P. V. Estates

The City Council has authorized negotiation of an agreement to join Palos Verdes Transit, a dial-a-van system that serves neighboring Rancho Palos Verdes and Rolling Hills Estates. The majority of the 5,000 riders a month are schoolchildren.

Councilwoman Barbara Culver, an advocate of the van system, said there is a “tremendous demand for transit” and Palos Verdes Transit “is a proven provider.” She said that if the service proves inadequate to meet the needs of Palos Verdes Estates, the community can pull out.

The council directed the staff to determine the cost of participating in the service--estimated at $80,000 a year--and whether the city should purchase or lease a van to add to the seven-van system. A proposed agreement will go to the council at a later date. Once approved, the system could be operating in about a month, using a rented vehicle at the outset.

Palos Verdes Transit is funded through the cities’ share of funds from a special 1/2-cent county sales tax for transportation.

Gordon Siebert, Rancho Palos Verdes public works director who supervises the van system, said it is flexible enough to allow Palos Verdes Estates to have a fixed route if it chooses, or the same call-for-service system used in Rancho Palos Verdes and Rolling Hills Estates.

“We all look forward to a fixed-route system, but a demand response system works best in the beginning,” Culver said.

The city will continue to participate in a separate dial-a-taxi service for the elderly and handicapped operated in the three Peninsula cities by the Peninsula Transportation Authority.