Friday, December 4, 1998
Transportation system tailors commuter needs
BUSSING: Problems slow city’s public transit, but Westwood
better-served
By Karla Y. Pleitez
Daily Bruin Contributor
Cynthia Huang spends almost three hours on the bus to get to
school.
"Public transportation needs improvement," said the fourth-year
political science student.
"Where does our tax money go?" she asked.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is trying to
meet the needs of students like Huang.
Four to five buses are being added to Los Angeles County every
day, with the hopes that by next year 2,100 buses will be added to
the 2,000 already running. The subway system is also being expanded
from its current 6-mile radius.
The MTA agrees that the system can sometimes be inefficient
because it tries to meet the needs of over 1.2 million daily
boardings.
"We all know that public transportation is not what it should
be, but the public has to realize that L.A. is a big area," said
Bill Herd, a spokesman for the MTA.
He said accommodating patrons is also difficult because of MTA’s
limited resources; there are not enough buses and funds to buy
them.
But UCLA students are fortunate, because Westwood is served by
numerous bus lines. Students around this area are well
accommodated, compared to the rest of Los Angeles county, he
said.
"MTA is going to be adding a new bus on Sunset, and the UCLA
campus already has over 10 buses serving the needs of UCLA
affiliates," Herd said.
MTA services currently include a bus system that runs throughout
the county and an embattled light rail system that runs in downtown
Los Angeles and connects to the Metrolink and Amtrak trains.
It costs $1.35 to ride the MTA buses, although discounts are
available for multiple users and students.
Other public transportation systems in the area include the Big
Blue Bus, based in Santa Monica, and the Culver City bus lines,
which go through the Westwood Village.
Even though the Westwood area may have good transportation
services, students say that improvement is still needed.
UCLA administrators have tried to meet the needs of campus
affiliates who use public transportation by providing them with
more options – namely the vanpools, shuttle buses and carpools
offered by transportation services.
This year, only 230 campus affiliates use the vanpools.
"UCLA does a good job of helping out commuters by providing
vanpools," said Rene Saucedo, a second-year history student.
"The vans are really comfortable, and they’re air conditioned,
so I would read or sleep a little. You also get close with the
people you commute with," he added.
Despite campus services, students continue to say that public
transportation is a hassle.
"I remember once I had been waiting for the bus for about 30
minutes," said Mario Gonzalez, a second-year undeclared student.
"But he passed me by because the bus was packed, I had to wait for
another half an hour, and I was on the bus for another 30 minutes.
Riding the bus is definitely a hassle."
Other students agree that there are problems with public
transportation but say that it is a nice option to have.
"Sometimes you have to wait longer than usual, and the buses are
a little ghetto, but if it were really a huge inconvenience people
would find other options," said Mike Perez, a second-year economics
student.
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