The Antelope Valley Transit Authority (AVTA) is celebrating a major milestone as its North County TRANSporter has just served more than 1,000 customers over the course of a work week.
This recent accomplishment comes just two month before the midday bus service is slated to celebrate its two-year anniversary.
The North County TRANSporter is unique in that it connects the Antelope Valley to the Santa Clarita Valley, five days a week, and closes a major transportation gap that existed during non-peak commute hours. The midday bus service was established in August of 2012, and is funded through Los Angeles County thanks to efforts by County Supervisor Michael Antonovich who brought the service forward.
The funding commitment is expected to continue through June of this year but the service will be provided indefinitely given the level of support by passengers.
“Serving more than one thousand residents in just one week is truly an amazing accomplishment considering the service has been in operation for less than two years,” stated Board Chair Norm Hickling. “The service has strong and sustainable customer support. We are proud to be a part of implementing the vision Supervisor Michael Antonovich had for this service.”
The TRANSporter served a total of 1,049 customers between Monday and Friday of last week and ridership levels are trending similarly for this week. The service is designed to connect with Metrolink in Newhall for commuter convenience. A Metrolink ticket is considered valid fare on the service which is $4 per trip. The TRANSporter travels between the Palmdale Transportation Center and the Newhall Metrolink Station ten times per day with stops in Acton on request for northbound service. Over its young life, the North County TRANSporter has seen two extra trips added, and recently a few of the trips were extended farther south to the McBean Regional Transit Center.
“We continue to see our ridership numbers grow as more residents learn of the service. Over time they have come to rely on it,” stated executive director Julie Austin. “We are especially pleased to have expanded the route farther south and all indicators point to continued ridership increases.”
