RAILING AT GAS COST COMMUTERS LEAVE CARS, BOARD TRAIN.Byline: John Sanders John Sanders is the name of
SANTA CLARITA Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, - With gas prices on the rise, more and more long-distance commuters are taking the less-expensive approach by leaving their cars at home and taking the Metrolink to work. Since the beginning of March, average daily ridership has risen about 13 percent on Metrolink's Lancaster-Santa Clarita-Los Angeles line, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. commuter rail officials. ``There appears to be a surge in passenger ridership at the same time that gas prices have reached their all-time high,'' Metrolink spokesman Peter Hidalgo Hidalgo, state, Mexico Hidalgo (ēthäl`gō), state (1990 pop. 1,888,366), 8,058 sq mi (20,870 sq km), central Mexico. Pachuca de Soto is the capital. said. ``More people are riding the Metrolink than ever before.'' More and more commuters are buying passes to ride Metrolink trains for instead of spending their money on gas, which has risen in price by more than 50 cents a gallon since February. ``The $137 for the train pass per month is great compared to the $1.75 for gas,'' said passenger Juan Miranda Juan Miguel Miranda (born April 25, 1983) is a Cuban baseball player in the New York Yankees organization. He is currently a first baseman for the Trenton Thunder. Personal life Juan has a son named Edgar Miguel Miranda who was born January, 25, 2007. Juan loves music. , who boarded the 6:26 a.m. southbound train at the Lancaster station. ``I think the prices are way outrageous. It should go back down to 1980 prices where it was 75 cents a gallon.'' The train makes stops in Canyon Country and Saugus and at the new Jan Heidt station in downtown Newhall. For the first time in Metrolink's seven-year history in the region, average daily ridership topped 31,137, agency officials said. Average daily ridership in March over the past three years increased to more than 24,000 riders in 1997, 26,000 in 1998 and 27,000 in 1999. ``I think the prices of gas have really gone up out of control,'' said Lashanda Johnson, who rides the train from Lancaster to Burbank to go to work. ``It used to cost me $10 to fill up my car. Now it's $30 to fill up my car. This beats traffic as well as gas prices.'' Daily ridership on the line through Santa Clarita was 4,944 for the first 20 days of March - up 26 percent from the same period a year ago and 5.3 percent ahead of February. Metrolink operates 124 trains per day in Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, along six routes in Ventura County, Antelope Valley This article is about the Los Angeles County region. For the census-designated place in Wyoming, see Antelope Valley-Crestview, Wyoming. The Antelope Valley , San Bernardino San Bernardino, city, United States San Bernardino (săn bûr'nədē`nō), city (1990 pop. 164,164), seat of San Bernardino co., S Calif., at the foot of the San Bernardino Mts.; inc. 1854. , Riverside, Orange and the Inland Empire. Metrolink scheduled and other information are available by accessing the Web site at www.metrolinktrains.com or calling toll-free at (800) 371-LINK. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Angry at high gasoline prices, commuters are flocking to Metrolink in record numbers, as at the Lancaster station Tuesday. Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer |
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