COUNCIL OKS COMMUTER SHUTTLE PLAN : $5 MILLION SLATED FOR VALLEY.

Byline: Rick Orlov Daily News Staff Writer

The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday approved spending $10 million, half of it in the San Fernando Valley, on a transit program designed to get people out of their cars and into commuter shuttles.

The pilot program, when put in place, could provide direct service from people's homes to their place of work at a reduced rate and provide van and shuttle service from major transportation links to areas such as Cal State Northridge or Olive View Medical Center.

James Okizaki of the city Transportation Department said the purpose of the pilot program is to find out whether the city can encourage people to use mass transit systems like they did after the 1994 Northridge Earthquake.

``In the West Valley, we were taking 100 people a day from the Metrolink station,'' Okizaki said. ``We think we can come up with a flexible system that can attract even more people.''

The pilot program involves the West Valley area, from the Northridge Metrolink station to Cal State Northridge, Warner Center and surrounding areas, as well as the Northeast Valley area near the Sylmar Metrolink station to Mission College, Olive View Medical Center and other areas.

Two other pilot areas are south central Los Angeles and the area around MacArthur Park.

Under the council action, the city will solicit requests for proposals from transportation contractors. The actual contracts for transportation services still must be approved by the City Council.

``Each area has different needs and we are looking either for one contractor for the entire project or even four contractors to study the areas and come up with a business plan,'' Okizaki said.

``We want them to look at the areas and come back to us with a plan on what would be the best program.''

Okizaki said the city hopes the program will use smaller vehicles than the traditional 40-foot shuttles because of the time it takes to get such vehicles in service as well as the lack of flexibility.

``We are looking at this project to get away from a fixed route,'' Okizaki said. ``Rather than running on a particular street day-in and day-out, we want to have some type of dispatch system that uses new technology to put vehicles where people need them.

``To get people out of their cars, they don't want to wait five minutes for a taxi or 10 to 15 minutes for a bus. But, if you can charge them $1.25 or $1.50 and they don't have to pay the $5 a day for parking, we think we can convince people to use this.''

Another possibility, Okizaki said, is using the services to pick up weekend and off-peak services for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

``It is a lot cheaper to put out a $20-an-hour taxi for some service than a $90-an-hour bus,'' he said.

Okizaki said the program is not intended to replace existing taxi service.

``That is working well now,'' Okizaki said. ``We are looking at this to supplement that service.

The two-year program is being paid for by the city and the MTA.

The west San Fernando Valley project is budgeted at $2.7 million. It will encompass an area from Devonshire Street to the Ventura Freeway and from Zelzah Avenue to Valley Circle Drive.

The Northeast Valley project is budgeted at $2.6 million and will cover an area from Vineland Avenue, the Foothill Freeway and Van Nuys Boulevard.

The council also budgeted $3.9 million for a pilot program in South Central Los Angeles and $1.3 million for one in the MacArthur Park area.

Okizaki said the goal of the program, which he hopes will be in operation within four months, is to have the contractor able to be self-sufficient in two years when the MTA and city funding will end.