County Rethinking Support for Metrolink : Transportation: Public works chief tells supervisors of low ridership and high costs for service to Oxnard and Camarillo.

Concerned about high operating costs and low ridership, Ventura County supervisors are rethinking their support for Metrolink commuter train service to Oxnard and Camarillo.

“We believe we should raise the policy question of whether the public should be subsidizing lifestyles where a person chooses to live 60 to 70 miles from their place of employment,” county Public Works Director Arthur Goulet wrote in a report to the Board of Supervisors.

The cost of providing Metrolink train service to Simi Valley and Moorpark in 1995-96 is an estimated $1.6 million, with service to Camarillo and Oxnard requiring an additional $900,000.

The current daily ridership on Metrolink, which connects Ventura County to Downtown Los Angeles, averages 570 from Simi Valley and Moorpark, and 135 from Camarillo and Oxnard, Goulet said.

“We’re just saying, ‘Hey, board, we’ve got to look at this a little more carefully,’ ” Goulet said.

County transportation officials said the costs for the Camarillo and Oxnard leg of the Metrolink service would be covered entirely by state and federal transportation funds.

But Goulet said he is concerned that those funds may be cut as lawmakers look for ways to slash government spending for the new fiscal year, beginning July 1. If that happens, Goulet said, the county and its 10 cities could end up forfeiting transportation money earmarked for bus service and road improvements to pay for the Camarillo and Oxnard rail service.

“All we’re trying to do is express our concern,” Goulet said. “There are some shaky assumptions here.”

Chris Stephens, a planning official with the Ventura County Transportation Commission, said officials are confident that the county will receive the full $900,000 this fiscal year. But, he acknowledged, there is no guarantee that will happen.

“Nothing is certain,” Stephens said.

The decision whether to continue the Camarillo and Oxnard train service ultimately rests with the county Transportation Commission, but the supervisors’ position on the issue could heavily influence that decision. Supervisors Frank Schillo and Susan Lacey both serve on the seven-member commission.

Schillo said he shares the same concerns as Goulet. “There’s no guarantee we’re going to get federal money,” he said. “The money is drying up.”

Lacey was unavailable for comment Thursday. But Ed Webster, an aide to the supervisor, said she has requested more information from county Transportation Commission staff members regarding federal funding, ridership and fare box returns for the Camarillo and Oxnard stops.

“She has not made a decision at this point,” Webster said.

The board Tuesday will consider whether to support continuation of the train service.

“It really is a policy decision,” Stephens said. “There’s nothing that says we must or can’t do this.”

Meanwhile, Supervisor John Flynn, whose district includes Oxnard, said he believes some of Goulet’s figures on Metrolink costs and ridership are inaccurate. He also suggested that Camarillo and Oxnard ridership has not increased as much as it should have because people were uncertain whether it would be continued.

“I think it’s premature to stop it now,” he said. “I think there’s still a lot of potential there.”

Oxnard resident Kathy Kealy said her 9- and 12-year-old daughters ride the Metrolink train to a school for the deaf in Burbank every day. “It’s made my life heaven,” Kealy said as she waited for the train to pull into the Oxnard station Thursday evening. “I can’t stand the thought of them closing it down.”

If the service is discontinued, Kealy said she would have to drive her daughters to the train station in Moorpark. “It’s two hours back and forth,” she said. “I’ll be spending my whole life on the freeway.”

Metrolink service was extended to Camarillo and Oxnard last fall to help relieve freeway congestion after the Northridge earthquake. The county was eligible to receive federal emergency funds to pay for the service through Sept. 3, 1994. Stephens said the county to date has received $120,000 in emergency relief and expects to collect another $800,000.

The Transportation Commission decided to continue the extended service on a trial basis and agreed to revisit the issue during the 1995-96 budget review process. The commission is scheduled to discuss continued Metrolink service at its May 5 meeting.