SERVICE OFFERS A HAND TO STRANDED MOTORISTS.Byline: SUE DOYLE Staff Writer 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, -- Freeway looky-loos have less to gawk at these days because of an expanded free roadway service that helps stranded motorists. The Metro Freeway Service Patrol A freeway service patrol, alternatively known as a motorist assistance patrol, roadway service patrol, or a courtesy patrol, is the umbrella term for a variety of programs implemented by government agencies, typically state Highway Patrols or Departments of this week began its search for drivers in trouble along a 17-mile stretch of Interstate 5, from Roxford Street in Sylmar to Lake Hughes Road Hughes Road is an arterial road in South Mumbai linking Opera House with Kemps Corner. To the left is Malabar Hill. in Castaic. The service tows cars off the freeway and assists with minor maintenance, from flat tires to leaky hoses, which can cause cars to come to a dead stop on roadways and snarl traffic for miles. ``It's basically to help (stranded) motorists get their vehicles out of the freeway, so we can try to reduce some congestion The condition of a network when there is not enough bandwidth to support the current traffic load. congestion - When the offered load of a data communication path exceeds the capacity. in the area,'' said Rick Jager, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The service is also now reaching across a 27-mile route from Fair Oaks Fair Oaks, town, United States Fair Oaks, uninc. residential town (1990 pop. 26,867), Sacramento co., N central Calif., on the American River, in a growing citrus fruit and farm area. Avenue on the Foothill Freeway (210) to Interstate 5 at Roxford Street on a three-year, $2.7 million contract. Tow trucks in the program have traveled many of the county's freeways since 1991 and annually come to the rescue of about 300,000 drivers who call 3-9-9 on cell phones or use freeway call boxes. Although it may seem that stalled cars blocking freeway lanes account for many late dinners, missed spinning classes at the gym and other broken engagements, the Auto Club of 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, reports that they make up only 5 percent of their calls. Of those, about 43 percent of motorists call from the bustling freeways with mechanical failure. Nearly 15 percent are for flat tires, and 3 percent are from drivers who ran out of gas, said Carol Thorp, spokeswoman. ``Our goal is to get someone on their way as quickly as possible or get them to a safe place so they're off the freeway,'' Thorp said. The auto club's service only applies to paid members. Metro Freeway Service Patrol was extended from Pasadena to Castaic through a grant from the Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Review committee and with funds from Proposition C, a voter-approved half-percent sales tax sales tax, levy on the sale of goods or services, generally calculated as a percentage of the selling price, and sometimes called a purchase tax. It is usually collected in the form of an extra charge by the retailer, who remits the tax to the government. for Los Angeles County that's used for transportation. sue.doyle(at)dailynews.com (661) 257-5254 |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion