FREE BUS RIDES THIS WEEKEND.

Byline: Lisa Mascaro Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - There is such a thing as a free ride this holiday weekend, when city buses open their doors for free, thanks in large part to the Valencia mall, which pays the fares beginning with today's typically biggest shopping day of the season.

Hoping to lighten the load on parking and congestion, and offer a little holiday goodwill, Santa Clarita Transit and the Valencia Town Center team up for the free rides all across the city.

``The city wants to be part of the community, as does the Valencia Town Center,'' said transit coordinator Bob Murphy.

The transit system's six local routes will be operating without the need for riders to flash a pass or drop the fare - 75 cents for adults - into the box.

From Canyon Country to Castaic, riders can crisscross the city Friday through Sunday on the city's fleet of 25 local buses.

This will be the ninth year of the free program, which last year cost the mall about $5,000 - the estimated cost of fares - for 12,000 riders, Murphy said.

Valencia Town Center's senior marketing director Kathleen Gill said the center was happy to provide the service.

``It's a great opportunity for the Santa Clarita Transit division and the Valencia Town Center to partner in such a worthwhile program,'' said Gill.

``It's also certainly an opportunity to alleviate traffic congestion on that very busy weekend.''

So far, the free service has been popular, with ridership increasing 28 percent during the holiday weekend last year compared to the previous year, officials said.

Murphy said the transit service hopes free rides will encourage local use of the bus system that counts 2.5 million rides annually on its local lines and commuter ones, which run to Los Angeles, Warner Center, Century City and the Westwood area, and Lancaster.

``It may spark the notion they can do this more often,'' he said.

Free Rides

Santa Clarita Transit buses will operate for free Friday through Sunday on six local routes.

--Routes 1 and 2: From the Whites Canyon area to Sierra Highway and San Fernando Road to the Valencia Town Center. West past the town center to Castaic (Route 1) and Val Verde (Route 2).

--Route 3: Seco Canyon Road to the town center and Magic Mountain.

--Route 4: Bouquet Canyon Road to the town center, to College of the Canyons, Rockwell Canyon Road and the senior center.

--Routes 5 and 6: Shadow Pines (Route 5) or Sierra Highway at Vasquez Canyon Road (Route 6) to Soledad Canyon Road and Sierra Highway, Seco Canyon Road to the town center, central Valencia, Lyons Avenue and Stevenson Ranch.

Schedules are available on buses. For information, call Santa Clarita Transit at [phone].

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Box: Free Rides (see text)