MORE BUS SERVICES SET.

Byline: Charles F. Bostwick Staff Writer

LAKE LOS ANGELES - Antelope Valley Transit Authority will add a new bus route around Lake Los Angeles and double the frequency of buses traveling between Palmdale, Littlerock and Lake Los Angeles.

Due to start June 28, the additional service will be publicized by the bus agency in coming weeks, an official said.

``We'll be doing fliers, we're going to get a billboard in downtown Lake Los Angeles, we'll be doing press releases, we'll be doing as much as we can,'' AVTA planning manager Randy Floyd said.

Bus stop times will be worked out in about a week and printed schedules should be ready about two weeks after that, he said.

The new service was approved by the AVTA board at a meeting Tuesday based on a survey and meetings with east valley residents about bus service and about how much they would use new or more frequent bus service.

The AVTA board also approved changing a Lancaster bus route to serve the new Antelope Valley Courthouse, expected to open this fall, and the Lancaster Business Park, officials said.

In addition, the agency is shifting bus routes in Palmdale to more closely follow the main travel corridors of Palmdale Boulevard and avenues Q, R and S. Palmdale's transfer center will remain the Antelope Valley Mall, and most of the Palmdale routes will also serve the shopping centers and Kaiser Permanente medical office near Avenue S and 47th Street East.

``It should be better service overall in Palmdale,'' Floyd said.

The new bus routes will be posted in about two weeks on the agency Web site at www.avta.com, Floyd said.

The Lake Los Angeles bus will travel a figure eight-shaped loop centered at 170th Street East and Avenue O, serving local stores and a bus stop for Palmdale-bound buses.

It will make the circuit every hour between about 5:45 a.m. and 7:20 p.m. weekdays and about 7:45 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. weekends, timed to meet the Route 9 bus to and from Palmdale.

Passengers will be able to ride the Lake Los Angeles bus over a four-hour period for 50 cents or take it to transfer to a Palmdale-bound Route 9 bus for the standard $1.20 fare plus a 10-cent transfer fee.

The bus agency will also cut from two hours to one hour the wait between buses on Route 9, which goes from Lake Los Angeles to the Antelope Valley Mall, and on Route 6, which goes from Littlerock to the mall.

Route 6 buses run from about 5:30 a.m. to 8:15 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. to 6:15 p.m. weekends.

In Lancaster, the AVTA will reconfigure Route 4 to serve the new Antelope Valley Courthouse on Avenue M, the Lancaster Business Park, Antelope Valley High School and downtown.

Route 4 buses now travel between Lancaster City Park and east Lancaster mostly along Avenue K. At the end of this month, part of the route will be shifted to 10th Street West, Avenue M, Division Street, Lancaster Boulevard and Avenue I.

``The main driving force was the courthouse,'' said Michael Evans, a Lancaster city management analyst. ``We needed to provide service there.''

The bus stop near the present courthouse on Avenue J at 10th Street West is one of the busiest for AVTA Route 1, Evans said.

Shifting Route 4 to go through Lancaster Business Park will serve businesses like the Countrywide Home Loans loan service center, which are adding jobs, Evans said.