For Bus Service to L.A., Bakersfield

By Gary Meyer

Frazier Park resident Daran Williams wondered about a simple question: Why don’t buses stop here on their way to and from Los Angeles and Bakersfield?

That question, when he asked it of an Amtrak employee last month in Bakersfield, and the answer he received, launched Williams on a campaign to change things. The employee had told him, "Get your community to sign a petition, and then send it to Amtrak management."

Williams came home and started a petition to show Amtrak that Mountain Communities residents are serious about bus service. He took his idea to Anne Weber at The Family Resource Center in Frazier Park, who made some calls including one to Amtrak’s Director of Business Operations Rick Peterson.

Peterson told Weber that Amtrak buses currently pass by the Interstate 5 Frazier Park exit eight times per day with up to twenty empty seats per run, on their way between Bakersfield and Los Angeles area train stations.

"Why not have those buses stop here to pick up and drop off passengers who need to go to the city?" Williams said when he stopped in at The Mountain Enterprise office on Thursday, Dec. 6.

By December 10, Williams had collected 420 signatures from Pine Mountain, Lake of the Woods, Frazier Park and Lebec to show that his community means business.

Weber told The Mountain Enterprise on Monday, Dec. 10 there could be legal complications between the federally funded Amtrak and state laws that restrict certain competitive activities affecting other bus lines like Greyhound. Amtrak may not be able to sell tickets to passengers unless they are riding a train as part of the deal.

But Senate Bill 684, signed by the governor September 10, suggests that Daran Williams may be on the right track with his petition.

Senator Dave Cox’s SB-684 "conditionally allows Caltrans to contract with Amtrak to provide bus service between Sacramento and South Lake Tahoe for riders who do not have a related train ticket."

"The language is already there in the bill passed for northern California," Weber said. "I’m going to see if Senator Roy Ashburn is interested in this. It could become very complex, but it’s worth a try."

The growing list of businesses where you can sign the petition includes: The Screaming Squirrel (PMC), The Coffee Cantina, Farmers Insurance (Frazier Park), Sue’s Tavern, Caveman Cavey’s Pizza, Curves, Shelter On The Hill Thrift Store, Frazier Furniture & Electronics, Frazier Ski & Pack, Tanicures Salon, Killeribs Barbecue and The Mountain Enterprise.

Watch The Mountain Enterprise for updates to this interesting story.

This is part of the December 14, 2007 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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