Bus service heads to the beach

By: CATHY REDFERN - For The Californian | Thursday, June 28, 2007 12:17 AM PDT ∞

C.J. Wuebbel, 15, hauls his surfboard aboard the 8:50 a.m. bus leaving the Murrieta Walmart on his way to Oceanside and more importantly, the beach Wednesday morning.
DAVID CARLSON Staff Photographer
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TEMECULA -- The new summertime Beach Bus has rolled into town, and it's not the plodding old clunker usually associated with public transit.

The Riverside Transit Agency has begun offering express bus service to Oceanside, departing from Temecula and Murrieta shortly before 9 a.m., comfortably later than buses scheduled in the wee hours to get people to work.

For a round-trip fare of $3.75, this bus takes only about an hour to deliver riders to the cool breezes and crashing waves on the coast, making just one stop between Temecula and Oceanside. Plus, it offers riders free satellite television and wireless Internet access.

There are three buses each way during the week. The first one leaves Murrieta at 8:50 a.m. and the last of the three return buses leaves Oceanside at 3:20 p.m. On weekends, there's a fourth bus, giving beachgoers until 5:05 p.m. before heading home.

On a recent morning, a small crowd was waiting behind Edwards Cinemas at The Promenade mall for the 8:59 a.m. bus to the Oceanside Transit Center, near the city's pier. There were some riders already on the bus, having caught it at the Wal-Mart parking lot in Murrieta nine minutes earlier.

Sam Cagle, 15, of Temecula, skateboarded as he waited for the bus with four of his friends. The group recently finished their freshman year at Chaparral High School and planned to skate and then go "cool off" at the beach. Cagle said a friend had called RTA and found out about the Beach Bus.

"It's pretty cool," he said. "Sometimes, we can't get rides from our parents, and we don't drive yet. And I like the bus. It's bigger; it's different. We all just sit and listen to our iPods."

His friend, 15-year-old Thomas Hastings, agreed the bus was a nice ride. He said that Temecula does not have enough good places to skateboard, so he and his friends have taken the bus to Escondido, Solana Beach and other areas to skate.

The nonprofit Riverside Transit Agency is trying out the Beach Bus as a way to better serve area residents, a spokesman said.

"People seem to be excited about it," Bradley Weaver said. "We are hoping even more people take advantage of it. ... It will have to be popular for us to continue it."

Temecula City Councilman Jeff Comerchero, an RTA board member, said it is important to him that his jurisdiction gets a fair share of the transit pie, and that different areas have different needs.

The city has less population density than others for heavy in-town bus use, but needs long-distance service to get cars off the freeway, he said. Bus service from Southwest County to Riverside, Corona and Oceanside has been successful, he said.

And Comerchero believes the Beach Bus will be popular, too. He said he has gotten several e-mails praising the idea. Commuter buses become even more important as gas prices rise, he added.

"I want to make sure that we take people where they want to go," he said. "For older kids, this is a safe way to get to a healthy, wholesome source of recreation."

Transit representatives stressed that the Beach Bus is for everyone, not just those who are out of school for summer.

Lala Lopez, 26, of Temecula, and her 11-month old daughter, Natalie, were taking the Beach Bus to get to MiraCosta College. And another Temecula resident, Marco Ramirez, 23, was going to visit an aunt in Oceanside.

But for 72-year-old Anne Lind of Temecula, the trip was all about adventure. She said she had never been to Oceanside and was hopping the bus to shop, look around and see the ocean.

"I'm delighted at the opportunity," she said. "And I didn't want to get up at 6 a.m."

The service runs seven days a week and includes departures later in the day. On weekends, the first Beach Bus departs a little earlier; leaving Murrieta at 8:30 a.m. and Temecula at 8:40 a.m.

Beach gear, including boogie boards, is allowed, though it must fit within the passenger's seating space. Surfboards must be less than 6 feet, enclosed in a bag and placed in front of the passenger.

-- The Beach Bus service is scheduled to end Sept. 2.

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Pre-Registration Comments[-]Go to Top

There goes the neighborhood wrote on Jun 28, 2007 6:53 AM:I moved to the North County coast 4 years ago to get away from... [people] in Temecula/Murrieta/Lake Elsinore, and now here they come!

SurfDog wrote on Jun 28, 2007 8:44 AM:Just great! More inland[ers] on our beaches! They can go rockhounding instead!

Rick wrote on Jun 28, 2007 11:36 AM:Can you ride one way, like if I am at the beach on my bicycle, catch the bus back, and can I load my bicycle on?

What? wrote on Jun 28, 2007 12:31 PM:Several emails make this bus popular? It's a good idea but, come on, 3 emails and this is the best thing since sliced bread??

Laughting at NCT wrote on Jun 28, 2007 1:32 PM:Couldn't help but notice the editing of an earlier post. What now reads "...[people]" once read "rednecks". Was this due to an oversensative reader, or an overzealous editor? Jeez!

Rick wrote on Jun 28, 2007 4:15 PM:Ok, called RTA and they said you can ride one way for 2.25, so it's cheaper to buy the round trip. (Even us rednecks from Temecula can add, and I didn't even have to take my shoes off). But for those of us who ride bicycles to the beach, this is a easy trip back. Two bike racks. And yes, my printout from this morning says "redneck," which has been deleted. Too funny. Question, are there more pickups with beer cans in the bed in O'side or Temecula? C'mon.

surfer girl from way back in the day... wrote on Jun 29, 2007 12:37 AM:too bad your attitude toward folks who wanna use the beach & surrounding community has to be so rude. Are you really that selfish that you believe that its "your" coast only (after four years there)...I do believe that we, as southern Californians, are all entitled to use our coastline & visit the communities which outline it. I grew up in the South Bay area of Los Angeles & enjoyed the beaches there along with many people who had to take buses or walk/bike miles to get there, we all managed to get along just fine & had one thing in common, we were there for the pleasure the big blue Pacific Ocean had to offer us...sand, surf, volleyball, rollerskating/blading the strand, bike path, laying out-soaking up the sun, whatever happened to be going on at the piers at the time- surf contest, lifeguard races, bikini contest, whatever, it was fun for all & all were welcome. I then moved Inland to get away from the hustle bustle of the beach life, wanting a better way of life for my children, space for them to enjoy the finer things in life (mountains, blue skies, stars at night, their dirt bikes on their own property, & not having to worry about having another house within ear shot of ours) I loved the beach growing up, it was nature at its best, but it did begin to change, when people starting to sell their properties (single family homes turning into condos housing multiple families-usually bought by singles into the partying stage of life)not for me who was raising a family & wanted my kids to enjoy being a kid, fortunately, thats the best part of southern California in my opinion, we can literally have it all within just hours...mountains, beach, desert...finer things in life...whatever you choose to partake in...I love going to the beach to this day & enjoy taking my grandkids & I dare one of you to tell me I am not welcome on the beach or in the community surrounding it...I am just as entitled to it as you are, just like you are welcome to come into my community if you so choose to ...I respect the area when I'm there & I expect the same of you when you are here, if I were you I would be more concerned about that than who was invading the space...remember, you were once an inlander too :)

Marcotico wrote on Jun 29, 2007 10:29 AM:You go Surfer Girl...

QBANGAL wrote on Jun 20, 2008 5:09 PM:I'm just happy that i don't have to use my gas guzzler V8 to get there. I have a choice now! I read about this in the Californian the other day and shared it with some fellow teachers. They were psyched about it. I have a feeling that this will be very popular, given the recent gas hikes; however, if you've got a large family, it may not be cost effective. I guess it depends on what you drive.

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