CHANGES SET FOR BUS RIDERS FARES TO GO UP, SERVICE TO BE CUT BECAUSE OF FUEL COSTS.

Byline: CHARLES F. BOSTWICK Staff Writer

LANCASTER -- Antelope Valley Transit Authority bus fares will go up 20 percent to 33 percent Saturday as a result of higher fuel prices and labor costs.

The agency will shorten evening hours on some outlying routes, and make some other route changes, also effective Saturday.

``Without this fare increase, service would have to be cut 20 (percent) to 30 percent,'' AVTA Executive Director Randy Floyd said in announcing the changed schedules and higher fares.

Diesel fuel costs this coming fiscal year are expected to be $1 million higher than over the last 12 months, and labor costs are going up by 30 percent under a new contract with a private firm that supplies the bus drivers, mechanics, dispatchers and other workers.

The bus agency expected to spend $1.8 million for fuel in the fiscal year that ended in June, but ended up spending $2.25 million. Officials project they'll spend $3.25 million this fiscal year.

``It's really anybody's guess what fuel is going to do,'' AVTA spokeswoman Pam Holland said.

The agency is cutting back on the less-traveled outlying routes while preserving urban created by that community's town council.

Regular one-way fares will increase from $1 to $1.25, and from 50 cents to 60 cents for senior citizens, disabled people and Medicare card holders.

Three-hour passes will increase from $1.50 to $2 for general passengers, and from 75 cents to $1 for seniors, the disabled and Medicare card holders.

Monthly passes will increase from $40 to $50 for general passengers, and from $13.25 to $16.25 for seniors, the disabled and Medicare card holders.

Route changes include the elimination of Route 8, dubbed ``the Shopper,'' which took people between downtown Palmdale and the Antelope Valley Mall.

Route 8 will be taken over by two other routes, Routes 2 and 3, which will travel between the mall and east Palmdale, improving service to the mall by eliminating the need for passengers to transfer buses at the Metrolink station, officials said.

In addition, buses will stop running at 8 p.m. on Route 7, which goes from Los Angeles County's High Desert Health Systems clinic to downtown Lancaster and the Palmdale Metrolink station; on Route 4, which travels east Avenue K; on Route 5, which travels Avenue L, and on Route 6, which serves Littlerock.

In addition, Route 6 buses will come every 90 minutes, instead of every hour.

The outlying routes carried few passengers after dark, AVTA officials say. In addition, the county clinic has begun operating its own shuttle bus for patients.

In Lake Los Angeles, the community shuttle bus will begin traveling to Lancaster and Palmdale, instead of dropping off passengers to catch a conventional bus into Palmdale.

The Lake Los Angeles shuttle will alternate each trip between traveling to the Palmdale Metrolink station and to the east Lancaster Wal-Mart and Lancaster City Park.

Route 9 will change to travel 70th Street East and Avenue S to serve Knight High School.

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Photo:

(color) A bus runs along Palmdale Boulevard near 17th Street East. Changes in routes and hikes in fares are being planned to accommodate higher fuel prices.

Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer