Foothill Transit considers reducing bus service along 210 corridor due to Gold Line's popularity

The popularity of the Metro Gold Line has prompted transit officials to consider a plan that would reduce Foothill Transit bus service along the 210 Freeway corridor in the San Gabriel Valley.

More bus riders have been taking the light-rail train from Azusa to downtown Los Angeles and back.

"I live in Pomona, so I take the 187 (bus line) from there to here, and then I take this all the way to Pasadena," Jesus Kuyumdzhan said in an interview at a Gold Line station. "So it's like a mixture of both."

The 187 line, which runs east and west on Foothill Boulevard, would be split in two under the new proposal. Westbound service would be scaled back because of commuters' preference for light rail. Service for bus riders heading east would not be significantly reduced.

According to Kevin Parks McDonald, Foothill Transit's deputy executive director, one of the agency's goals is to have more buses transport riders to the light-rail stations faster.

"It allows us to restructure our service in a way that feeds into the Gold Line, feeds into our commuter service that runs east-west, feeds into our Foothill Transit Silver Streak that runs along the 10 (Freeway) corridor," McDonald said.

A series of public hearings on the proposed service changes are scheduled to be held in April.