Bus Route Cutback Makes Juvenile Hall Visit a Pilgrimage

It’s Sunday afternoon and more than an hour since Nelson Ulloa and his wife, Juana Pineiro, left their Hollywood home, and still they have a 40-minute walk to the Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall in Sylmar to visit their son.

The couple pay $3 each to take three Metropolitan Transportation Authority buses to arrive at the corner of Roxford Street and Glenoaks Boulevard. From there, they walk nearly two miles to the juvenile facility for the 1 to 4 p.m. visiting hours.

Lugging bags of soda, water, shoes and magazines for their 16-year-old, they walk quickly to escape the burning noonday sun.

A one-way trip from their Hollywood home to Juvenile Hall--about 20 miles--takes more than two hours.

“When [my son] gets out, I am going to have him walk the same distance we have walked to come and see him,” said Pineiro, 37. “He’d better appreciate what we do for him.”

Ulloa and Pineiro are among dozens of parents without their own transportation who are forced to take long trips to see their children at the Sylmar facility. The MTA stopped running a bus to Juvenile Hall in June 1998 because it was not cost effective, MTA spokesman Ed Scannell said.

Deborah Orosz, an organizer with the Bus Riders Union, said cancellation of bus routes affects mostly poor communities.

“People should not have to walk extra miles to get to places they need to get to,” Orosz said. “A lot of times, we see low-income people spending more money to travel. People are not surprised to see closed MTA bus routes. It’s been a trend.

“We have heard so many similar stories,” she said. “It’s terrible.”

Parents can ride the publicly funded, privately run Smart Shuttle from the bus stop to the juvenile facility, but the service costs an additional $1 to $4 each way per passenger.

Many said they can’t afford to use it.

“Sometimes it’s a matter of seeing your child or eating,” said Ulloa, 47, who relies on a disability check.

And some said they were unaware of the service because it is not listed on the published Smart Shuttle map.

This leaves many parents who rely on public transportation to make the long walk to see their children, said Marciano Avila, the hall’s Catholic chaplain.

The trip takes so long that some parents find it difficult to visit their children, Avila said.

“Some of these kids go months without seeing their moms. Mom wants to hear from the child. The child wants to hear from mom,” he said. “Sometimes I feel so bad, I go pick up parents on my days off and bring them to see their children.”

City officials who oversee the Northeast San Fernando Valley Smart Shuttle said the 18-passenger vehicles offer transportation on demand. Customers need to call a few days in advance to request a pickup.

A Smart Shuttle may also deviate from its regular route if enough passengers request to be taken to an unscheduled stop, said Mary Sue Omelia, a city project manager who oversees Smart Shuttle operations.

“The service is probably not as good as it was some time ago,” when there were more stops at Juvenile Hall, Omelia said.

She advises parents who use public transportation for traveling to Juvenile Hall to organize and call the Northeast Valley office at (818) 780-1888 to request weekly shuttle service from a point in the city convenient to everyone.

“We are here to serve the needs of our community,” she said. “We can work something out.”

MTA officials said they post fliers on their buses informing riders about the Smart Shuttle.

But for many parents, planning ahead to make reservations is difficult, and many don’t know other parents to organize a group, Avila said.

Pineiro said she gets tired just thinking about next Sunday and the walk she will make to see her son, “who has misbehaved badly. But I have to see him. He is my kid.”

Arcelia Diaz, another woman who lives near downtown Los Angeles, said she has no choice but to bring along her other four children, all under 12, when she makes the walk to visit her 13-year-old son.

On a recent Sunday, Diaz carried a bagful of snacks, water and sodas.

“Look, my poor kids have already drunk most of the sodas and we are not even there yet,” Diaz said as the family walked along Glenoaks Boulevard. “My husband works. This is my only way to see my 13-year-old.”

Domitila Melendez, 40, who lives in the Wilshire district, said she has been making the weekly trip for two months. To avoid hot weather, she leaves early in the morning and arrives at Juvenile Hall before 11 a.m.

By noon, long lines of parents are waiting to see their children.

“The kids are the ones that are supposed to be punished, not us,” Melendez joked. “The walk is difficult. But I have no other choice but to walk.”