VVTA Board Approves Merger with Barstow Area Transit

April 21, 2015

The Victor Valley Transit Authority Board of Directors voted unanimously April 20 to approve the Amended Joint Powers Agreement that authorizes its merger with Barstow Area Transit. Pending adoption by its member entities, the merger is slated to take effect July 1.

“Through the preceding trial period, VVTA delivered on its promises, improving the level of service and fiscal responsibility to our community,” said Barstow City Council Member Richard Harpole, citing a recent Barstow Area Transit survey report. “The drivers are more courteous. The buses are cleaner, and the introduction of trash cans at bus stops has helped clean up our city streets.”

The agreement adds two members to the existing five-member VVTA Board of Directors. The addition of Barstow City Council Member Harpole and a San Bernardino County Third District Supervisor James Ramos or designee brings the VVTA Board of Directors to a seven-member board.

With a core service area that spans approximately 425 square miles, VVTA maintains three types of service that connect Barstow to the Victor Valley and Los Angeles metropolitan area. These include B-V Link Lifeline Bus Service to San Bernardino and Fontana Metrolink, NTC Commuter bus service to the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, and its Regional Vanpool Program, which provides rideshare service for commutes that begin or terminate within its operational area.

“Through VVTA, we realize the value of transit in connecting the communities of Barstow and the Victor Valley,” said Hesperia City Council Member and VVTA Board Chair Mike Leonard. “From connecting college students to higher education through its county routes and Ram Pass program to VVTA’s commuter services that reduce traffic congestion and provide the High Desert workforce an affordable connection to employment opportunities, this merger makes sense.”