Antelope Valley Transit Authority Schedules To Resume Commuter Services
Antelope Valley Transit Authority announced today the planned resumption of commuter services, scheduled to begin ramping up on Thursday, April 18, 2024. This commuter service travels to downtown Los Angeles, Century City, San Fernando Valley, and the TRANSporter to Newhall. This includes routes 785, 786, 787, and 790.To clarify, the temporary suspension of commuter service did not involve or affect AVTA’s fleet of BYD zero-emission battery electric buses or the agency’s local service.
Although sudden and unexpected, the temporary suspension will be shorter than first reported. As promised, AVTA staff have worked diligently to restore commuter services. AVTA staff quickly located diesel commuter buses available for lease, acquired these replacement vehicles, and have quickly and carefully initiated the safety checks and onboarding procedures needed to make the buses ready for service.
“We are pleased to notify our riders of the replacement commuter service starting this Thursday,” stated AVTA Board Chairman Marvin Crist. “AVTA staff has managed this unexpected suspension very well, locating and ramping up additional vehicles in an amazing timeframe. I want to thank the AVTA executive and maintenance staff for all their hard work and long hours over this past week.”
AVTA will begin ramping up the restoration of all commuter routes using the leased commuter coaches, with three buses on Route 785, two on Route 786, three on Route 787, and one on Route 790. AVTA recommends carefully planning your commute using the following modified commuter schedule. AVTA’s customer service department is available to support our commuters and help them get to where they need to be.
ROUTE RUN OMP-AM PTC-AM PM Departing Times
785 1 3:50 AM 4:05 AM 2:50 PM
785 4 4:55 AM 5:10 AM 4:15 PM
785 7 6:00 AM 6:15 AM 5:40 PM
786 2 4:25 AM 4:40 AM 3:25 PM
786 4 5:20 AM 5:35 AM 4:05 PM
787 1 4:00 AM 4:15 AM 3:00 PM
787 4 5:00 AM 5:15 AM 4:20 PM
787 7 6:00 AM 6:15 AM 5:40 PM
790 AM & PM - 8:00 AM 3:00 PM
The operational status on AVTA's MCI electric commuter coaches remains the same. MCI is working to identify the cause of the battery charging abnormalities.
“As stated last week, AVTA was the first transit agency in the U.S. to place these electric commuter coaches into service,” added Chairman Marvin Crist. “When you are the first to travel any road, you run into rough spots. Until AVTA can be certain the electric commuter fleet is reliable and safe to operate, we will be forced to use replacement vehicles for our commuter service.”
As stated previously, the suspension was due to battery issues encountered by the agency related to the charging of AVTA’s fleet of MCI D45 CRTe LE CHARGE battery-electric commuter coaches. Only the MCI electric commuter coaches, and therefore the commuter routes, are impacted by this suspension.
During this disruption, AVTA urges commuters to check AVTA’s website and social media and sign up for AVTA Rider Alerts at www.avta.com. Commuters may also call the AVTA customer service department at 661-945-9445 for current information on solutions available and resumption of service.
AVTA provides local, commuter and dial-a-ride service to a population of more than 450,000 residents in the cities of Lancaster and Palmdale as well as the unincorporated portions of northern Los Angeles County. Its total service area covers 1,200 square miles and it is bounded by the Kern County line to the north, the San Bernardino County line to the east, the Angeles National Forest to the south, and Interstate 5 to the West.
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