Downtown Express Bus 430 Survives, Backed by Villaraigosa

Riders of Commuter Express Line 430, which runs weekdays from the Palisades to downtown Los Angeles, enjoyed a victory last week when City Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa announced his support for continuation of the line. ”Villaraigosa chaired the City Transportation Committee’s March 23 meeting about the recommended cancellation of the bus route, one of the L.A. Department of Transportation’s 15 commuter lines operating throughout the county. ”’Antonio urged LADOT staff to work with our community representatives to devise additional strategies to increase ridership,’ said Norman Kulla, Palisades Community Council chairman, at last Thursday’s council meeting. ‘He indicated that if these efforts did fail, then he would reconsider this action. He ordered the matter back for a report from LADOT in 60 days.’ ”Kulla attended the Transportation Committee meeting ‘to argue against cancellation of the express line as recommended by LADOT.’ Also attending in opposition to cancellation were Line 430 riders Julie D. Clark, Linda Minky, Marnie Tenden and Ben Nahid. ”Monique Ford, who was present on behalf of Councilmember Cindy Miscikowski, ‘read a statement indicating that efforts had been made to increase ridership and that she understood that scarce transportation resource allocation supported LADOT’s recommendation,’ Kulla reported. He added that ‘although Councilmember Miscikowski has not joined our Board in supporting continuing 430, she was most helpful in arranging a face-to-face meeting between LADOT General Manager Wayne Tanda and Steve Lantz, Patti Post and me, held on March 16.’ ”After a brief presentation by Kulla, Clark and Tenden, ‘Mr. Villaraigosa stated that he agreed with Miscikowski, LADOT and his staff that scarce transportation resources must be allocated in a cost-effective way,’ Kulla reported. ‘However, he would not follow the recommendation of LADOT and his own personal staff to cancel Line 430 until after aggressive efforts to find alternatives to cancellation had been tried and failed. He stated that the evidence before the committee indicated that only modest efforts had been made to date.’ ”Kulla also said that Villaraigosa, who is running against Mayor James Hahn in the May 17 election, ‘indicated that he had received communications from the runoff candidates for Council District 11, Bill Rosendahl and Flora Krisiloff, supporting continuation of Line 430 and that he took this into consideration.’ ”Line 430 begins at Sunset and PCH, stops at El Medio and Capri, continues on to the VA Hospital, then makes three stops downtown before arriving at Patsaouras Transit Plaza. The service averages an hour and 15 minutes and costs $2.20 one way. For a detailed schedule and list of fares, go to www.ladottransit.com.