Will Link With Montebello Routes : Monterey Park Votes to Set Up Bus System

The Monterey Park City Council has voted to establish bus service along five routes in the city and ordered a study on whether the city should operate the buses or hire a contractor.

City Manager Lloyd de Llamas said the bus system could be in operation by fall.

Still uncertain is whether riders will be charged. The city Ad Hoc Transportation Committee has recommended that the service be free; Dave Consulting Inc. of Santa Ana, which analyzed the city’s transit needs, has recommended a 25-cent fare.

The bus service will be in addition to a free dial-a-ride program that the city operates for the handicapped and people 55 and older. This program, which costs the city $70,000 a year, will continue to take passengers anywhere in the city and to medical clinics and doctors’ offices in neighboring cities. The dial-a-ride operates from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Supplements RTD

The new bus system, which will supplement the 10 bus routes that the Southern California Rapid Transit District runs through the city and three routes operated by Montebello Municipal Bus Lines, will circulate through all areas of Monterey Park. The local buses will take residents to shopping centers, medical offices and schools and provide connections with RTD and Montebello buses.

Buses will run every 30 to 40 minutes on five routes from 6:30 to 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. daily, and every 40 to 50 minutes on four routes from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The service is designed to serve commuters and students during morning and evening hours and to take shoppers to the Atlantic Square and Garvey-Garfield stores during the day.

The transit study by Dave Consulting Inc. says that the city could provide both dial-a-ride and the new bus service for $400,000 a year. The cost will be met by revenue from Proposition A, a half-cent sales tax that provides funds for local and regional public transportation. Monterey Park will receive an estimated $563,000 in Proposition A money in the fiscal year that begins July 1.

The city’s dial-a-ride program provides about 6,500 trips a year. The proposed bus service would carry 71,680 riders the first year, the Dave Consulting transit study predicts.