T.O. Transit has never looked so inviting
By Nancy Needham nancy@theacorn.com

JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers CONVENIENCE- Roy Meyers shows how the kneeling bus ramp works. Hydraulics lower the right side of the bus level to the curb. T.O. Transit has brand-new buses.

For Thousand Oaks residents who've thought about riding the bus, now is probably the time. While gasoline prices are at an alltime high, the cost to ride a bus is low. And there's an added bonus: The city's buses are all brand spanking new and the routes are just a Google away.

"We have a very nice, new fleet of attractive buses," said proud papa Mark Watkins, public works director.

The buses were chosen especially to match the style of Thousand Oaks, he said. They're not big city buses but the smaller shuttle-type of buses with large windows, bike racks and an easy way to accommodate somebody new coming aboard.

"The bus has a kneeling design. It lowers to the curb so you don't have to climb up to get into the bus," Watkins said.

The 35-foot-long buses are also wheelchair accessible, CNG (natural gas) fueled and can carry 34 passengers.

It's not always easy to get Thousand Oaks residents to ride a bus since most of them have cars and the city is spread out with no specific downtown or business area. Also expensive parking lots, which often send urban dwellers to public transportation, don't exist in the city.

"Parking is free in Thousand Oaks," Watkins pointed out.

Of course, gasoline must be purchased for a car, which makes riding the bus far cheaper. Also, it can be fun- just ask children who've sung "The wheels on the bus go round and round."

On weekdays only- since local buses don't roll on weekends- four buses in Thousand Oaks will travel what's called the pulse system, Watkins said. The pulse system means they'll all arrive at and leave from the transportation center on Rancho Road at the same time.

"That makes transfers easier," he said.

Also, a prospective passenger can plan his route at the website www.google.com/transit. He just types in where he'll begin and where he wants to end up, and the website will give him information on the cost, the walking distance to the nearest bus stop, any necessary transfers and the estimated arrival time.

Those with Internet on their Blackberries or cellphones can track the bus they're waiting for at www.nextbus.com.

All of the Thousand Oaks buses have tracking systems and are connected to that site.

For those who'd like to do it the old-fashioned way, Thousand Oaks Transit schedules can be picked up at city hall, city libraries, The Oaks mall information desk, the Janss Marketplace information center, at high school and California Lutheran University administrative offices, the senior and teen centers, and on the buses themselves.

Schedules are also posted at the Thousand Oaks transportation center and at bus stops.

Residents can also request that a schedule be mailed to them by calling Dial-A-Route at (800) 438-1112.

Riding a bus costs adults $1, students 75 cents, seniors 50 cents and people who are low income or disabled 25 cents. Children under age 5 are free. Transfers cost 15 cents. The costs are subsidized by gasoline sales taxes.