership. In an unfriendly community fabric, the same level of
transit service is likely to attract only "transit -dependents", those who have no alternative way
to make a trip.
The following development guidelines are presented to help Santa Clarita become a more transit -
friendly community. The key, however, as cited above, is forlanduse and transit service to
be. related. Most transit ridership is generated by higher density residential development, the
primary commercial activity (retail and office) centers, and school trips. To the maximum
degree possible, such higher trip -generating development should be located adjacent to, and in
Michael Fajans & Associates
Santa Qanta Transit Transportation Development Ptandraft final report 3.11
no case more than a quarter mile from, the primary arterial routes that are suitable for and have
transit service.
Pedestrian Access
• Require sidewalks along all new streets including those in office/industrial parks.
Require hard surface waiting places along existing and proposed transit routes at the
logical stop points. In office/industrial parks where sidewalks and waiting places have
historically not been provided, these requirements can perhaps be made cost -neutral by
limiting the sidewalks to bare minimum widths (say 3 feet) and by making corresponding
reductions in the present generous curb to curb street width requirements.
• Retrofit sidewalks in built environments where proposed building, remodeling or use
changes make this practical. The City itself should continue programs to construct
missing waiting pads in developed areas and to build paths leading to them where
existing facilities are lacking (so long as these can be constructed without intruding on
sensitive established environments).
• Provide a pedestrian linkage from bus routes to paseos. Provide reasonably direct and
visible access between paseos and street -side along existing or proposed bus routes in
new developments.. Retrofit older paseo crossings to provide reasonable access to bus
routes. Place paved waiting pads in logical positions at all paseo crossings of existing
and proposed bus routes.
• Provide pedestrian access to walled communities. In walled communities and
internalized pocket neighborhood developments, require pedestrian passages where
internal streets stub -up at boundary walls dividing the neighborhood from an existing or
proposed transit route. Also require such openings at reasonable intervals where internal
streets parallel the walls separating the residences from a transit line. An effective
treatment is leaving a gap in the main wall at a point fronted by a short parallel wall a
few feet closer to streetside. This treatment maintains the noise protection and visual
privacy of the enclave community while facilitating direct pedestrian access to transit.
Initiate a City program to retrofit such pedestrian accesses in existing neighborhoods
where the configuration of the neighborhood impairs access to transit.
• Alleviate other pedestrian barriers. Require new developments to provide crossings of
barriers to transit access posed by drainage courses, aqueducts and utility corridors at
points conducive to accessibility to existing and planned transit routes as well as
continuing the good work the community and its developers have already done in
developing pedestrian/bike trails along these corridors. Initiate a City program to add
key crossings in existing developed areas or areas where it appears infeasible to depend
on private development to create needed crossings. One possible target for such a
program might be a crossing of the South Fork Santa Clarita River between the Valencia
neighborhoods (say in the vicinity of Avenida Velarte) and San Fernando Road (close to
Circle J Ranch Road).
Michael Faians & Associates
Santa Qanta Transit Transportation Development Plan -draft final report 3.12
As an alternative to expensive bridges, the possibility of "seasonal crossings" - hardened
at -grade travel surfaces across drainage courses that would simply be unavailable for use
at times of high water - could be considered.
Provide grade -separated pedestrian crossings. Continue policies and programs
encouraging development of paseo-type grade separated crossings (with access to transit)
of major arterials and primary collectors within large developments. Initiate City
programs to develop paseo-type grade -separated crossings of major arterials where
desirable in already developed areas and at locations where it is infeasible to depend upon
individual private development to create the crossings.
• Provide signal protected crossings of major roadways near key transit stops. In new and
retrofit intersection design projects, strive. to provide median widths which afford
comfortable rather than just minimally adequate (our understanding is that the courts have
held that medians as narrow as 2 feet wide constituted adequate) pedestrian refuge.
It is also important to educate the public as to .the proper interpretation of pedestrian signal
indications at median -divided crossings. Follow the lead of other communities in placing
supplementary placards over pedestrian phase actuation buttons. The placards indicate whether
the interval provides time for full or only median -width crossing for normal -paced individuals.
Also, .place articles on this subject in transit and community service publications.
If existing intersections do not provide full pedestrian crossing intervals, evaluate the feasibility
of extending the cycle and phases proportionately or other reasonable retiming strategies as
necessary to provide full pedestrian crossing intervals.
Street Patterns
Modem transit planners favor the neo -traditional grid street pattern as a transit -friendly
environment. Because of the constraints of severe terrain, drainage courses, aqueducts, railroad
right of way and other utility corridors and because of the established major street system
pattern, Santa Clarita is a community which will never be able to implement the neo -traditional
grid street pattern in any substantial way. Given this circumstance, the keys to making Santa
Clarita streets more transit -friendly are as follow:
• Rigorously implement the pedestrian accessibility related programs and policies discussed
above. The pedestrian network can provide a grid -like accessibility to transit even when
the local street system is largely discontinuous and organized in walled pocket enclaves.
Assure that the developing arterial -collector street network is of a grid-like.pattem which
permits logical and efficient transit routings through the community. This does not mean
that the major streets necessarily need to be straight or at right angles to one another.
It means that they should be continuous across large areas of the community at a density
or spacing of no more than a half -mile on both the generally north -south and east -west
orientations. That allows efficient transit routings bringing services close enough to a
majority of the community to meet the service standards set forth elsewhere herein even
Michael Faians & Associates
Santa Qarita Transit Transportation Development Plan -draft final report 3.13
in an area where transit will rarely be able to operate effectively on local residential
streets.
• Adopt policies precluding approvals of new gated (access restricted) communities where
gates interfere with logical transit routings. Use powers of approvals over building,
additions and use changes to eliminate access restrictions in existing gated communities.
• Create continuous linkages wherever possible. Refrain from approving arbitrary
discontinuities in the local street network - discontinuities not necessitated by some form
of barrier or the major street network configuration.
• Provide bus turn -outs only where they are properly engineered. Where the character of
major street conditions suggest the possibility of turn -outs (widened areas of the roadway
at transit stops so the bus can stop without obstructing normal travel lanes), the turn -outs
should only be employed where they can be constructed with sufficient length to provide
a satisfactory acceleration lane for transit vehicles, facilitating their safe and efficient
reentry to the traffic stream.
Shopping Center Form
`The transit planner's ideal is the neo -traditional mixed-use shopping street with street oriented
retail space on the ground floor and office or residential uses at the second story. While demand
for this development form may be lacking in a community of as different a character as Santa
Clarita, the City's policies should permit such development form in areas of the community
where it might be appropriate.
i` • Provide better pedestrian access from bus stops to commercial structures. In more
conventional shopping center development, emphasize placing shop buildings close to the
street frontages and intersection comers where they can be accessed most readily by
pedestrians and transit riders. Put the auto parking in back. Locate drive -up banks and
fast-food outlets where their traffic will interfere least with everyone else (pedestrians and
street traffic).
Where centers conform to the established suburban norm (parking out front, shops to the
rear), provide clear pedestrian paths between transit stops and the shopping concourse.
The paths should be as reasonably direct as practical and minimize the need to cross
circulation aisles or weave between parking stalls.
1 Development Review Team
• Involve transit qfflcials in the development approvals review and conditioning prgcess.
The best and least expensive opportunity to provide a "transit -friendly" environment is
in the development approval process. In reviewing site plans, staff should concentrate
on details that go beyond normal transit operational considerations. For instance, in a
community where the weather is often quite warm, a landscape plan which provides
shade to a transit stop has considerably more value than one which merely provides green
Michael Fajans & Associates
Santa Qanta Transit Transportation Development Plan -draft final report 3.14
surroundings at the waiting point. A transit planner making unusually detailed comments
on tree types, locations and sun angles can make a difference in riders ultimate
experiences.
Coordination with Los Angeles County
Since areas surrounding the City are often developed under County jurisdiction, then
annexed to the City or become parts of Santa Clarita Transit's service area though
remaining under County jurisdiction, it is crucial that the City find mechanisms to induce
the.County to respect and adhere to the transit -friendly development guidelines outlined
herein.
3.2 RAIL STATIONS AND TRANSIT CENTERS
RAIL STATIONS
While not ideally located with regard to proximity to residential areas and the arterial network,
a significant investment has occurred to date in the Saugus Metrolink Station. It should continue
to be an important origin point for rail travel as well as regional commuter bus service. It is
also well situated between two planned development areas, Porta Bella to the south and the
Panhandle across the river to the north. While the investment in the Via Princessa Station is
considerably less at this point, it is also an established facility relatively well situated for the
Canyon Country market. Located near major arterial routes and surrounded by industrial uses
and the Santa Clarita River, it does not provide the potential fora significant walk-in market,
but it is a site that is unlikely to generate opposition from nearby residents as it is developed
with more permanent facilities. It is also well situated with freeway access from the large
catchment area out Route 14.
The location of the proposed third Santa Clarita Metrolink Station should be the site on Railroad
Avenue in Newhall, between Lyons and Market. Further north along San Fernando Road is too
close to the Saugus Station; further south diminishes access from residential areas and would be
poorly situated for combining the station with a transit center for transferring between bus
routes.
Although slightly too close to the Saugus Station for Metrolink standards, the Newhall site
provides the best combination of proximity to the residential market while minimizing the
potential of backtracking for patrons accessing the station (i.e. having to travel in the reverse
direction from the ultimate destination). Without a Newhall Station, Valencia and Newhall
residents need to travel 10-15 minutes extra to access a train to Los Angeles (5-10 minutes to
access the station and five minutes on the train to get back to Newhall). The suggested Newhall
Metrolink Station also provides an opportunity for public investment in an area which will be
compatible with plans for redevelopment activity to revitalize the old commercial core of
Newhall. Station improvements will be a suitable expenditure for redevelopment funds as well
as traditional transit funding sources.
Michael Fajans & Associates
Santa Clarita Transit Transportation Development Plan -draft final report 3.15
If the Santa Paula line is ever brought back into active service and restored across Valencia to
connect with the active rail line, another station would be developed in conjunction with the
Newhall Ranch project. The proposed transit center at Chiquito Canyon and Route 126 might
be a good location.
TRANSIT CENTERS
Town Center
The primary transit center for a fixed route pulse terminal in Santa Clarita should be at or near
the Town Center shopping center. Town Center, not Saugus Metrolink, is the crossroads of the
system because of the configuration of the area road network and because it is at the primary
ridership concentration of the system; hence it is the logical transit hub. With much of future
community growth. focused to the north and west, •Town Center will also become more of a
geographic center. Continuing to hub at Saugus Metrolink will result in continuing system
inefficiencies which will not be tolerable in a future cost and operating environment.
In a pulse type system, efficiency of the general location of the terminal and functional efficiency
of the details of the terminal design crucially affects the entire route system. At present, six
routes travel in sequence between the Town Center and Metrolink Station. Compromises in
location and/or functional details that might be tolerated in the case of an individual bus stop
have escalated systematic consequences in the case of a terminal.
Shopping center managers typically like to be served by many transit routes - so long as the bus
stop is well on the center's perimeter and only one or two buses arrive at a time. A terminal
proposal conjures visions of a wall of buses blocking the view of the center from the road and
crowds of teenagers loitering, an intimidating presence for other center patrons. However,
several Southern California transit agencies have agreements with shopping centers for transit
centers on shopping center property, including Orange County Transit District and San Diego
Transit.
A key understanding in Santa Clarita is that, unless a suitable pulse terminal can be developed
in the Town Center area, continuing to configure the system structure so that a majority of the
routes still pass by Town Center will become impractical. There are a variety of potential
locations for a transfer terminal on the periphery of the shopping center. It is essential that the
transit center both not conflict with shopping center access and egress patterns, but also equally
important that the facility be easily accessible by buses operating on diverse routes without
inordinate out -of -direction travel and lost time in accessing and.egressing the facility. Safety
of pedestrian flow between buses and between buses and pedestrian destinations is also essential.
Table 3.2 indicates the advantages and disadvantages of alternative terminal sites in the vicinity
of the Town Center Mall. A terminal along the lines of that described for Location # 1 (on the
south side of Magic Mountain Parkway east of the paseo bridge and Auto Center Drive) can be
developed to meet the functional needs of the transit system while minimizing adverse impacts
on shopping center circulation and required land dedication for transit use. Eastbound buses
would remain on Magic Mountain Parkway while westbound buses would need to divert onto
Michael Fajans & Associates
1 Santa Aanta Transit Transportation Development Plan-draftfinal report 3.16
Town Center internal roadways. With two aisles of bus bays (one at curbside) and berming
comparable to what exists at present, the visual impact of the buses at pulse time would be
minimized. This is a perimeter location, though one with good pedestrian access. The intent
of staffing an information kiosk should maintain order in the terminal area.
The future transit route pattern proposed for Santa Clarita has eight routes plus an additional
peak period route servicing the Valencia Transit Center, each operating on half-hour frequency.
They are all through routes, so the total number of buses passing through in a full cycle would
be 18. This is beyond the practical upper limit of 10-12 full size transit vehicles that can be
accommodated in a pulse terminal integrated in a suburban commercial complex given
considerations of spatial requirements of the terminal complex and "bus traffic congestion."
As service becomes this concentrated, it is probably desirable to offset the pulse times on several
of the routes by 15 minutes from the others. This will provide 15 minute service on the key
routes within the central core and relieve bus congestion. We recommend that the system be
operated on a single pulse until nine to 10 buses are servicing the Town Center.
The center should be developed as two aisles of sawtoothed.bays, 5-6 bays in each direction.
This gives a requirement of about 350 linear feet of bay space. Once the system goes to split
pulse operation, the spare bay space can be used as stops on the commuter lines and as a
pickup/drop-off point for dial -a -ride services.
With a 12 foot curb indention along Magic Mountain Parkway, 35 feet for pedestrian waiting
and circulation, and an internal set of bus bays and roadway width of 25 feet, approximately 72
feet would be required to accommodate the terminal. Total site need would be approximately
25,000 square feet. The same concept can be duplicated at Location # 3 along McBean Parkway
on the west side of Town Center. Figure 3.2 illustrates how the various routes would approach
a transit center along McBean Parkway.
Newhall
The proposed Santa Clarita Transit system has five routes converging at the Newhall Metrolink
Station/transit center. The rail station would be located east of Railroad Avenue between Market
Street and Lyons Avenue. The bus terminal is proposed to be an on -street curbside terminal
along both sides of Railroad Avenue. Alternatively, if sufficient parking can be accommodated
south of. 8th Street, the narrowed portion of the site north of 8th Street could. be utilized for a
northbound set of bus bays adjacent to the station platform. Preliminary engineering will be
required to determine the viability of this concept.
Although five routes converge on the station, it is the terminus of only one of them. It is a
waypoint on the routes of the other four. Hence, there could be ultimate need for as many as
nine local bus bays at Newhall; one for the terminating route and one for each direction of the
through routes. If a bay or two is provided for commuter lines, total bay requirement would
be 11 or 12.
Michael Fajans do Associates
Santa Clarita Transit Transportation Development Plandraft final report 3.17
TABLE 3.2 TOWN CENTER TRANSIT CENTER ALTERNATIVES
Location # 1: On South side of Magic Mountain Pkwy. east of pedestrian bridge.
Description: Eastbound vehicles on bays directly off Magic Mountain travel lanes; westbound vehicles
on bays off internal roadways of Town Center.
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
• Concentrated site:
• Off -route diversion for westbound vehicles
- Easy walking for transfers,
(although can use existing signals).
- Single kiosk with easy walk to all
platforms,
• Potential for westbound transit vehicles to
- Grouping platforms around single
be tied -up in shopping center internal
concourse creates minimal confusion and
traffic during peak shopping seasons.
anxiety for infrequent and first time users.
• No off -route deviation for eastbound
• Not favored by mall management.
vehicles; minimal deviation for westbound
vehicles.
• Paseo bridge provides ready access to land
uses on both sides of Magic Mtn. Pkwy.
Connecting paseo provides clear access path
across shopping center parking lots to
destinations.
• Location within reasonable walk distance of
shops and other community activity center
destination concentration.
• Provides highly visible location for transit
yet preserves separation of terminal from
Town Center structures.
• Requires least acreage of off-road
terminals.
Location N 2: Split terminal along Magic Mountain Pwy. east of pedestrian bridge.
Description: Platform bays north and south of Magic Mtn. Pkwy. accessed directly from travel lanes.
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
• No off -route travel in either direction.
• Long walk across paseobridgefor transfers
• No potential to be tied -up in seasonal
between routes on opposite sides (requires
shopping traffic in Town Center internal
longer transfer time).
roadways.
• Would require dual kiosks (including
• Highly visible location for transit,
duplication of rest room facilities for
• Paseo bridge and connecting paseo provides
operators); probably one kiosk staffed, the
good access to nearby shops.
other a remote terminal.
• Generally good proximity to concentration
• Split configuration on opposite sides of
_
of community destinations.
street likely to be confusing for first time
• External position of transit vehicles most
and infrequent users who need to transfer.
acceptable to Town Center.
• Requires least acreage.
Michael Fajans & Associates
Santa Qarita Transit Transportation Development Plan -draft final report 3.18
Location q 3: On Mc Bean Parkway near Magic Mountain Parkway
Description: Northbound streetside, southbound in internalized transit center.
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
• More flexibility to design on open land;
• Location on Mc Bean slightly less well
fewer design constraints.
suited to overall route structure than q's 1
• May be favored by mall management
& 2 on Magic Mountain.
possibility of more enthusiastic cooperation.
• More remote from retail activity across
• Future paseo crossing provides potential
Magic Mountain Parkway, no development
benefits similar to location N 1.
at present on west side of McBean.
• Adjacent to future "main street' access to
mall.
Location 114: Northeast comer of McBean and Valencia.
Description: Internalized transit center.
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
• Good proximity to concentration of
• Inferior linkage to paseo system as
community destinations,
compared to alternatives land 2. Also,
• Good high visibility location for transit.
less sense of easy pedestrian linkage to
• Concentrated site; minimized walks for
Town Center shops than k 1 and 2.
transfers.
• Proximity to major intersection necessitates
totally internalized configuration. This
imposes turning requirements on near side
as well as far side vehicles.
• Comer site makes efficient linear terminal
layout for required number of vehicles
difficult.
• Requires largest acreage from Town
Center.
Location # S: Northwest corner of McBean and Valencia behind gas station
Description: Internalized transit center behind station
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
• none relative to other alternatives
• same as number N 4 above
• Most out of direction bus travel required
• cannot be effectively utilized
Alternatives Considered but Dismissed
Location # 6: Split terminal north and south of Magic Mtn. Pkwy., west of paseo bridge (platform bays
accessed directly from street travel lanes).
Reason: Generally has same advantages and disadvantages as N 2 except available space is more
constrained, and paseo bridge not convenient.
Location 1Is 7 & 8:
Linear curbside terminals (platform bays accessed directly from street travel lanes) on one
side of Magic Mtn. Pkwy. centered on and split by pedestrian bridge; N 7 would be on
north side, N 8 on south side.
Reason: Linear terminal of 10 to 12 bays would be far too spread out to function effectively. Half
the vehicles must execute 180 degree counter direction movement to enter and another 180
degree movement upon exit. In case of north side, space available may be inadequate.
I
Michael Fajans & Associates
Santa Qarita Transit Transportation Development Plandraft final report 3.19
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Center Detail
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Figure 3.2
Because the Newhall Transit Center is not at the midpoint of the through routes, it is unlikely
that there would be a requirement of bay space for all nine local buses simultaneously and the
facility will not operate as a full pulse terminal. It would probably be possible to operate
successfully with fewer than nine local bus bays. However, because of the character of the area,
it would be practical to reserve as many as nine curbside bays for local buses and one or two
for commuter buses. Furthermore, there is a positive recognition factor when each terminating
route and each direction of each through route has its own unique bay. Given the practical
availability of bay space and the recognition value, the planning goal of reserving a unique bay
for each terminating route and each direction of each through route is an appropriate one.
As to traffic pattern, the convenient loop of Lyons, Market, Railroad and San Fernando blends
well with a terminal at this site. Bays for through routes should be assigned on an orientation
consistent with the general orientation of the route direction (for recognition and general
efficiency). A bay for the terminating route can be assigned in either direction as necessary to
balance out bay use.
To the degree that there is any pulsing activity at Newhall, the pattern should be keyed to the
Metrolink schedule during train times and otherwise to the schedule of the 25 which should
provide about a 15 minute offset from the primary pulse at Valencia Town Center. Arrivals and
departures on the other through routes will be based on the. operational requirements of their
particular routes and the pulse schedule at Valencia Town Center but should still be relatively
close to pulse time at Newhall, facilitating convenient transfers between most routes.
Princessa
In the long-range plan, the Princessa Transit Center would be served by four routes including
Route 45 which would end at the station and three through routes. This would create a
requirement for up to seven bus bays for local service. All of the routes calling at the Princessa
Transit Center also call either at Valencia Transit Center or at Newhall Transit Center. Ideally,
runs serving Via Princessa would pulse offset 15 minutes from Valencia Town Center and
Newhall since it is approximately 10-12 minutes run time from the. other terminals by most
routes. The key meets at Princessa would be for patrons coming from the east and north to be
able to choose to travel to Newhall or Valencia, and vice versa for people returning from one
of those communities.
To simplify design and expense, it may be possible to accommodate westbound buses along Via
Princessa adjacent to the station, with eastbound buses turning left to enter the station before
returning to their route.
Chiquito Canyon
With no specific land plans and arterial layout available for the prospective Newhall Ranch
Development, it is not possible to recommend an exact site for the fourth future Santa Clarita
transit center. Three local routes, the 70, the -30, and the 35 should all pass through the transit
center, providing destination choices for residents of Val Verde and the western portions of
Newhall Ranch. While all three routes pass through the Valencia transit center, they take very
Michael Fajans & Associates
Santa Garita Transit Transportation Development Plan,draft final report 3.21
different routes to get there, providing access to the Valencia Industrial Center, Valencia
Corporate Center, and Newhall respectively. This site would also be a good location for a park-
and-ride lot or potentially a rail station if rail service is extended to the.west.
PHASED ROUTE STRUCTURE MODIFICATIONS
It is important that the route modifications be accomplished in a manner that is logical and not
overly disruptive to current ridership. Some of the recommended routes are or can be operated
at present while others rely on new development and new arterial routes.
Santa Clarita Transit has its existing routes stretched to the practical operational limits for
maintaining the pulse cycle at the Saugus Metrolink hub, and its route options are constrained
by a roadway configuration that is itself constrained by severe terrain, drainage and utility
corridors and pocket neighborhood patterns. In such a system, it is difficult to make incremental
change to respond to unmet service desires, increments of growth or even cumulative growth
increments. The key preconditions to meaningful changes in route structure are development
of new pulse terminal locations (discussed above) and development of new arterial, collector
(and in some cases continuous local) street linkages. The key elements dictating timing of
service plan changes are the Town Center Transit Center and the routes dependent on new
roadway elements. A Newhall Transit Center can come into being at literally any time simply
by routing the buses to Railroad Avenue - the Metrolink station need not be constructed yet.
Of the proposed routes, the ION and 10E, the 15N and 15S, the 30N and 30W, the 355, the
45S, and the 70E can be operated with existing roadways and represent continuity or minor
modifications to existing routes. The portion of the 45N between Whites Canyon and the
Princessa Metrolink Station can take over that portion of the existing 50 line, with the remaining
connection to Plum Canyon and connection to the Town Center via Copper Hill and McBean
to be initiated when Whites Canyon is linked with Plum Canyon.
rOther routes are dependent on development or new streets. For example, the Val
Verde/Valencia Commerce Center (VCC) peak service (Route 20) is dependent on development
in the VCC, and the 35E and 25 are dependent on new development and new roadway
connections in and around the proposed Porta Bella development. Likewise, the 60 route is
dependent on a Sloan Canyon extension and the north and west legs of the 80 route are
dependent on the development level at the proposed Tesoro del Valle and Newhall Ranch
projects respectively. Other lines would be extended into Newhall Ranch as it is built and
occupied, adding buses and cycle time to existing routes. Section 4 presents a phased plan for
introduction of the new services.
I
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Michael Fajans & Associates
Santa Qaita Transit Transportation Development Plan -draft final report 3.22
3.3 COOPERATIVE SERVICE PLANS
Because of its terrain imposed physical isolation from other communities, there are no adjoining
communities and no transit discontinuity resulting from jurisdictional boundaries. For travel
within the larger region, Santa Clarita Transit has reciprocal transfer agreements with Metrolink,
MTA, AVIA, and LADOT. These agreements provide for combining Metrolink, Santa Clarita
Transit, or LADOT regional service with local bus service in Santa Clarita, the Antelope
Valley, the San Fernando Valley, or Central or West Los Angeles, points that can be accessed
by transit from Santa Clarita.
Santa Clarita regional routes do not provide open door service on local portions of the express
routes, such as along DeSoto between Chatsworth and Canoga Park or Woodland Hills, or
between Van Nuys and Sherman Oaks. MTA buses provide the local service along these
corridors, and the Santa Clarita service in each corridor is limited to peak periods at 30 minute
headways. In addition, Santa Clarita Transit has a 13c agreement with the MTA unions not to
provide competitive service within the MTA service area.
COORDINATION OPPORTUNITIES
Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA)
The MTA/LADOT "Study of Restructuring Public Transit Service in the San Fernando Valley"
(9/94) identified demand to travel from the northeast part of the San Fernando Valley to Santa
Clarita Valley. New hourly weekday and weekend limited stop service was proposed between
the Sylmar/San Fernando Metrolink Station/transit center hub and Santa Clarita on a proposed
"Route 570".
Proposed destinations in Santa Clarita included the Town Center Mall and Magic Mountain, with
the route approaching Santa Clarita generally on the I-5 corridor. Staff at Santa Clarita Transit
believe that the route should access Santa Clarita via Route 14 and San Fernando Road where
it could serve a joint purpose supplementing local transit service on San Fernando Road. A
large segment of demand could be between Newhall and Sylmar, which would be better served
by this route. An optional extension to the Valencia Industrial Center could be integrated.
Another alternative would be for the route to circle through Santa Clarita, providing service
from Newhall to Sylmar in the AM peak with the return to Newhall via I-5, the Valencia
Industrial Center, Magic Mountain, and the Town Center. In the afternoon and early evening
the route would reverse, operating northbound from Sylmar and southbound from the Industrial
Center and/or Magic Mountain depending on time of day.
The MTA has implemented much of the San Fernando Valley restructuring plan but until
recently was not pursuing adding this proposed new service. To date, the MTA has not
expressed interest in running the service nor identified funding to begin this service. Santa
Clarita Transit has volunteered to run the service if MTA is able to find funding through savings
in implementing other parts of. the plan. In theory, implementing the Restructuring Study
presumably leads to no additional dollars being spent countywide, since savings on some routes
Michael Fajans & Associates
Santa C7arita Transit Transportation Development Plandraft final report 3.23
I
are applied to new services on other routes. The study was "blind" to budget implications to
individual operators. In fact, the MTA has realized cost reductions when it made changes.
MTA is attempting to resolve funding for this new service through the MIA's FY97 budget
process already underway.
Outside of implementing Line 570, neither Santa Clarita Transit nor MTA have discussed adding
other bus routes.
ILos Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT)
In its Bus Service Expansion Program, the MTA allocated funding to Santa Clarita to provide
transit service between Santa Clarita and West Los Angeles. At the time, Santa Clarita
determined that the most efficient use of the funds was to extend selected.trips from the existing
LADOT lane 573 between West Los Angeles and Granada Hills. Therefore, LADOT is the
contracting agency responsible for Line 573 from Santa Clarita to Westwood. The LADOT
contracts with the MTA to operate a package of express services, of which this is included.
As cited previously, Line 573 has some features which may limit its ability to truly serve patrons
between West Los Angeles and Santa Clarita:
• The route through the San Fernando Valley proceeds along Balboa Boulevard rather than
I405, which makes it tedious for those headed to West Los Angeles. An express
segment through the San Fernando Valley is likely to be more attractive.
• The route does not serve the Sylmar/San Fernando transit hub. However, it does serve
1 the Chatsworth/Gaynor park-and-ride, which allows transferring to LADOT Line 574
which proceeds to the LAX/El Segundo employment area.
To date, Santa Clarita. Transit has not had the flexibility to shift express buses between the
794/799 routes to downtown Los Angeles which utilized Santa Clarita owned buses, and other
services which were provided by other vendors using their own buses. With its new single
vendor service contract implemented in August 1996, Santa Clarita Transit gained ability to
allocate resources more flexibly between routes. It may be more productive to shift resources
from the downtown Los Angeles to Westwood/Century City service, and provide the service
with less deadhead time and lower contract cost per hour than that associated with the LADOT
contract.
Antelope Valley Transportation Authority (AVTA)
AVTA does not have a great deal of transit funding (highway projects are the preferred use for
TDA funds), which limits the opportunities available for coordinating transit. To date, Santa
Clarita provided service on Line 795 because the Antelope Valley based contractor could provide
the service with minimal budget impact. AVTA does not provide funding for the route which
connects the two communities, with several trips a day extended to the Olive View Medical
Center in Sylmar.
Michael Fajans & Associates
Santa Oarita Transit Transportation Development Plan -draft final report 3.24
The service design on Line 795 appears erratic because of the scheduling windows and attempts
to avoid duplication with Metrolink. Metrolink has requested Santa Clarita to add bus service
to meet their 7:53 am and 8:53 am trains. Santa Clarita has indicated to AVTA that they would
be willing to provide the extra service if AVTA can fund the extra cost. However, to date
AVTA has not provided funding.
In terms of other opportunities to coordinate service, not much has been pursued. Conversations
have occurred on and off for AVTA to stop its express routes at the Golden Valley park-and-ride
but neither operator is particularly interested (AVTA because it fears increased patronage may
lead to the need for additional service/vehicles; Santa Clarita Transit because it feels its own
service adequately serves Santa Clarita patrons). Coordinating transfers between bus routes is
also challenging because AVTA's hourly headways are difficult to work with.
Ventura County
Ventura County has a bus route along the Highway 126 corridor that operates within Ventura
County, running approximately hourly from lam to 6pm between the Buena Ventura Mall and
the Fillmore fire station. Fillmore is approximately 19 miles from Santa Clarita. Given
anticipated growth of travel demand in the full corridor to Santa Clarita, extended bus service
crossing the two counties may be desirable in the future. Since the majority of the corridor is
in Ventura County, it is probably more logical for the Ventura County Transportation
Commission to sponsor the service. To date, the VCTC considers it a low priority route. As
a long-term solution, rail along the Santa Paula Branch could serve this corridor (as well as
provide service into the Antelope Valley), although it is not clear that demand would be
sufficient to justify the rail investment. Santa Clarita Transit has pursued study funding to
identify right-of-way 'in Santa Clarita that completes the link needed to provide service in this
corridor.
Kern County
Because of the rapid growth expected in Kern County, in the long term there may be a need for
transit service between Kern County and Santa Clarita Valley. Kern Regional Transit provides
bus service between Bakersfield and Frazier Park, located 29 miles north of Santa Clarita, but
does not serve any part of Los Angeles County. While there is some demand between Frazier
Park and Santa Clarita, providing transit over such a long distance is highly impractical for a
very limited market. With Kern County growth and potential development in the Frazier
Park/Tejon Ranch area, there may ultimately be sufficient demand for commute service to Santa
Clarita. As is the norm, operation by Kern Regional Transit would be more logical for such
service.
Amtrak bus also operates between Bakersfield and Los Angeles, but only provides skeletal
service which is only available for users ultimately using Amtrak train service. Greyhound
service exists between Bakersfield and Los Angeles (though not with a schedule conducive to
commuting), with no stops at Frazier Park or Santa Clarita.
Michael Fajans & Associates
Santa Clarita Transit Transportation Development Plan -draft final report 3.25
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IIntercity Operators
Several Greyhound buses designated as -"local" pass through Santa Clarita without stopping.
The majority of Greyhound buses travel along the I-5 corridor, with a single route to Bishop
using the Route 14 corridor. Greyhound had a station in downtown Newhall, but abandoned it
some years ago. When the Newhall Metrolink Station is built, Santa Clarita could encourage
a stop there where Greyhound buses along both I-5 and Route 14 could be intercepted.
3.4 NON-TRADITIONAL SERVICES
Many transit agencies, due to budget constraints and a desire to be more responsive to their
overall market, are exploring new ways to deliver service to customers.- These new ways of
service delivery are also a logical response to changing travel patterns and the need to diversify
transit's "product lines" by going beyond traditional transit operations. Mobility management
is the function of providing the best transportation alternative, whether it be traditional transit
service, dial -a -ride . transit, taxi service, or assistance with carpooling or other rideshare
programs. Wise use of limited funding and provision of maximum mobility requires a broad,
coordinated strategy, and transit agencies are well placed to provide a strategic role.
Given experience elsewhere with non-traditional services, seven potential strategies were
considered to be potentially applicable to Santa Clarita. They are introduced briefly, and greater
discussion is devoted to three strategies, including implementation steps, that were mutually
selected by the consultants and Santa Clarita Transit management staff as most appropriate for
the Santa Clarita environment.
OPTIONAL STRATEGIES
Strategy 1: Dial -a -Ride for Low Density Trips
In areas of low ridership, a number of transit agencies have contracted with private operators
and taxi companies to provide dial -a -ride transportation in -lieu of scheduled fixed route service.
When travel patterns are highly dispersed, this option may cost less than fixed route buses while
still maintaining mobility within a community. The disadvantage of dial -a -ride service to the
consumer is the need to pre -schedule travel, as opposed to going to the bus stop without advance
planning. Unlike scheduled buses, service is only provided when a passenger calls to schedule
a trip. Capacity can easily be increased or decreased as demand warrants.
Santa Clarita Transit contracts with a private contractor to provide both the dial -a -ride service
and fixed route bus service. At present, the least productive fixed route serves approximately
four times as many patrons per hour of service as the existing dial -a -ride service, and the
average cost per dial -a -ride trip is much higher than fixed route transit trips. With the possible
exception of late night or Sunday travel when there has been no fixed route service, this strategy
Michael Fajans & Associates
Santa Clarita Transit Transportation Development Plan -draft final report 3.26
does not appear to be one that warrants further consideration by Santa Clarita Transit at this
time.
Strategy 2: Dial -a -Ride Feeder Routes
Dial -a -ride feeders also operate in low density areas. In this strategy, they work in tandem to
feed fixed route buses. Small buses, taxis, or vans collect passengers who call to be picked up
at their door and delivered to transfer points to connect with the fixed route buses. Such service
may alleviate the need to extend fixed route services into fringe neighborhoods. At present,
Santa Clarita Transit provides dial -a -ride service to all senior citizens in addition to those
meeting ADA eligibility criteria. Thus, utilizing dial -a -ride feeders in Santa Clarita could reduce
trip length for some existing dial -a -ride trips, those in which riders are physically capable of
transferring to fixed route buses that would take them to their destination.
Strategy 3: Checkpoint Dial -a -Ride
Checkpoint dial -a -ride is a variation of the demand responsive services described in the previous
sections. Pickup and dropoffs do not always take place at origin or destination curbside but only
at specially designated checkpoints. When a passenger calls for service, the dispatcher
determines the nearest checkpoint, located so that the passenger has only a short walk.
Checkpoint service can be more efficient than curbside service since drivers do not need to
spend time searching for exact addresses, waiting for passengers, or driving into cul-de-sacs or
apartment complexes. Because passengers are required to wait at checkpoints, there is a greater
need to make sure that the vehicle arrives on time than for door-to-door dial -a -ride service.
Compared to existing Santa Clarita transportation services, it might save some time relative to
standard dial -a -ride, but would require riders to walk to checkpoints, which would discourage
senior citizens. In addition, the heat in summer and lack of pedestrian amenities in much of
Santa Clarita would cause rider resistance.
Strategy 4: Service Routes/Community Buses
The previous strategies describe dial -a -ride feeders to bring pickup and dropoff services closer
to the customer than traditional fixed -route buses. Service routes, by contrast, are not demand
responsive but are fixed routes designed to reduce the distances that people must travel to bus
stops. Because the buses travel into neighborhoods, paratransit vehicles or low floor buses are
often utilized. Usually patrons can flag buses anywhere on the routes. Exiting the bus is also
permitted anywhere on the route. Some operators allow requests for route deviation, where the
passenger can be picked up or dropped off a few blocks from the fixed route. One of the goals
is to reduce the demand on paratransit dial -a -ride by designing fixed service routes that are easy
to use for the elderly and persons with disabilities.
Service routes could be introduced instead of the dial -a -ride feeders described under strategy 2.
The service routes could be designed with the same purpose of bringing seniors to a central
gathering place, where they would board a fixed route bus for the Senior Center or a medical
center. The advantage is that the service routes would be less costly to operate than dial -a -ride
Michael Fajans do Associates
Santa Clarita Transit Transportation Development Plan -draft final report 3.27
but would still penetrate into the communities where seniors live. The disadvantage is that the
service routes are a bigger change over the current level of service provided with dial -a -ride than
the dial -a -ride feeders would be and, therefore, might meet with more resistance from current
riders. A fare incentive could be created, with service route fares at lower levels than dial -a -
ride fares.
Service routes might also be considered for other destinations besides the Senior Center.
Another alternative would be neighborhood peak period routes to and from the Metrolink Station
or between the Metrolink Station and Valencia Industrial Center for "reverse commuters.
Strategy 5: School Bus Coordination
Each of the elementary school districts and the high school district in Santa Clarita provide bus
service. However, the Hart High School District charges a transportation fee which is
approximately double the cost of a student pass on Santa Clarita Transit, and the District restricts
use to students living more than 3.5 miles from their high school. This results in many students
taking public transit because of convenience, price, and ability to make other bus trips with their
transit pass. While the school district saves some transportation expenses, Santa Clarita Transit
must operate additional trippers for some schools, has to deal with some level of student
vandalism, and carries large numbers of students which can discourage adult passengers.
There may be opportunities to rationalize school and transit bus routings and pricing to gain
efficiency in overall transportation resources. Santa Clarita Transit needs to determine the
incremental net. cost of operating school trippers. In may be more cost effective for Santa
Clarita Transit to raise the monthly price of a youth pass, and use a portion of the proceeds to
assist the school district either operate additional school service or reduce the fee charged for
school district transportation.
Strategy 6: Subscription Buses
Subscription bus services are usually targeted at a specific employment location. The passenger
receives a reserved seat by paying a weekly or monthly fare in advance. A subscription bus is
usually only started when there are sufficient passengers who have committed to the service to
insure a minimum revenue. It may be organized by employers, employees, or by the transit
agency. While some subscription bus operations operate without subsidy, some recent services
have been implemented with transit agencies providing a vehicle and driver paid on an hourly
or shift basis.
A variation on the subscription bus concept involves paying one of the potential subscribers to
drive the bus. In this case, the transit agency is able to provide customized service to special
groups at a lower cost, because the driver's wages are paid only when the bus is in operation -
- that is, there is no guaranteed minimum paid schedule as with full or part-time drivers. There
is also minimum deadhead time, as the bus is usually parked at the driver's worksite during the
tday.
Michael Fajans & Associates
Santa Qarita Transit Transportation Development Plan-draffiinal report 3.28
Subscription buses could be considered to serve areas where the demand is insufficient for a
regular fixed route service, but where there is, nonetheless, an unmet need. Subscription bus
service is most successful for extremely long commutes, such as from Santa Clarita to the El
Segundo/Los Angeles Airport area or from Antelope Valley to Santa Clarita employment
centers. Organization is easiest for extremely large employers, such as firms that employ 10-
20,000 workers in one area. It is more difficult to organize where a group of smaller employers
are located in proximity, such as the case in Santa Clarita.
Strategy 7: Commute Store and Comprehensive Telephone Center
A transit agency seeking to become a mobility manager considers the passenger first and assists
with information about the best travel alternative, whether or not that information pertains to the
transit agency services or other providers. Such information should be readily available both
by telephone and by in-person visit. Some agencies have established commute stores in areas
with heavy foot traffic, which provide "one-stop shopping" on all transportation alternatives --
bus, rail, carpool, vanpool, subscription bus, bicycling, and walking.
Many transit agencies do not have an in-house ridematching program but do support this
mobility management function by collaborating with a regional rideshare agency. It is difficult
for a regional ridesharing agency to have the local visibility that a transit agency has, and thus
the transit agency should market ridesharing as well as its own fixed route services. Particularly
in a region as large as Southern California, it can be difficult to get comprehensive information
on how to make a trip that involves multiple transportation providers. A call to Amtrak on how
to get from Santa Clarita to San Diego will not provide the information on how to get from
Santa Clarita to Union Station, or particularly how to get from a neighborhood in Santa Clarita
to Metrolink.
In a commute store, the transit agency can help the passenger more easily link to all the
transportation providers needed to complete a trip. In an area like Southern California, it is
necessary to computerize information about multiple systems because of the sheer volume of
route, schedules, and maps. Alternatively, a caller can be directly transferred to another agency
for additional information. Under this option, the caller does not have to hang up and dial
another number or place a long-distance call, even when the call is transferred to another county.
The concept of customer assistance requires retraining and rethinking of job responsibilities, just
as travel agents are trained to present a variety of options to clients.
Plans anticipate shifting the primary transit center/transfer center from the Saugus Metrolink
Station to the Town Center area. Because the Town Center mall has high visibility and traffic,
it would also be a good location for a commute store. Alternative locations would be a kiosk
physically at the transfer center or a small office within the shopping center. The following
services should.be provided:
• transit schedules and route maps for all transit services to, within, and from Santa
Clarita;
• bicycle and pedestrian trail maps;
• sales of transit passes and tickets;
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• computer capable of producing on -the -spot match lists for carpooling and
vanpooling; and
• trained staff to provide travel planning assistance.
IMPLEMENTATION TASKS FOR RECOMMENDED STRATEGIES
Dial -a -Ride Feeder Routes (strategy 2), Service Routes/Community Buses (strategy 4), and a
Commute Store (strategy 7) seem to provide the most opportunity for Santa Clarita Transit to
implement innovative and productive service. Implementation of these strategies requires a
change in the manner of doing business, but Santa Clarita Transit appears to be well positioned
to move forward with these. strategies. Some strategies can be tested immediately, while others,
such as the establishment of a commute store, needs to be done in conjunction with relocation
of the primary transit center to Town Center, taking advantage of the mall's central location and
high level of foot traffic. There may also be opportunities to promote greater coordination of
school transportation (strategy 5) and to implement subscription buses. The latter, however, is
probably most productive when initiated by an employer or employee group, rather than with
the transit agency taking the lead.
1 Strategy 2a: Dial -a -Ride Senior Feeder Routes
Approximately 20% of the current dial -a -ride trips are daily trips to the Senior Center. Many
of the seniors who take these trips, while not disabled, have difficulty walking to the bus stop.
Dial -a -ride vans or taxis could be assigned to various neighborhoods in the city. Seniors would
be picked up by vans or taxis at their homes and dropped off at a neighborhood gathering point,
such as a shopping center or transit center. A dedicated tripper bus could then make only the
few selected stops at these gathering points to pick up the seniors and take them to the Senior
Center. Alternatively, an existing or modified route might be able to provide the trunk line
service. Since the trips to gather up seniors would be much shorter than the current
door-to-door service, the vans used now would be freed up to handle additional dial -a -ride
passengers. It should also save the city's transit operation money, since fixed routes are less
expensive than dial -a -ride and fewer vehicles are needed once the seniors have been collected
and brought to a common site. Using taxis instead of vans would allow the dial -a -ride vans to
be used for growth in demand from ADA -eligible passengers.
iAnother 40% of current dial -a -ride users are making medical trips, many of which are to or near
the Henry Mayo Memorial Hospital. While still providing full trip dial -a -ride service to those
meeting ADA eligibility criteria, some proportion of current dial -a -ride patrons could be shifted
to dial -a -ride feeder service and trunk line routes.
The following implementation steps would be required assuming the use of taxis. The use of
dial -a -ride vans instead. of taxis would only require steps 4-6 and pre -scheduling shorter trips
than is currently done.
1. Conduct informal discussions with the taxi operators to determine their ability and
- interest in contracting with Santa Clarita Transit.
Michael Fajans & Associates
Santa Clarita Transit Transportation Development Plan -draft final report 3.30
Z Decide on the Service to be Provided.
3. Issue a Request for Proposals.
4. Develop an Education and Training Program for the Seniors
S. Introduce the Taxi or Van Feeder Service.
6. Evaluate the Service.
More information on implementation steps is provided in appendix 3.1.
Strategy 2b: Dial -a -Ride Commuter Feeder Routes
Dial -a -ride vehicles used for transportation of persons who are elderly or disabled could begin
earlier in the morning commute periods to take residents to the train stations and/or express bus
stops. Current utilization data indicates that there are 5-8 vehicles available before 7 a.m. and
4-6 vehicles available between 4-7 p.m. Commuters could call in the day before to schedule
pickups, and a subscription service could be offered for daily riders. Residents returning home
would not have to pre -schedule their trips if vehicles assigned to different areas of the city met
the trains at night. In this way, residents would have flexibility to catch one of several trains
home.
Dial -a -ride vehicles dropping off residents at the train station/transit center could be available
to take other workers arriving on the train to employment centers in Santa Clarita, such as the
Valencia Industrial Center. In the morning, riders could be dropped off at their buildings in
order to reassure employees that they would arrive on time for work. Riders would be required
to inform the driver if they wanted a trip back after work. In the evening, riders would be
asked to assemble at specially designated checkpoints for the trip back to the train: This evening
arrangement would relieve the dispatcher of calls and scheduling, since the vans would
essentially be performing a modified fixed route based on information from the morning trips.
Employees who did not ride in the morning would still be required to call dispatch in order to
reserve a seat in the afternoon.
The followingimplementation steps, which assume use of Santa Clarita Transit's dial -a -ride
vehicles, are described in more detail in appendix 3.1.
1. Survey potential riders.
2. Design the feeder to Metrolink.
3. Design the feeder to the business parks.
4. Market the feeder services.
5. Evaluate the Service.
Strategy 4: .Service Routes
Service routes could be introduced instead of the dial -a -ride feeders described in the previous
section. As an example, the service routes could be designed with the same purpose of bringing
the seniors to a central gathering place, where they would board a fixed route bus for the Senior
Center. For example,.the service route bus could have many stops within Friendly Village and
Michael Fajans & Associates
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could deliver the patrons to a Route 10 bus at the entrance of Friendly Valley which would take
them directly to the Senior Center.
Service routes might also be considered for other destinations .that are more scattered than the
single Senior Center location. For example, service routes could be designed to pick up at the
major senior citizen living quarters in Santa Clarita and make only a few stops at various
doctors' clinics; supermarkets, and the shopping mall. Such a service would be more
customized to seniors' needs than the fixed routes now operating but would not be as
personal—nor as expensive --as the current dial -a -ride service.
Implementation steps 2, 4, and 6 in the previous section on dial -a -ride feeders are applicable
here as well.
Strategy 7: Commute Store
This report recommends that the main transit center be located at Town Center. Because this
area has high visibility and traffic, it would be a good location for a commute store. A commute
store would produce a strong identity for Santa Clarita Transit as the community's single source
for all commute needs. This enhanced identity would create additional value for the transit
agency in the minds of the citizens. The mission of Santa Clarita Transit would be expanded
and customer service would be strengthened.
Locations to be considered for the commute store are either locating the commute store within
the shopping mall or a combination of a kiosk at peak times at the transit center and a staffed
office or desk within the mall on weekends. The director of the Transportation Management
Association already staffs the concierge desk in the mall on some days of the week to provide
transportation information. Santa CMta Transit could staff the kiosk and direct people by signs
to, the mall when the director is scheduled at the concierge desk. It might also fund an
expansion of the TMA role in the mall.
Implementation steps for a commute store would be the following:
i1. Decide upon the appropriate location.
2. Negotiate an agreement. with Southern California Rideshare.
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Santa Clarita Transit Transportation Development Plan -draft final report 3.32
3.5 APPROPRIATE EQUIPMENT TYPES
BUS TYPES
Santa Clarita Transit .has a range of equipment, including 40 passenger, 40 foot Neoplan
highway coaches used for commute service, 27 to 35 foot Gillig buses used in local fixed -route
service, and a fleet of smaller vans used for Dial -a -Ride service. In recent years, Santa Clarita
Transit has acquired four used 40 foot buses as backups and to provide supplementary school
tripper service. The larger buses are all diesel engined and the vans are gasoline engined. The
entire fleet is equipped with wheelchair lifts. With the exception of the used buses, the fleet of
buses is not scheduled for replacement until 2003 or 2004. The vans are provided by the
operator -- the new operator that started service in August 1996 provided replacement vehicles.
Prior to .2003, the only bus acquisitions would be equipment needed for service expansion.
Depending on the nature of funding available, Santa Clarita Transit needs to determine whether
it is cost effective to purchase buses or pay for lease costs in conjunction with the operating
contract (i.e. use buses owned by the contract operator). Additional highway coaches will be
required if Santa Clarita Transit replaces the extension of the LADOT Route 573 with express
service. These should be standard 40 foot highway coaches with high -back seating.
Additional buses will be required to expand local fixed -route service. Given growth in ridership,
35 to 40 foot buses should be considered, using higher capacity buses on more heavily
patronized routes and using the 27 foot Gillig Spirit buses on less patronized routes. If some
routes remain lightly patronized, the 27 foot buses should be replaced with 30 foot buses (a more
standard small bus likely to have greater parts commonality with larger buses) at the end of their
useful life. Santa Clarita Transit should monitor the success other properties have with "low
floor" buses, and consider using such equipment for future purchases. Low floor buses not only
eliminate need for a wheelchair lift, they allow faster boarding and disembarking for all
passengers. Dial -a -ride and service route equipment should continue to be vans or cut-out small
buses, designed to operate on narrower neighborhood streets.
All buses and vans utilized by Santa Clarita Transit must meet the requirements of federal and
state law with regard to disabled access.
FUEL
Santa Clarita Transit should consider the use of 'clean fuel" vehicles for future purchases. The
use of such vehicles in transit application has become more routine in recent years. After
experimentation with various fuels, compressed natural gas (CNG) seems to the most frequently
utilized clean fuel in the transit and shuttle industry. While the capital cost of vehicles and
fueling facilities is greater than for diesel, the cost of CNG fuel is somewhat lower than diesel
and vehicle maintenance costs are reduced.
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Electric buses are also becoming more popular, although limitations on operating endurance (3-5
hours), speed, and hill climbing ability remain constraints. Electric buses would have the most
applicability to dial -a -ride or service route applications.
For the larger equipment, CNG seems to have the most potential to replace diesel. There. are
engines designed to operate on CNG as well as conversions of gas or diesel engines. Santa
Clarita Transit should encourage Southern California Gas or another vendor to provide a CNG
fueling facility in the Santa Clarita Valley. Having ability to operate "clean fuel" buses would
allow Santa Clarita Transit to more effectively pursue "clean air" funding sources that seem to
be growing relative to availability of traditional transit funding sources. Until a CNG fueling
facility can be developed in Santa Clarita, propane should be considered as an alternative clean
fuel for dial -a -ride vehicles since it can be stored above ground and conversions of gasoline
engines can be easily accomplished.
Use of clean fuel buses would not only be beneficial for air quality in Santa Clarita, but it would
provide a.key element for marketing transit use - clean air is virtually universally accepted as
a community and regional goal. New, clean fuel buses would generate media publicity for Santa
Clarita Transit.
Michael Fajans do Associates
Santa Clarita Transit Transportation Development Plan -draft final report 3.34
3.6 CONSISTENCY WITH ADOPTED AND ONGOING PLANNING
EFFORTS
This intermediate to long-range transit plan for Santa Clarita is consistent with regional and local
planning programs. For example, the Southern California Association of Governments Regional
Mobility Element, dated 1994, calls for a three tier transit system, based on inter and intra-
regional services, sub -regional services, and local center focused transit services. The
development of the third Metrolink Station, increased feeder transit to the Via Princessa and
Newhall Stations, and expanded express services to West Los Angeles and the Valley support
the first two tiers of the SCAG Mobility Element, while the development of a local network
focused on four transit centers supports the regional goal for improved local transit services.
Likewise, the plans for a Commute Store to promote transportation alternatives and the creation
of pedestrian -oriented design requirements are consistent with the SCAG strategies for
Transportation Demand Management (TDM). The suggested Santa Clarita Transit Development
Plan is also consistent with Transportation for the 21st Century, the Los Angeles Metropolitan
Transportation Authority plan adopted in March 1995.
The plan is also compatible and consistent with the Santa Clarita General Plan, adopted in 1991
Examples include the following Land Use Element policies:
1.8 Encourage the concept of traffic mitigation agreements that provide a variety of
transportation options including but not limited to automobiles, transit, commuter trains,
light rail, and bicycle pathways..
2.5 Encourage the development of business park areas for future industrial/manufacturing
land uses, with landscaping, employee recreation, pedestrian walkways, and other unified
design standards.
3.6 Locate higher density residential development in close proximity to regional and sub -
regional centers and public transportation corridors.
4.4 Focus revitalization efforts on eliminating blight along the railroad right-of-way adjacent
to San Fernando Road... retain railroad right-of-way for future transit uses, including the
consideration of parking structures...
Michael Falana & Associates
Santa Qarita Transit Transportation Development Plan -draft final report 3.35
4.0 IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES
This is the final section of the Santa Clarita Transit Transportation Development Plan. It
presents the implementation and funding strategies required to develop the local and regional
transit network required for full mobility of Santa Clarita residents.
Section 3 developed a plan for improved transit service, focusing a local network on three transit
centers. However, Santa Clarita Transit will not directly transition from the current network
to the ultimate network, the new services are dependent in some cases on new arterial
connections, and in others, on new population growth in the City and surrounding
unincorporated service area. This section lays out three phases of growth, and determines both
the costs and potential revenues associated with this growth.
4.1 THE EMPLEMENTAUON PLAN
Local Fixed Route Network
Section 3 presented a plan with 19 route segments, most of them operated every 30 minutes all
day. However, the network does include two commute period express routes to Metrolink
Stations and transit centers from residential areas as well as to the primary office and industrial
employment centers. In addition, two other routes would receive additional service during peak
periods to maintain a connection to the Saugus Metrolink Station that would otherwise be lost
in the transition to Valencia Town Center as the primary hub in lieu of the Saugus Station.
However, as cited previously, some of the new routes are designed to serve future growth areas,
including Route 35E which will serve Porta Bella and anticipated new development south of
Route 14 and west of Sand Canyon, and Route 80 which will serve the proposed Tesoro del
Valle and Newhall Ranch projects. Other routes would be extended into Newhall Ranch when
■ developed. In other cases, such as Route 45, the southern segment provides service for the
Stevenson Ranch area which only receives school tripper service as present, while the northern
segment replaces the Whites Canyon segment of existing Route 50 and extends service into Plum
Canyon and newly developing north McBean neighborhoods that have no service at present.
Table 4.1 presents the recommended routes and equipment needs for a three phase introduction
of new service. The first phase of new service is recommended for implementation when the
Valencia Transit Center is complete and becomes the primary hub of the system. In
transitioning the system from its hub at the Saugus Metrolink Station, it will be necessary to
create new services to ensure that much of the community retains its bus service to the rail
stations at train times. Thus, it is important to create the Canyon Country hub at the Princessa
Metrolink Station at the same time. While it would be most desirable to have the Newhall
Metrolink Station available when service is transitioned to the Town Center, it is not essential,
and routes can connect on Railroad Avenue in Newhall even before the station is open.
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Michael Fajans & Associates
Santa Clarita Transit Transportation Development Plan -draft final report 4.1
As can be noted from Table 4.1, the first phase of service improvement and expansion will
require a base period requirement of 19 buses, compared to 14 at present. The primary
differences would be new service on Sierra Highway north of Soledad (Route 1011); more
frequent service between Canyon Country, Newhall and Town Center via Sierra Highway and
San Fernando (replacing a segment of existing Route 50); and regular service to the Stevenson
Ranch area (Route 45S). With the re -orientation of Bouquet and Seco Canyon routes from the
Metrolink Station to Town Center, dial -a -ride buses would link these neighborhoods to the
Saugus Station to link with peak period commute trains.
TABLE 4.1. SANTA CLARITA TRANSIT: LOCAL
ROUTE BUS REQUIREMENTS BY PHASE
Routes
Number of Buses
Phase 1
Phase 2
Phase 3
Base
Period
Peak
Only
Base
Period
Peak
Only -
Base
Period
Peak
Only
ION
2
2
2
WE
3
3
3
15N
2
1
2
1
2
1
15S
2
2
2
20
2
2
25
4
4
30N
1
1
1
1
1
1
30W
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1
2
35E
3
3
35S
2
2
3
45N
1
3
3
45S
1
I
1
60
2
70E
3
3
3
70W
1
1
2
sow
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80N
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Totals
19
2
28
4
L 33
6
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In the second phase of improvement, nine additional buses would be added, bringing the base
period requirement to 28 buses. New services would include the Route 25 circle line, operating
both clockwise and counter clockwise linking Newhall and Town Center via Old Road on the
west and via Porta Bella on the east. The 35E line would connect new development south of
Highway 14 and west of Sand Canyon (Lost Canyon) with the Princessa Metrolink Station and
with Town Center via Via Princessa and Porta Bella. The 45N would be expanded from a route
connecting Whites Canyon to Princessa Metrolink, which only requires one bus, to a linkage
from Princessa to Town Center via Whites Canyon, Plum Canyon, Copper Hill, and North
McBean Parkway, potentially requiring three buses to maintain 30 minute frequencies.
While presented as a package of improvements in a single phase, the 45N route is likely to be
implemented prior to the other two routes since the linkage of Whites and Plum Canyon is
anticipated to be completed within two -three years, while no specific dates are known for the
Via Princessa, Lost Canyon, and Porta Bella segments. New two -bus peak period service would
be provided to Valencia Commerce Center with an extension'to Val Verde (Route 20), linking
them with the Town Center transit center and Saugus Metrolink Station.
In phase 3, new service would be established to Newhall Ranch, as an expansion westward of
existing routes; and to Tesoro del Valle, north of McBean Parkway into San Francisquito
Canyon (Route 80). Peak period express service between Castaic and the Newhall Metrolink
Station would be added (Route 60), providing both a linkage for Castaic residents to reach trains
for Los Angeles, and a linkage for in -commuters and Newhall residents to jobs at the expanding
Valencia Commerce Center. Equipment needs for phase 3 would include 33 buses to operate
the basic schedule, with six additional for peak periods -- some of which could be dial -a -ride
vehicles. The Chiquito Canyon transit center would also be a phase 3 development.
As cited previously, phase one should be implemented when the Valencia Transit Center is
complete. With design, site acquisition, and development, it may take two -three years to
implement. Rather than setting specific dates for implementation of the second and third phases,
the expansions will be tied to the rate of new residential development and completion of
additional arterial improvements. In addition to the required roads, the addedpopulation will
generate both additional riders and additional tax revenues required to provide the expanded
transit service.
In addition to new routes, Santa Clarita Transit also plans to initiate limited night service and
Sunday service. These services together will represent about 12% of annual revenue vehicle
miles. While unlikely to be as productive in terms of passengers per revenue vehicle hour, they
are deemed to be important aspects of providing expanded mobility for Santa Clarita residents.
Table 4.2 indicates the number of revenue vehicle hours required annually with each of the
anticipated phases of growth. This assumes a number of revenue. vehicle hours per bus
equivalent to the current level.
Michael Fajans & Associates
Santa Oarita Transit Transportation Development Plan -draft final report 4.3
TABLE 4.2. SANTA CLARITA TRANSIT:
REVENUE HOUR FORECASTS
LOCAL
Days
RVH/day
Current
RVH
Phase I
RVH
Phase 2
RVH
Phase 3
RVH
Weekda(school)
200
221
44,200
60,206
88,400
104,312
# of buses
14
19
28
33
Weekday (summer)
55
212
11,660
15,741
23,320
27.401
Commute trippers
2,000
4,000
6,000
# of buses
2
4
6
Saturday
52
132.4
6,886
9.292
13,692
16192
subtotal62,760
87 260
129444
153734
Total Local Buses Needed
14
21
32
39
Night
255
14"'
:3 1 570,
4,820
71140
8.396
Sunday
52
96
:
;1-6,700
-
9,984
11,731
Total Annual Revenue Hn.
.71.33
98,800
146,600
174,100
REGIONAL EXPRESS
Route 799
255
27.1
6,911
6 �911
6,000
5,234
Route 794
255
9.1
2,321
2.321
2,321
2,321
Route 798
255
22
5,610
5,610
6,375
6,375
Route 793
255
6.1
1,55-6
1,556
1,556
1,556
Route 796
255
-12.1
3,086
3,086
3,851
3,851
Route 791
255
10.2
2,601
2,601
3,366
3,366
Route 795
255
20.5
5,228
5.578
5.578
5.578
Route 797 West LA
255 1
1
3,060
3.825
4,590
Route 792 West LA
255
1,530
2,295
�2 295
Total Re 'oral Exvress
255
107.1
�27 311
32.251
35,165
35 165
Regional Buses
181
22
24
24
Note; bnaaeO numbers are projections
Source: Michael Fajans &Associates
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IDial -a -Ride (DAR) Service
The door to door service, provided to disabled residents as well as senior citizens, is also
anticipated to expand. For planning purposes, DAR service is expected to initially grow at a
faster rate than population, meeting the mandates of the federal Americans with Disabilities Act
(ADA). However, by phase three, DAR is assumed to have grown by.60% in relation to a 79%
increase in service area population. As this service is the most expensive to operate per rider,
Santa Clarita should seek to implement techniques for reducing demand for the dial -a -ride
service per the recommendations in Section 3.4 on non-traditional services. The most promising
appears to be use of dial -a -ride feeder routes. Rather than providing door to door service, vans
or taxis would provide door to transit center service, providing feeders to the expanded fixed
1 route service. By offsetting some routes, the expanded local fixed service would provide 15
minute headways to the medical center and senior center, the most frequented destinations of
dial -a -ride patrons. The multiple transit centers provide good locations to transfer patrons from
the dial -a -ride feeder service to the fixed route buses.
Regional Route Network
Recommended changes to the regional route network are less dramatic than those for the local
fixed route network. Most of the services have capacity for patronage growth and do not need
1 additional equipment. The primary exception is the recommendation for Santa Clarita Transit
to offer express service to Westwood and Century City in -lieu of the current LADOT 573 route.
The lower hourly cost for regional express service under its present operating contract will allow
the service to be more productive. Santa Clarita should offer four or five commute trips
southbound in the morning and back at night. Several of the return trips could be in service
while others would be deadheaded back. Table 4.2 shows the current annual revenue vehicle
hours for the regional routes, and the impact of adding Westwood service. Adding a four trip
commute service with two in-service returns would add approximately 4,600 annual revenue
hours, an approximately 17% increase in revenue hours. In latter phases, this service may be
expanded by one or two buses.
Another smaller change would be to extend trips on the 795 Antelope Valley service to the Town
Center transit center, as well as peak period trips to the Valencia Industrial Center and
Commerce Center. This would have only a minor impact on revenue vehicle hours. The latter
would provide one seat service from Antelope Valley to employment centers in Santa Clarita.
A small decrease in bus service to downtown Los Angeles is anticipated in latter phases after
Metrolink train service is provided from Newhall. Alternatively, the route could be restructured
to provide service from areas further from Metrolink, such as Castaic or Newhall Ranch.
Other new regional routes would only become feasible if a new regional revenue source were
provided to support the service. The recommended Sylmar/San Fernando route would require
3,825 annual hours of service if one bus provided hourly service on weekdays only, or as much
as 10,770 annual hours of service if headways were 30 minutes seven days a week. Hourly
service seven days a week would require approximately 5,400 hours of service annually.
Likewise, .the other potential regional route which may be warranted is service to the Universal
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City Red Line Metrorail Station after rail service is extended in 2002 or later. Two buses would
be required for hourly service; this would require 7,650 hours of service annually if operated
weekdays only, and almost 11,000 hours annually if provided seven days a week.
Since both these routes would be operated continuously throughout the day, providing linkages
to regional transit hubs, the hourly cost should be equivalent to the lower rate for local, fixed
route service, not the higher rate associatedwith regional routes that have substantial deadhead
time.
4.2 COST AND REVENUE FORECASTS
Tables 4.3 and 4.4 provide financial forecasts for Santa Clarita Transit associated with three
levels. of population growth and transit service.
Given the dramatic improvements in ridership per revenue hour for the Santa Clarita Transit
fixed route network, even while expanding service, ridership forecasts are projected based on
passengers per revenue vehicle hour as derived from Table 4.3.
As can be noted, total Santa Clarita Transit patronage for the 1995-96 fiscal year was ,
approximately 1.6 million passengers, almost 85% of whom rode the local, fixed route buses.
The average of 21.77 passengers per revenue vehicle hour represented an 18% increase over the
previous year. Because of the intention of adding Sunday and evening service which will carry
fewer riders per hour, future patronage forecasts have assumed conservative increases in
passengers per revenue vehicle hour, ranging from 22 per hour for phase 1 to 24 per revenue
vehicle hour in phase 3. Likewise, ridership on the regional routes is anticipated to increase
from eight per revenue vehicle hour to 10, with modest increases in the productivity of the Bial-
a -ride service as well. With the exception of the pending increases in the youth monthly pass
rate and dial -a -ride fares, no real increase in fares has been forecast, all forecasts being based
on current dollars.
As shown in Table 4.3, total annual Santa Clarita Transit patronage is expected to grow to
approximately 4.6 million, compared to 1.6 million at present. This level of patronage is
associated with a service area population level of approximately 300;000, which represents a
79% growth from the current service area population. Annual fare revenues would grow from
approximately $950,000 for 1995-96 to about $2.8 million by phase 3.
Table 4.4 summarizes the financial forecasts for Santa Clarita Transit given population growth
of 32,000 (19%), 82,000 (49%), and 132,000 (79%) and the increases in annual revenue hours
of service described in the previous section. In addition to fares, the largest funding sources for
Santa Clarita Transit are Transit Development Act (TDA) Section 8 revenues, based on sales
tax, and the local return portions of Los Angeles County
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Santa Qanta Transit Transportation Development Plan -draft final report 4.6
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TABLE 4.3. SANTA CLARITA TRANSIT: CURRENT AND
FORECAST PATRONAGE
199596 FY
Annual
Patron a
Fare
Revenue
Aver. Fare
Revenue
Rev. Veh.
Hrs
Pass/
RVH
I ocal
1,366,S37
73 946
$0.42
62,760
21.77
s
191,727
$345,109
$1.80
24,000
7.99
DAR
57,471
$26,437
$0.46
23.102
2.49
Totals
FUTURE FORECASTS
11.615.735 1
$945 491
109 862
A Phase 1:
Addition132.000 Po
lation in Service Area
Passengers/
RVH
RVH
% change
in RVH
Annual
Patronage
Average Fare
Revenue
22
98 800
57%
2.173,600
$0.50
9
32,2501
34%
290,250
$1.80
2.5
33.0001
43%
82,500
$0.90
Totals
1 164.0501
49% 1
2.546.3501
$1,683.500
B Phase 2:
Additional2
000 Po lation in
Service Area
Passengers/
RVH
RVH
% change
in RVH
Annual
Patron a
Average Fare
Revenue
231
146.6001
134%
3 371 800
$0.50
10
35 165
47%
351,650
$1.80
2.6
36 000
56 %
93 600
$0.90
Totals
1
217-7651
98%1
3.817.0-501
$2,403,110
C Phase 3:
Additional 132
000 Po
lation in Service Area
Passengers/
RVH
RVH
% Chang
in RVH
Annual
Patrons a
Average Fare
Revenue
24
174 1001
177% 1
4.178.400
30.50
10
35,1651
47%
351.650
51.80
2.6
37 000
60%
96 2001
$0.90
Totals 1 246.265 124% 1 4.676150 1 t? ana -t5n
Source: Michael Fajans & Associates
' Michael Fajans & Associates
Santa G7arita Transit Transportation Development Plandraft final report 4.7
4.4. SANTA CLARITA TRANSIT: FINANCIAL FORECASTS
rate
per
U
Assumptions
Prop A, C, and TDA constant per capita basis
Prop A discretionary as forcast for 2000-01
AB 2766 constant amount per capita
FTA bus lease as forecast for 2000-01
County contribution per 1996-97 forecast
Michael Fajans & Associates
Michael Fajans & Associates
Santa C7arita-Transit Transportation Development Plan-draftfinal report 4.8
Proposition A and C sales taxes. Other revenue sources include Proposition A discretionary
funding used for. regional services, and a County contribution based on the proportion of
' ridership and miles operated in the unincorporated portion of the service area (derived from the
County shares of TDA, Prop. A and Prop. C revenues).
Santa Clarita Transit also receives a small amount of Air District AB 2766 funds, and Federal
Transit Administration (FTA) assistance with bus lease costs. Although they vary up and down
with the health of the economy, the TDA and Proposition A and C local return funds will
increase as sales taxes increase. In real terms, they have tended to grow on a per capita basis.
We have forecast them to continue on a constant per capita basis. However, the dramatic
population growth rate of the community means that these sources will grow.
Santa Clarita Transit's primary revenue sources are forecast to grow from approximately $8.6
million annually to a total of $10.9 million based on population growth of 32,000 to a population
of 200,000, approximately $13.75 million at a population of 250,000, and to $16 million at a
service area population. of 300,000. Any negative change in legislation that diminishes transit
assistance would obviously adversely affect Santa Clarita Transit's revenue forecasts.
Santa Clarita Transit costs are also shown in Table 4.4. The operating expenses for the three
service types are based on the current contract costs. While some inflation is expected, these
numbers are shown on a constant basis, since the revenues are also not shown increasing with
inflation. Personnel costs are assumed to grow at about the same rate as service hours, with the
exception of an increment for staffing a commute store starting with the Phase 1 improvement
program. Likewise, the allocation for the operations and maintenance facility is expected to
grow proportionally to service hours with an extra increment in Phase 2 when it is assumed a
dedicated facility is brought on line.
With the bus lease commitments associated with the current fleet, Santa Clarita Transit would
have additional funding available for capital improvements and unanticipated service needs in
each phase of growth. However, based on the forecasts in Table 4.4, the amount available in
Phases 1 and 2 would be less than that which was available for the 1995-96 fiscal year. This
table does not show the cost to Santa Clarita Transit of operating and maintaining the Saugus
Metrolink Station, including cleaning and security services. This approximates $150,000 per
year. There will be lesser costs associated with maintaining facilities at the Princessa, Newhall,
and Town Center transit centers in the future.
While it appears that Santa Clarita will have the financial capacity to grow the system as
anticipated, the funding is contingent on the continuation of rapid population growth in Santa
Clarita. If Santa Clarita were to grow at a slower rate than the county as a whole, its share of
Proposition A and Proposition C funds would decline, and it would not be possible to implement
' the three phases of service expansion as anticipated. However, if development of Newhall
Ranch does not occur, for example, Santa Clarita Transit would not need to operate as many
buses. Thus, it is important that Santa Clarita Transit grow at a measured rate that corresponds
to its increase in revenues.
Michael Fajans & Associates
Santa Clarita Transit Transportation Development Plandraft final report 4.9
Future Funding
Capital needs are not completely resolved. While Santa Clarita Transit has committed grants
for the Town Center transit center, a maintenance facility, and the purchase of the Princessa
facility, additional funds will be required for improving the station, purchase and development
of the Newhall Station, local match for additional buses, and improving the community
infrastructure to make it more "transit -friendly."
There are a variety of potential funding sources, including Proposition A and C local return,
discretionary, and incentive funds; ISTEA "Enhancement" and CMAQ funds, FTA Section 9
funds, and the Santa Clarita Transit Mitigation Fee. The latter, a $200 fee per new housing unit
in the City, is particularly appropriate for additional buses and making bus stop access
improvements to improve pedestrian accessibility. To date, much of new development has
occurred in the County, which is not subject to the fee, and the homes.have been annexed to the
City later. If more development occurred within the City, or the County agreed to assess the
same fee in the unincorporated portion of the. service area, the transit mitigation fund would
increase dramatically. For example, Santa Clarita Transit would receive one-time contributions
of $8.8 million if 44,000 housing units (built to accommodate 132,000 new residents) were
subject to the fee. Santa Clarita should also consider allowing an in -lieu contribution to the
fund, with developers building transit amenities or contributing land toward a park-and-ride lot
in -lieu of the cash contribution.
Because of the pending re -authorization of federal ISTEA transportation funding, it is not clear
what level of federal funding will be available to Santa Clarita in the future. At present, it does
not appear that it will increase, but that transit will be fortunate to receive close to the level
achieved in recent years. While Santa Clarita Transit has not received a large proportion of its
funding from federal sources, other communities in the county have, and a reduction of federal
funding could create pressure to reallocate discretionary County Proposition A and C funds,
making future funding more competitive for Santa Clarita Transit.
Santa Clarita Transit should identify a wish list of future capital needs, particularly for rail -
related improvements or park-and-ride lots, so that local projects would be included in potential
regional or statewide transportation bond issues or other initiatives that could generate new
funding. This would include the Call for Projects process utilized every two years by MTA to
competitively select and fund new transit projects. Another funding source for capital projects
could include state Transit Capital Improvement Program (TCI) funds — intermodal bus/rail
facilities are frequently funded by this source. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)
funding can be used for park-and-ride lots for transit, particularly if funded as part of a highway
widening project. Highway funds can also be used to temporarily assist transit capital and
operations as a mitigation for a highway improvement project. There may be an opportunity for
funding related to the improvement of Route 14.
An area where dial -a -ride providers may be able to develop new funding would be seeking full
cost -reimbursement from medical providers who otherwise would be responsible for
transportation of their clients. Santa Clarita Transit has already sought and received money from
Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital for transporting clients of its adult daycare program, but there
Michael Fajans & Associates
Santa Qarita Transit Transportation Development PlandraJifrnal report 4.10
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may be future opportunities to expand this funding source for dial -a -ride patrons. Finally, there
may be a possibility of assistance in funding a commute store program in conjunction with
Southern California Rideshare. Serving as an outlet for ridesharing information in the Santa
Clarita Valley will help the regionwide program.
4.3 CONCLUSIONS
Santa Clarita is a rapidly growing community. The future will see both infill of major vacant
parcels within the community, and the extension of the community into several directions. Job
opportunities are also expected to increase, with major employment increases in the Valencia
Commerce Center. This growth is important because it will cause not only demands for new
routes to an expanding population and labor force, but also allow new arterial routes in the
community that can rationalize deficiencies in the existing route structure.
Santa Clarita Transit provides local, fixed route buses; local dial -a -ride service for the senior
and disabled community; and regional commute service to downtown Los Angles and several
locations in the San Fernando Valley. Santa Clarita Transit also supports the Metrolink rail
service through the construction and maintenance of several rail stations. Ridership has
particularly grown on the local routes, more than tripling in the last four years. This.Transit
Development Plan has laid out an improvement program that will increase transit service in
excess of the level of growth anticipated in the community. The local network in terms of
routes and annual revenue miles is expected to grow at more than twice the rate of population
growth. It is important for the transit system to expand, but equally important that it not expand
too fast. To date, system productivity in terms of passengers per revenue vehicle hours has
increased while the number of revenue hours has increased. If system productivity starts to
diminish, expansion plans may need to be reconsidered.
The expansion of the dial -a -ride service and regional commute services will occur at a more
modest rate. Some commute service may be reallocated from downtown Los Angeles,
particularly if MetroLink service is expanded. All day regional connecting service to the
Sylmar/San Fernando transit center and the future Universal City Red Line Station may represent
the largest increases in regional service, but an additional funding source may be required to
support these services.
Rather than lay out an expansion program by year, it has been presented by anticipated
population level. Both transit demand and funding are associated with the population level, some
of the potential new routes will not be needed if certain proposed developments never occur.
With initiation of limited night and Sunday service, which have not been provided to date, the
amount of local, fixed route bus service is expected to grow to 174,100 hours annually,
compared to 62,760 at present. The size of the locally serving bus fleet would expand to 33
from 14 at present, with additional buses used during peak periods. If transit funding sources
remain as they are at present in the State of California and Los Angeles County, this program
should be financially achievable by Santa Clarita Transit.
Michael Fajans & Associates
Santa Qarita Transit Transportation Development Plandrajt final report 4,11
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APPENDIX A: BUS ROUTES SERVING SANTA CLARITA STUDY AREA
M MM M MW " M r M M M am Mi r m M M
Service Characteristics
Bas Route
Key Streets/Areas Served
Weekdays
Saturdays
General Hours of
Peak / Off-PeakGeneral
Hours
Service
Operation
Service Frequency
of Operation
Frequency
SANTA CLARFFA TRANSIT - LOCAL ROUTES
5 - Valencia Industrial Ctr/Valencia Town
Center
Avenue Stanford, Rye Canyon
Rd./Valencia Industrial Ctr, Scott,
11:00 AM -
2:00 PM
n.a. / 30 min.
n.a.
n.a.
McBean Parkway, Valencia Town Center
10 - Shadow Pines/Castaic
Castaie, Old Road, Ave Stanford, Rye
5:00 AM-
60 min. / 60 min.
8:30 AM-
60 min.
Canyon Rd, Scott, MCBean,Valencia
8:00 PM
7:30 PM
Town Center, Magic Mountain Parkway,
Valencia Blvd., Soledad Canyon Rd.,
Metrolink, Shadow Pines
Saturdays Only: Segment to Six Flags
Magic Mtn. replaces segment serving
Valencia Industrial Center
20 - Shadow Pines/Val Verde
Val Verde, Rte 126 to Ave Stanford;
6:00 AM -
60 min. / 60 min.
8:00 AM -
60 min.
remainder of route same as Route 10 to
7:30 PM
7:00 PM
Shadow Pines
(Combined 10/20
Saturdays Only: Segment to Six Flags
service is 30
Magic Mtn. replaces segment serving
Valencia Industrial Center
min/30 min except
for Castaie/Val
Verde branches)
School trips: Two
AM trips to Ave.
Tech;.one AM and
one PM trip each to
La Mesa Jr. High
and Canyon High.
Valencia High
served by route
deviations.
M MM M MW " M r M M M am Mi r m M M
m m m M Mon ■■r a= M mom MM M M M M
a
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Service Characteristics
Bus Route
Key Streets/Are" Served
Weekdays
Saturdays
General Hours of
Peak / Off -Peak
General Hours
Service
Operation
Service Frequency
of Operation
Frequency
15 - Newhall (Senior CtryMctrolink
SCV Senior Center, Lyons Ave.,
6:00 AM -
60 min. / 60 min.
8:00 AM -
60 min.
Tournament/Rockwell Cyn Rd., Valencia
7:00 PM
7:00 PM
Blvd., Soledad Canyon Rd., Metrolink
Saturdays On Segment on McBean
Parkway / Henry Mayo Newhall Mem.
Hospital replaces Rockwell Cyn Rd
segment
25 - Newhall (Calgrove/Cmeksidey
Calgrove Blvd., Wiley Canyon Rd.,
5:00 AM -
60 min. / 60 min.
8:30 AM -
60 min.
Metrolink
Tournament/Rockwell Cyn Rd., Valencia
8:00 PM
7.00 PM
Blvd., Soledad Canyon Rd., Metrolink
(Combined 15/25
service is 30
Saturdays Only. Segment on McBean
min/30 min except
Parkway/ Henry Mayo Newhall Mem.
for Calgrove and
Hospital replaces Rockwell Cyn Rd
Lyons Ave
segment
branches)
30 - Seen Canyon/Metrolink
Seco Canyon Rd., Bouquet Canyon Rd.,
Soledad Canyon Rd., Metrolink
5:00 AM -
8:00 AM
30 min / n.a.
n.a.
n.a.
30 -Sceo Canyon/Magic Mountain
Seco Canyon Rd., Bouquet Canyon Rd.,
Soledad Canyon Rd., Valencia Blvd.,
7:30 AM -
8:00 PM
60 min. / 60 min.
n.a.
n.a.
Magic Mountain Parkway, Six Flags
School trip: One
Magic Mtn.
PM trip from Seco
Cyn to La Mesa Jr.
High
31 - Kaiser Med Ctr/Seco Canyon
Seco Canyon Rd., Bouquet Canyon Rd.,
8:00 AM -
60 min. / 60 min.
8:30 AM -
60 min.
Soledad Canyon Rd., Metrolink,Valencia
7:00 PM
7:00 PM
Blvd., Magic Mountain Parkway, McBean
Parkway, Kaiser Medical Center
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! m m m W W M man M i MM mm mow M r
Service Characteristics
Bus Route
Key Streets/Areas Served
_
Weekdays
Saturdays
General Hours of
Peak / Off -Peak
General Hours
Service
Operation
Service Frequency
of Operation
Frequency
35 - Lyons Ave/Metrolink
Mctrofink/Soledad Canyon Rd., Valencia
5:00 AM -
30 min. / 30 min.
8:00 AM -
30 min.
Blvd, Magic Mountain Parkway, Valencia
10:00 PM
7:30 PM
Town Ctr, McBean Parkway, Mayo
School trip: One
'
Newhall Mem Hospital, Orchard Village.
outbound PM trip
Rd., Newhall Ave., Hart High School,
begins at Placenta
Lyons Ave to west of I-5
Jr.. High.
40 - Bouquet Cyn/Metrolink
LARC Ranch, Bouquet Canyon Rd.,
5:00 AM -
30 min. / 30 min.
8:30 AM -
60 min.
Newhall Ranch Rd, McBean Parkway,
7:30 PM
7:30 PM
Magic Mountain Parkway, Valencia Blvd,
Soledad Cyn Rd, Metrolink
40 - School Circulator Route
A.M.: Deviates from Bouquet Canyon
Schooldays only:
n.a.
n.a.
n.a.
Rd., serving community streets, Saugus
One AM trip
High, Arroyo Seco Jr. High, returning to
Two PM trips
Metrolink
P.M.: Begins at Arroyo Sew Jr. High,
serving community streets, Saugus High
School; returning to Metrolink.
50 - Metrolink/Whites Cyn /Sierra
Metrolink, Soledad Canyon Rd., Whites
6:00 AM -
30 min. / 60 min.
8:30 AM -
60 min.
Hwy/Valencia
Canyon Rd./Canyon Country, Sierra
7:30 PM
7:00 PM
Highway, San Fernando Rd., Valencia
Blvd., McBean Parkway, Valencia Town
Center
Ave Stanford/Tcehology, Rye Cyn,
Schooldays only:
n.a.
n.a.
n.a.
55 - Metrolink/Valencia
Valencia High School, McBean, Orchard
AM: 1 trip each
Village, Newyall Ave/Hart High School,
direction
San Fernando Rd, Sierra Hwy, Via
PM: 2 trips
Princessa, La Mesa Jr. High, Soledad Cyn,
Valencia -Metrolink
Metrolink
and 1 trip
Metrolink -Valencia
55 - Metrolink/La Mesa Shuttle
Community shuttle from Metrolink to La
Schooldays only:
n.a.
n.a.
n.a.
Mesa Jr. High
1 AM trip,1 PM
trip
! m m m W W M man M i MM mm mow M r
m m m m r= m m r r= m m m== m m
Service Characteristics
Bus Route
Key Streets/Areas Served
Weekdays
Saturdays
General Hours of
Peak / Of -Peak
General Hours
Service
Operation
Service Frequency
of Operation
Frequency
60 - Stevenson Ranch
Stevenson Ranch, McBean Parkway,
Valencia Blvd, Soledad Cyn/Metrolink
Schooldays only:
I PM northbound
n.a.
n.a.
n.a.
trip
65 - Stevenson Ranch
Stevenson Ranch, McBean Parkway,
Orchard Village, Hart High School, Lyons
Schooldays only:
AM -1 trip from
n.a.
n.a.
n.a.
Stevenson Ranch;
PM -1 trip back to
Stevenson Ranch
a
in
A MM M M M on M man M a. go=== M M r
Service Characteristics
Weekdays
Saturdays
Sus Route
Key Streets/Areas Served
General Hours of -
Peak /Off -Peak
General Hours
Service
Operation
Service Frequency
of Operation
Frequency
SANTA CLARTTA TRANSIT - EXPRESS ROUTES
791 - Valencia Industrial Ctr/Wamer Ctr/
Avenue Stanford, Rye Canyon Rd., Scott-
Directional peak
AM: 4 northbound
n.a.
n.a.
Chatsworth
Newhall Ranch Rd., McBean Parkway,
hour service only
trips arrive
Magic Mountain Parkway, Tourney Rd., I-
5, Rte 118, Topanga Canyon
PM: 4 southbound
trips depart
793 - Valencia Industrial Ctr/Van Nuys
Avenue Stanford, Rye Canyon Rd., Scott-
Directional peak
AM. 3 northbound
n.s.
n.a.
Newhall Ranch Rd., McBean Parkway,
hour service only
trips arrive
Orchard Village Rd., San Fernando Rd.,
Rte 14, I405, Van Nuys Blvd
PM: 3 southbound
trips depart
'
794 - Valencia Industrial Ctr/LA Union Stn
Avenue Stanford, Rye Canyon Rd., Scott-
Directional peak
AM: 4 northbound
n.a
n.a.
Newhall Ranch Rd., McBean Parkway,
hour service only
trips arrive
Magic Mountain Parkway, Tourney Rd., I-
5, downtown Los Angeles
PM: 5 southbound
trips depart
795 - Sylmar/Lancastet
Lancaster, Antelope Valley Mall, Vincent
Peak hour service
To Lancaster.
n.a.
n.a.
Grade Metrolink, Via Prineessa Metrolink,
only
AM: 4 trips (incl. 2
Soledad Canyon/Metrolink; some mutes
from Sylmar)
extend down San Fernando, Sierra Hwy to
PM: 3 trips (incl. 1
serve Olive View Medical Center in
from Sylmar)
Sylmar
From Lancaster.
AM: 4 trips (inc.1
to Sylmar)
PM: 3 trips (inc. 1
to Sylmar)
796 - Metrolink/Wamer Ctr
Soledad Canyon Rd., Valencia Blvd.,
Directional peak
AM 4 southbound
n.a.
n.a.
McBean Parkway, Orchard Village Rd.,
hour service only
trips depart
San Fernando Rd..ete.
PM: 5 northbound
trips arrive
A MM M M M on M man M a. go=== M M r
r�
L_
a
a
M= r M = � = � = M� M W M r M= W
Service Characteristics
Weekdays
Saturdays
Bus Route
Key Streets/Areas Served
General Hours of
Peak /Off -Peak
General Hours
Service
Operation
Service Frequency
of Operation
Frequency
798 - Metrolink(Van Nuys
Van Nuys, I-405, Rte 14, San Fernando
Peak hour service
AM: 4 southbound
n.a.
n.a.
Rd., Orchard Village Rd., McBean
only
trips depart; 2
Parkway, Valencia Blvd., Soledad Canyon
northbound trips
Rd.
arrive
PM: 3 southbound
trips depart; 6
northbound trips
arrive
799 - Metrolink/Downtown LA
Soledad Canyon Rd., Valencia Blvd.,
Directional peak
AM: 9 southbound
n.a.
na
Magic Mountain Parkway, McBean
hour service only
trips depart
Parkway, Orchard Village Rd., LyonsRd.,
San Fernando Rd., Sylmar, I-5, downtown
PM: 10
Los Angeles
northbound trips -
arrive
LADOT-EXPRESS ROUTE
573 - Santa Clarita/SFV/Westwood/
McBean Parkway, Orchard Village Rd.,
Peak hour service
AM: 4 southbound
n.a.
n.a.
Century City
Lyons Ave., San Fernando Rd., Rte 14, I-
only
trips depart
5, Van Nuys, Encino, Westwood/Century
(Peak direction
City
only between Santa
PM: 5 northbound
Clarita and SFV)
lips arrive
Appendix Table B
Comparison of Santa Clarity Transit with Comparable -Sized Operators
by Service Type (from FY95 TPMJTDA Report Forms)
1. Fixed Route Local Service
Operator
Fleet
Size
Operating Cost/
Vehicle Service
Hour
Unlinked
Passengers/ Vehicle
Service Hour
Santa Clarita Transit
19
45.35
18.43
Norwalk
14
72.32
28.58
Antelope Valley Transit
Authority
17
44.45
26.31
Culver City
24
61:27
45.67
Torrance
26
67.72
30.14
2. Fixed Route Express.Service
Operator
Fleet
Size
Operating Cost/
Vehicle Service
Hour
Unlinked
Passengers/ Vehicle
Service Hour
Santa Clarita Transit
9
116.57
15.29
Antelope Valley Transit
Authority
6
78.28
11.28
Santa Monica
12
58.27
32.61
Torrance
9
56.32
20.85
3. Dial -a -Ride Service
Operating cost/vehicle service hour is a measure of efficiency, whereas unlinked passengers/
vehicle service hour is a measure of effectiveness.
B.1
Fleet
Operating Cost/
Unlinked
Operator
Size
Vehicle Service
Passengers/ Vehicle
Hour
Service Hour
Santa Clarita Transit
9
43.48
2.6
Antelope Valley Transit
13
49.25
2.78
Authority
La Mirada
8
55.78
6.89
Operating cost/vehicle service hour is a measure of efficiency, whereas unlinked passengers/
vehicle service hour is a measure of effectiveness.
B.1
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APPENDIX C. Summary of Public Comments at February 3, 1996 Santa Clarita
Transit Transportation Development Plan Workshop
Approximately 35-40 attendees participated in three workshop groups which discussed the
questions indicated and suggested the following as key issues:
1. What are the barriers to more personal and community use of alternatives to private
.automobile use?
Topography, gated areas restricting access, lack of sidewalks, and the distinct separation of land
uses were cited as key barriers, with attendees indicating that the land use pattern with a limited
number of large shopping centers not within walking distance of many residents being a key
determinant. School locations not close to residential areas .were also cited as a barrier to use
of transportation alternatives.
The cost of transit, particularly Metrolink fares, were also cited as a barrier, people indicating
that the $144 month rate to Los Angeles was double the fare that encouraged ridership (as did
the lack of freeways) following the Northridge earthquake. Others suggested that there was too
much dependence on Metrolink and that buses to more locations would be preferable. Voter
apathy about solving congestion problems was also indicated by several people.
2. What should the city and county do to encourage and facilitate transportation alternatives?
Recommendations included: better bus stop environments such as more shelters, lighting, and
sidewalks; paseo and neighborhood sidewalk connections to arterials with bus routes; mixed use
and cluster development; improved feeder routes to Metrolink trains; and the use of small, quiet
buses. Several people suggested smaller, neighborhood oriented park-and-ride lots would be
preferable to large, centralized facilities that were more prone to vandalism. The difficulty of
walking across major arterials with current signaling and lack of median waiting areas was also
indicated as a problem for pedestrians.
Improved coordination with employers regarding transit information and shift times and
employer transit subsidies were also suggested as useful steps to encourage use of transportation
alternatives. Use of taxi vouchers for seniors to supplement dial -a -ride bus service was also
suggested.
3. What services should receive the highest priority if more resources become available to
transportation?
Sunday service and lifeline transit access to the regional network in the San Fernando Valley
were voiced most frequently by those in attendance. Service every 30 minutes on Route 50 was
requested by several people. Improved feeder service to.early regional bus trips was also cited,
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with the suggestion that some trips originate in Canyon Country instead of the Saugus Metrolink '
Station. Creation of a transit center at the Town Center that would have an information center
capable of assisting with trip planning and car/van pool matching was indicated as a desirable '
project. Timed transfers need to be improved, particularly between local and regional bus
services. Several people suggested that Santa Clarita Transit should better coordinate with other
regional operators such as the Antelope Valley Transit Authority. '
4. To what extent should the City take responsibility for junior high and high school student ,
transportation?
Although it was recognized as an unfortunate situation, the attendees understood the fiscal t
condition of the schools and agreed that the City must take a major share of the responsibility
of transportation to the schools. Several people suggested that the schools should bear the
responsibility for monitors or supervisors who ride the buses to diminish behavioral problems
associated with students leaving schools on crowded buses in the afternoon.
Attendees were asked to rank the following existing transportation services in importance to the '
community. A ranking of five points was given to each high response, three points for each '
medium, and one point for each low. The resulting ratings were as shown below.
High = H Medium = M Low = L
'
Service Importance Score
=Metrolink
bus service to other communities
3.6
3.8
_ local buses
4.5
_ Dial -a -ride service
2.9
_ taxis
2.2
'
_ car/van pooling
3.6
_ park-and-ride lots
4.1
_ school transportation
4.1
'
Local bus service, park-and-ride lots, and school transportation service were given the highest '
rankings by the participants, followed by bus service to other communities, Metrolink, and car
and van pooling. Dial -a -ride service and taxis were considered the least important by attendees.
There was little discussion about the dial -a -ride service, but this may be a reflection of the
character and interest of addendees as opposed to a broad perspective of community needs.
A video describing transportation problems associated with modem, suburban land use and
neighborhood patterns was shown. This illustrated the negative aspects of large separation of ,
land uses, and reliance on protected cul-de-sacs combined with a limited number of massive
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arterial routes. Attendees were asked to evaluate whether the ideas presented in the video could
work in Santa Clarita. The following represents the distribution of response across each row
for the 16 to 18 written responses received.
TABLE C-1. SANTA CLARITA TRANSIT WORKSHOP: TRANSIT
FRIENDLY CONCEPT FEASIBILITY
Transit Friendly Idea
Wouldn't Work
Here
Might Fit Here
Good Idea to
Pursue Here
Higher density of
development
35%
35%
30%
Mixed use
development
0%
50%
50%
Slower main streets
19%
37%
44%
Narrower main streets
57%
37%
6%
Fewer cul-de-sacs
25%
31%
44%
Wall breaks for
pedestrian access
6%
31%
63%
More sidewalks
6%
18% 1
76%
Retail buildings oriented
for pedestrians
6%
12%a
82%
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APPENDIX D. TASKS FOR UYIPLEMENTATION OF
NON-TRADITIONAL SERVICES
Many transit agencies, due to budget constraints and a desire to be more responsive to their '
overall market, are exploring new ways to deliver service to customers. These new ways
of service delivery are also a logical response to changing travel patterns and the need to
diversify .transit's "product lines" by going beyond traditional transit operations.
The service concepts deemed to have the most immediate applicability to Santa Clarita were '
indicated in Section 3.4. The explanation of the implementation tasks are included for future
reference.
Strategy 2a: Dial -a -Ride Feeders for Senior Center Trips
The following implementation steps assumes the use of taxis. The use of dial -a -ride vans ,
instead of taxis would only require pre -scheduling shorter trips than is currently the practice.
1. Conduct informal discussions with the taxi operators todetermine their ability and ,
interest in contracting with Santa Clarita Transit.
There are presently two cab companies that currently serve Santa Clarita. Information '
gathered for this study may be outdated when actual implementation occurs. Because of the
fluidity of the taxi industry, it is likely it will need to be updated. '
Taxicabs are licensed by Los Angeles County and are permitted to take shared rides
(passengers picked up at different locations). Eagle Cab maintains that it is the only licensed '
operator in Santa Clarita, but Checker Cab dispatchers assert that their company is
authorized to pick up there too.
Eagle Cab has 15 vehicles but is only operating five. Therefore, it has the capacity to take '
on additional service under contract with Santa Clarita Transit. It has recently merged with '
Valencia Airport Shuttle. Eagle Cab already takes some disabled passengers in its station
wagon, where the passenger can transfer from the wheelchair to the car seat and the
wheelchair is stowed in the back. It will now have access to a lift -equipped van to take '
motorized wheelchairs.
Eagle Cab is licensed to pick up only in Santa Clarita and Antelope Valley but may drop off
a passenger anywhere. It is also licensed by the cities of Palmdale and Lancaster. Peak
hours are 6:30-10 a.m. and 2-4 p.m. Passengers are primarily senior citizens and
commuters to Metrolink, except for the tourists at hotels and Magic Mountain on weekends. '
Rates are $1.90 for the flag drop and $1.60 per mile.
The manager of Eagle Cab previously proposed a flat rate to Santa Clarita Transit of $7 per ,
ride for anywhere in the city, a rate approximately 50% of the current average cost per Dial -
a -Ride trip. The rate would be per ride, so that there would be no cost during "down"
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times. He could design the payment schedule as he already does with Henry Mayo Newhall
Memorial Hospital. The hospital pays Eagle Cab a deposit of $1000 up front and the
company deducts each trip from that sum.
2. Decide on the Service to he Provided.
There are a number of questions for consideration:
a) What trips that are now known can be aggregated into feeder service areas? Where
are they concentrated? Can they be plotted on a map to determine how many taxis
might be needed?
b) What is the meal and activity schedule of the Senior Center? Are trips taken at other
times of the day as well or are they all concentrated into certain time slots?
c) Should the service begin with a demonstration to test the concept? (eg., Friendly
Valley to the Senior Center) Or is it easier to institute the concept citywide from the
outset (eg., seniors won't have differing levels of service; the same time slots are
involved so the service can be planned comprehensively)
' d) Where are the logical drop-off points for the feeders? Are they safe and sheltered?
Is permission required from a private owner to use the drop-off point?
e) Will a special bus be put into service to pick up the seniors at various drop off points
and take them the to Senior Center? Or will the seniors be assisted to board existing
' fixed routes? If existing fixed routes are used, what route deviations will be
necessary to drop the seniors off at the Senior Center? How will these route
deviations affect service for the rest of the public and for any timed transfers? How
does the timing on the existing routes coincide with the meal and activity schedule
at the Senior Center?
f) Will the taxi driver be required to physically assist with boarding? Or will the bus
driver? Does the taxi company have liability insurance covering this responsibility?
Can arrangements be made with the Senior Center to help people on and off the bus
at this point of the trip?
g) Will fares be paid with ticket books/vouchers? Will seniors continue to self -certify
' their eligibility? -
3. Issue a Request for Proposals.
1 a) Following the design of the service; prepare a_Request for Proposals stating the
criteria needed to be responsive (eg., number of vehicles available at certain times
' of day, level of insurance required, passenger assistance).
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b) Compare the cost to the cost of the current Dial -a -Ride service. Include the need for ,
expansion of dial -a -ride into the consideration.
c) If the cost of taxi feeders is favorable, award a contract. '
4. Develop an Education and Training Program for the Seniors '
a) Working with the Senior Center staff, develop a plan to explain how the dial -a -ride
service will change to a taxi feeder service. Seniors should be made aware that their '
use of dial -a -ride will face restrictions as Santa Clarita Transit complies with ADA
mandates to eliminate trip denials to persons with disabilities. The taxi feeder service
will allow the city to continue to serve seniors in the face of these mandates. '
b) Make presentations at the Senior Center to explain the taxi feeder system. If a new ,
fare instrument is involved, use role playing exercises to increase understanding.
Prepare flyers for the dial -a -ride drivers to hand out before the new feeder service
begins. '
c) Introduce the taxi feeder service in conjunction with a travel training program, in
which seniors familiar with door-to-door pick up and drop off are taught to use '
fixed -route buses. Often seniors are apprehensive about entering the bus unaided and
about getting lost if the bus does not go directly to the Senior Center. Travel training
programs teach them to be more independent and comfortable about riding on a fixed '
route.
S.
Introduce the Taxi Feeder Service.
,
a)
The dial -a -ride dispatch center could continue to prepare the pre -scheduled taxi feeder
routes based on standing orders from the seniors who had called in initially for the
service, or the entire program could be turned over to the taxi dispatch center.
'
Seniors with standing orders would be required to call the dispatch center if they
were not going to the Center on any given pre -scheduled trip. Although this is not
a new policy, the introduction of a new service gives Santa Clarita Transit an
'
opportunity to reinforce the policy and strengthen its enforcement. Seniors should
be given a maximum number of "no-shows" and should be dropped from the service
for a period of time if they exceed the maximum number of "no-shows.". This
'
policy should be well-publicized in advance of the feeder start-up and be strictly
enforced.
'
b)
It would be helpful to have volunteers and staff from the Senior Center at the feeder
drop off points to assist the seniors in boarding the bus during the first weeks of the
'
service. This would give the seniors help and comfort in adjusting to the change.
c)
There will likely be a need for additional personnel in the dispatch center during the
'
start-up, both to facilitate the communication with the taxi company and to address
confusion on the part of the seniors.
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6. Evaluate the Service.
' Measurable standards should be set up in advance of the start up. For example:
a) Were cost savings realized?
b) Were more dial -a -ride passengers accommodated as a result of shifting seniors to the
taxi feeders?
c) What was the level of customer satisfaction by seniors with the new service? How
will this be measured? Were their overall trip times longer or shorter?
A reasonable period of time should be set to allow the service to become established before
it is evaluated.
Strategy 4: Service Routes
Implementation steps 2, 4, and 6 in the previous section on dial -a -ride feeders are applicable
here as well.
Concept 2b: Dial -a -Ride Commuter Feeder Routes
The following implementation tasks are needed to determine the viability of using the
existing Dial -a -Ride equipment before and after the normal DAR hours to provide feeder
service to commuters traveling to and from the Saugus Metrolink Station to access trains or
' commuter bus services.
1. Survey potential riders.
' a) It would be helpful in designing the service to get the input of potential riders. Three
surveys should be developed --two for commuters out of Santa Clarita and one for
' those commuting to the business parks. The first could be handed out while
passengers waited for the morning Metrolink trains and collected on board the trains
as they departed Santa Clarita. Commuters would be asked whether they would use
' a service that picked them up and dropped them off at home. Among other
questions, the survey would ask how they get to the station now, what area if town
they live in and the nearest cross street, what time they usually ride out on the train
and what time they return, what fare they might be willing to pay for the feeder, and
how flexible their schedule is. If most commuters drive their own car to and from
the station and if parking is available, there may not be a market for the feeder.
However, if commuters are dropped off, a feeder may be more convenient for the
family's schedule.
The second survey would be sent to households in Santa Clarita. This survey would
attempt to identify potential Metrolink riders who are now driving to work and might
instead ride Metrolink with door-to-door connections in Santa CMta.. Questions
' would be similar to those outlined above, as well as a question about the cost of
parking at the work trip end. Alternatively, the survey could be administered at
employment sites in the Los Angeles area. This would require an organization such
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Santa Clarita Transit Transportation Development Plan -draft final report DA
as Southern California Rideshare to assist in identifying companies with employees
from Santa Clarita through a zip code search. Metrolink may be willing to share the
costs of such a survey.
The third survey would be conducted at the Santa Clarita business parks. The
Valencia Industrial Association and the Transportation Management Association could
be asked to help design and distribute the survey. With the cooperation of
employers, only workers along a Metrolink line, who would be identified from
personnel records, would be surveyed. Employees would be asked if taking
Metrolink to Santa Clarita would be a mode they would consider if a connecting
shuttle were available door-to-door. Again, Metrolink might be willing to share the
costs of this survey.
2. Design the feeder to Metrolink.
a) Based on positive results of the first and second surveys, set up a demonstration
service around clusters of homes of existing Metrolink riders. The process for
calling in to book a trip could be modeled after the current dial -a -ride procedures.
A subscription service could also be available for daily riders. Since the service is
door -to -train, a premium fare, higher than a bus fare, could be justified.
b) In order to give riders flexibility in the evening, multiple shuttles, one for each area
of town, could meet all of the trains. This would require .the driver to plot the trip
on the spot to various houses within the driver's assigned area. Less ideal, but
requiring a commitment of fewer vehicles and less responsibility for the driver,
would be to have each morning rider pre -schedule the evening return trip. The
dispatch center could then plan out the route for the driver. One vehicle could be
assigned to the last train to catch any riders who had a change of schedule during the
day. Arrangements could also be made with the taxi providers.
3. Design the feeder to the business parks
a) Plot a logical route through the business parks, using the same vehicles which had
taken residents to the train. The driver will then know the most efficient street
pattern to take passengers disembarking from the train to their work sites. This
allows for daily flexibility among the riders, who can decide on any given morning
if they wish to drive or take the train.
A more conservative approach would be to begin with a subscription service based
on interest expressed in the third survey. The service would be offered when enough
passengers had signed up to insure the optimum farebox return.
b) The evening trip back to the train would use the checkpoint pickup described earlier.
Sheltered waiting areas located a reasonably short distance from the rider's work site
will be necessary, such as the overhang of an office building. Although the
door-to-door service could be offered in the evening as well, it is more costly,
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requiring more miles driven and a larger fare or subsidy. It also requires that some
passengers travel around the business park on the van before it heads off to the train,
making it less attractive to ride and causing all passengers to leave work at staggered
times.
4. Market the feeder services.
a) Distribute flyers on the Metrolink trains and through direct mail to homes in the
' demonstration area for the feeder service to. Metrolink. Place flyers at sites selling
transit passes, on the buses, at the new commute store, and at activity sites, such as
shopping centers and doctors' offices.
' b) Market the feeder to the business parks through the employers' distribution
mechanisms on site and by informational meetings with employees.
' S. Evaluate the Service.
' A reasonable period of time should be set to allow the service to become established before
it is evaluated. Measurable standards should be set up in advance of the start up. These
standards would include ridership and farebox return. A feedback mechanism to measure
customer satisfaction should also be designed so that the services can be modified with
experience based on customers' needs.
' Strategy 7: Commute Store
' The commute store should not be implemented until the primary transit center is relocated
to the Town Center vicinity. Santa Clarita Transit needs to determine whether to:
' a) locate the commute store within the shopping mall; or
b) utilize a combination of a kiosk at peak times at the transit center and a
staffed office or desk within the mall on weekends.
' The director of the Transportation Management Association already staffs the concierge desk
in the mall on some days of the week to provide transportation information. Santa Clarita
Transit could staff the kiosk and direct people by signs to the mall when TMA staff is
scheduled at the concierge desk. It might also fund an expansion of the TMA role in the
mall.
The following implementation steps are required:
1. Decide upon the appropriate location.
In deciding upon the appropriate location for and size of the commute store, the following
1 questions should be considered:
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a) What functions will be located at the commute store and how many square feet are
required?
b) What is the cost of building a structure versus the cost of rent within the mall?
c) Which location has the greatest visibility?
A structure at the transit center will be visible to anyone driving by. However, many people
may not make a special trip to stop, whereas in the shopping mall they might stop in the
course of visiting other stores. On the other hand, the space the mall is willing to rent for
such an activity may be out -of -the way and hard to find.
Who are the primary customers the commute store will serve --current passengers or potential
riders? Potential riders may be easier to attract within the mall. Current riders may find
the mall location less convenient, because their bus will bring them directly to the transit
center.
d) Will the transit center location be secure? (The mall already has security.) Staffing
a kiosk at the transit center will also inherently improve the security of the facility.
Is it feasible to sell tickets and passes at the transit center, or, safer to do so within
the mall?
e) Can the commute store be implemented more expeditiously within the mall than by
waiting for the transit center to be built? Should the mall be phase 1 and the transit
center structure be phase 2?
fj What are the advantages of relocating the TeleCommuting Center? Transit hubs can
be an ideal setting for telecommuting centers. The transit hub would provide
convenient access to the telecommuting center, which can serve as a sub -regional
meeting point away from the home site. Locating the telecommuting center at the
transit hubs may also stimulate other activities which, in turn, will create new
ridership. Santa Clarita Transit can use this as an opportunity to partner with the
private sector and get them more involved in supporting transit. On a policy level,
Santa Clarita Transit can promote telecommuting as part of a comprehensive
approach to integrating land use, air quality and transportation decisions. On the
other hand, relocating the center will require a much larger space than just a
commute store. Security needs will be heightened, because of the necessary
equipment. The existing users may or may not find the new location convenient.
2. Negotiate an agreement with Southern California Rideshare.
By collaborating with Southern California Rideshare, Santa Clarita can integrate ridesharing
information into their menu of services to residents and commuters. It is also a mode to
which people can be directed when a transit route is inconvenient or nonexistent. In order
to avoid duplication of effort, formal or informal agreements may be necessary, designating
responsibilities and territorial boundaries. Some points to consider include:
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' a) Joint marketing. Santa Clarita Transit can supplement the marketing done by the
regional agency. For example, both the transit agency and the ridematching agency
' may jointly sponsor promotional events, such as Transportation Days at employment
sites. Santa Clarita Transit can include ridematchingapplications in its schedule
racks and at its ticket sale locations.
' b) Joint information and referral. The two agencies may agree to give out information
about each other's services. For example, the transit agency may take applications
' for ridesharing at the commute store and feed them into the regional database. The
ridematching agency may also include transit information to callers who inquire about
ridesharing. Both of these services may require direct access to each other's
databases. This concept of customer assistance requires retraining and rethinking of
job responsibilities, just as travel agents are trained to present a variety of options to
clients.
c) A satellite office. If a commute store is built, space for a desk could be given to one
of Southern California Rideshare's outreach coordinators. By locating a satellite
' office in the community, Santa Clarita Transit might negotiate a higher level of
attention from the regional agency for workers and residents of Santa Clarita.
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