TASK FORCE ENLISTS SHUTTLES TO FIGHT DOWNTOWN TRAFFIC.

Byline: SUE DOYLE

From Lakers games to the Los Angeles Philharmonic, there's plenty to do downtown. But after five days of hectic commutes, who wants to tack on any more driving time just to see a show?

That's the question managers at the Staples Center, the Los Angeles Music Center and other major venues are trying to answer to fill empty seats.

New shuttles and extended DASH evening hours may be a short-term cure.

That's what a special task force from the city's entertainment centers, the Los Angeles Department of Transportation and Los Angeles City Hall suggests.

"We've seen how traffic could potentially limit people coming to these venues," said Councilwoman Wendy Greuel.

Metro's buses and rail lines crisscross downtown. But who wants to hop on the bus or train sporting a tuxedo or evening gown only to have it soiled or stained by something spilled on the seat?

With that in mind, the Los Angeles Opera paid for a luxury bus three times in June to whisk patrons from the Westwood Federal Building to its downtown performances.

The experimental service, which cost passengers $15, included onboard pre-performance lectures -- a high-brow feature the opera offers before shows but one that many miss because they're stuck in traffic and running late.

With just 35 percent of its seats filled during the trial run, the shuttle was deemed a smashing success by L.A. standards.

Calling for an encore, opera officials want to keep the luxury liner running next season, said Gary Murphy, Los Angeles Opera director of communications.

"It's vital for us to help our audiences get here," said Murphy. "As more people do come down here, there will be more traffic. But if this is a way to alleviate traffic and serve our audience, so be it."

To ease concerns of visitors unfamiliar with downtown streets, the monthly Downtown Art Walk -- a two-mile circuit of 30 galleries -- added a DASH bus at night.

The bus, a $5,000 pilot program paid for by the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council, is on a one-year trial to see whether there's sufficient demand for it.

Although shuttles help take cars off the roads, the problem is that many don't seem to stick around too long.

Often starting as pilot programs that rely on money specifically set aside to solve a particular transportation problem, when the money runs out, the rides come to an end.

Plus, they typically suffer from low ridership because they get little advertising, since that takes away money from the programs. And they count on people changing their attitudes about mass transit.

"You have a problem that people view buses and shuttles as a second-class good," said Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp.

While well-intended, many have proved to be more of a temporary fix than a permanent solution.

Look at the Holly Trolley, which cruised martini-sipping hipsters around swanky Hollywood nightclubs for about 16 months.

It came to its final stop in May after its $300,000 grant from the city ran out.

Although it cost only $1 a ride, the Holly Trolley did not attract enough riders to keep it going, said James Lefton, chief of transit programs for the city Department of Transportation.

"You can't win them all, but it had a good run," said Lefton.

Shuttles to Griffith Observatory are also expected to wind down in early November when the contract with the bus vendor expires, city officials said.

After that visitors, can park again on top of the treasured hilltop.

Since the landmark re-opened in November last year after four years of renovations, visitors could only see it by paying up to $8 for shuttles from a satellite parking lot off Zoo Drive.

City officials were concerned that the throngs of visitors to the refurbished site would clog the already crowded Los Feliz streets around the park.

Although fees to ride the shuttles cover the costs to operate them, some resented paying anything to see the landmark that they have always visited for free.

About 608,116 visitors have hopped on board the shuttles, estimated to keep at least 200,000 cars off the streets.

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