MTA'S WAY OFF BASE ON TRANSIT CENTERS L.A. SHOULD EMULATE NEW YORK, BUILD LIFE AROUND BUS, TRAIN LINES.

Byline: Charles J. Thomas Local View

SEVERAL months ago at a meeting of MTA Passenger Advisory Committee members, one of my colleagues emphatically stated, ``I love transit centers.''

What are transit centers? In theory, they are places where commuters can transfer to trains or buses with quickness, convenience and safety. Theoretically.

The reality is that the MTA bus lines do not run often enough to make these centers all that worthwhile. Most of them run every half-hour and quite a few once an hour. Many of them quit running around 8 p.m. This means that commuters are asked to bear all weather conditions in dark, deserted areas that have no security and no urban amenities such as restrooms. There are few shelters and those are not really sufficient. Only a handful of riders may use them at any time.

The first of these centers was opened in the late 1970s at the Santa Monica Freeway and Fairfax Avenue, and the old RTD hailed it as the greatest thing since sliced bread. In reality, it was a filthy place in a run-down area with a few bus benches. There was a building with facilities for the bus drivers, but the public was not allowed to enter. It was truly a disappointment.

There was a place where passengers could transfer to and from the 152 and 183 lines at Vineland and Magnolia avenues in North Hollywood. There is a fast-food restaurant at the corner where one could get a cup of coffee and whatever, and also a restroom. The stop of the 152 was taken away and riders are urged to use the North Hollywood station as a transfer point.

As a matter of fact, the removal of the stop is an inconvenience to many who wish to, and need to, board or leave the line at this point. It is beside a neighborhood shopping center with a major supermarket. When I pointed this out, my same colleague branded me a ``whiny old man'' who did not like progress - as though transit centers are a sign of progress.

At one point, I recommended that the MTA shut down the North Hollywood Bus Plaza - a transit center - and transform it into a parking lot. I was almost convinced that the plaza was necessary but I have been to it at night and even for a man the size of me - 6 feet 3 inches tall and 240 pounds - it was scary. The MTA folks do not have to think about that.

The 152 line has really no need to use the North Hollywood station. It takes as long to reach the station from Vineland by way of Magnolia as it would take to get to Universal City station on its regular route and people could board the line easier at that station. Those wanting to transfer to other lines could do so much easier and much more safely at many points along the route.

The Burbank and Chatsworth stations connected with the Metrolink are much nicer. Burbank has a large restroom facility and some vending machines, but when the sun goes down and the trains stop running, it is once again dreary and forbidden.

What the MTA, the city fathers and mothers, the Metrolink and other officials fail to see is that passengers need much more than what they are providing.

Let us go back to the days when bus and train terminals were bustling with activity. There were coffee shops, newsstands and other sundry stores, much like today's air terminals.

We are aware that modern people travel or at least commute a great deal differently than in the days of yore and resultantly shops would have to depend upon a more fluid kind of clientele.

So why not place the transit centers on or closer to city streets, where stores could offer their wares to all people? The possible locations of these centers are scattered throughout the city and number into the dozens.

The buses would get in the way of the cars, but so . . . what? It is people that matter in the long run.

Back east in Connecticut and on New York's Long Island, towns are built around railroad stations. In Van Nuys, we see a train stop with hardly anything near it.

It seems as though Los Angeles despises those who use public transportation and wishes to make life impossible for them. We hate New York and want not to imitate it. But we are getting the population and the density that characterizes that city, and if every one of us drove a car, we would be in serious trouble.

We should at least imitate beautiful Long Island and build town centers near railroad stations and encourage people to use the trains and other forms of public transportation.

Get with it, Los Angeles.