Trending

Advertisement

MTS trims several local bus routes

Share

Local bus riders will be altering their travel schedules to coincide with reduced bus route service — after Metropolitan Transit System’s board of directors voted unanimously to approve citywide changes.

Those changes were approved after an 18-month report, called a Comprehensive Operational Analysis, outlined possible cuts in service that were proposed to meet budget demands.

The COA was designed to reverse declining ridership trends, increase operating efficiencies and generate greater revenues by reallocating resources to areas that generate the greatest ridership potential, according to MTS officials.

The comprehensive plan is expected to realign the system to coincide with where people live and where they need public transit to take them.

None of the changes approved on March 23 will be effective until September to give riders adequate advance notice of the new schedules. New route times are now available online at: sdcommute.com. Click on the COA link on the homepage or call (619) 231-1466 for more information.

The MTS board of directors approved trimming schedules on several lines including popular routes 20, 844 and 845, which serve Poway, Rancho Bernardo and connecting communities.

Local students, including those in the transitional program at Abraxas High School, where disabled students use buses to get to work after school, are disappointed that they and others will have fewer options to reach their destinations.

“It kind of leaves our students hanging,” said Abraxas teacher Dean Weese. “Our students will adjust, they always do, but it will create hardships for some.”

Other Poway Unified students, who don’t qualify for district transportation or can’t afford PUSD passes, along with seniors and others on limited incomes, will also be affected.

Changes on the north-south Route 20, which will continue its service every 15 minutes, include no more stopping at Bernardo Center Drive, Rancho Bernardo Road or Pomerado Road, but the bus will instead travel on West Bernardo Drive between Camino del Norte and the Interstate 15 onramp.

That same route will no longer serve Activity, Clayton or Miramar roads, but will instead travel directly to Mira Mesa via Kearny Villa Road and Black Mountain Road. Route 31 will, however, provide service to Miramar Road.

For those who use either the 844 or 845 service in Poway and Rancho Bernardo, several changes are coming to those popular routes.

Proposed times for the 844 will be arranged to coincide with the “bell system” at local schools, so students using public transit can arrive on time. The morning service will run from 6 to 8:50 a.m. and afternoon hours will be from 3 to 6:50 p.m., which are considered peak hours, according to MTS officials.

The 844, known as the “Poway Loop,” will no longer serve the Poway Community Center, next door to the Poway Senior Center, but will remain on Poway Road between Midland and Pomerado roads.

Meanwhile, Route 845, will run on 45-minute intervals between Poway and RB.

Service on Espola Road will be discontinued on that route, but replacement service during peak hours only will be provided by Route 844.

The 845 would serve Rancho Bernardo via Rancho Bernardo Road, Bernardo Center Drive and West Bernardo Drive, but service to Poway’s community and senior centers on Civic Center Drive, a block behind the Poway Sheriff’s station and Poway Library, will be discontinued.

Because the 845 will continue to provide service along Poway Road between Pomerado and Garden roads, passengers can disembark in front of the library to walk to the nearby centers.

In the next few months, MTS will conduct extensive outreach and marketing efforts to notify riders of the upcoming changes.

Advertisement