Train’s Weak Link: A Short Commute : Metrolink: Ridership drops on first day of full-price service as passengers complain of high fares for suburb- to-suburb travel.

While ridership dropped significantly on the first day of full-fare Metrolink service, a small but devoted group of commuters rode the rails Monday to make short hops into the San Fernando Valley and other employment centers along the routes.

About 1,400 commuters rode Metrolink on Monday morning--compared to more than 5,000 riders on opening day a week ago, when passengers rode for free. Of those, 20%, or about 280 riders, were short-distance commuters who traveled from outlying stations to Burbank, Glendale and El Monte, Metrolink officials said.

Spokesman Peter Hidalgo said the three stops had the most disembarking passengers outside of Union Station downtown because those communities are employment centers where companies have been offering incentives for employees to use the commuter train.

A smaller percentage made short commutes into stations in Chatsworth and Van Nuys, but Hidalgo said Metrolink officials could not determine the exact numbers. Although the service was designed to primarily serve the suburbanites who work downtown, Metrolink officials will study ways to better serve short-ride commuters--including reduced short-distance rates.

“We have lots of interest because, from a marketing standpoint, we can’t ignore the suburb-to-suburb commuters,” Hidalgo said. “We want to know who exactly is in this group.”

He added that the fares were structured to make a round trip to Union Station and back competitive with the cost of commuting by automobile. “The fare structure is designed to give long-distance commuters a break,” he said. “For the shorter ride, we are not as competitive as a bus.”

A round-trip ticket from Moorpark to Union Station costs $12, and round-trip tickets from Santa Clarita and Pomona are $10.

But several commuters interviewed Monday said they were willing to pay the extra dollars to eliminate a nerve-racking car commute--even if they go nowhere near downtown.

“I go nuts on the freeway,” said West Hills resident Dave Dillon, who paid $10 for a round trip from Chatsworth to Burbank, where he works as a consultant to the Walt Disney Co.

He admits that for him, driving would be cheaper than riding the train. “But the thing for me is, I just got tired of the freeways,” he said.

Dillon said getting to work used to mean spending about 45 minutes in stop-and-go traffic on the Ventura Freeway. Now, he rides for 20 minutes on the train and takes a shuttle bus to work.

Moorpark resident A. W. Moss rode his bicycle to the station in Moorpark, put the bike on one of the special racks provided in each rail car and rode the train to Chatsworth. From there he pedaled about two miles to his print shop.

“I consider this my morning and evening workout,” he said.

Moss feels the $8 fare for his round-trip commute is high, but he hopes Metrolink officials will adjust the rates. “I’ve got my monthly pass. I’m a committed rider,” he said.

West Hills resident Joe Doucette, an officer with a stage actors union, was dropped off by his wife, Pam, and 3-year-old son, Joey, at the Chatsworth stop, where he boarded a train to his job in Burbank.

The 26-mile commute took 45 minutes to an hour by car. Now he rides the train for about 25 minutes. But Doucette said the car commute was more of a strain on his wife than on him. “She always drove me to work,” he said with a smile.

But there were still many commuters who decided to stick to four wheels.

Robert Brown, a Simi Valley resident who works as a food scientist for Westreco/Nestle USA in Van Nuys, said he tried the train when it was free last week but felt the $10 daily round-trip fare was too steep. “It’s a good deal all the way downtown,” he said. “But for me, it’s not that good.”

He said he would continue using a car pool to get to work until Metrolink adjusts its rates or his employer decides to subsidize his fare. “It’s too bad, too,” he said, “because the Van Nuys stop is only three blocks from work.”

MAIN STORY: A1