Bus service restored to Three Arch Bay area

Three Arch Bay is back on the beaten path for city bus service, curtailment of which saved money, but reportedly inconvenienced senior citizens and South Laguna residents.

The City Council voted at the Oct. 7 meeting to restore the “Baby Blue” bus service along Coast Highway to the previous level, including a stop in front of Albertsons Market. The service had been reduced to two runs in the morning and two in the afternoon to serve students.

“South Laguna was adversely affected by the discontinuance of the fixed route system past Three Arch Bay to the Ritz-Carlton,” said Mayor Pro Tem Cheryl Kinsman, who sponsored the service restoration. “There is a high interest in bus and trolley service and sidewalks to get to them.”

The discontinued Baby Blue service allowed the city to put about $80,000 into the popular summer tram service. However, the trams also did not service Three Arch Bay, terminating at South Coast Medical Center, rather than traveling to the city limits to provide transportation to residents who lived south of the hospital.

Tram service to Three Arch Bay would require the purchase of an additional trolley, estimated to cost about $300,000, or renting one in order to keep up the present schedule and funding for an additional driver. The biggest roadblock would be to find a turnaround for the trams, City Manager Ken Frank said. The trams are too big to turn around at the Three Arch Bay gate.

“I read a lot of e-mails from people who feel like a stepchild because of the service,” Councilwoman Toni Iseman said. “But there are lots of parts of Laguna that don’t get service, so that doesn’t resonate with me.”

But it was Iseman who came up with the notion of having a smaller Baby Blue make a connecting run from Three Arch Bay to the medical center terminus.

Fifteen residents spoke in support of the restoration. Seniors were mostly concerned about bus service to Albertsons, so they wouldn’t have to hike the hill from the highway and tote their packages back down to the bus stop. Youngsters who testified were more interested in the tram service, which they said would help the environment by keeping cars in garages. But Three Arch Bay residents wanted both. The Three Arch Bay Board of Directors collected more than 200 signatures in support of the restoration of both services.

“Buses only come every hour, and the trams come every 20 minutes,” Kinsman said.

City staff was directed to work with Three Arch Bay on the restoration of the summer tram service.

BARBARA DIAMOND can be reached at (949) 494-4321 or [email protected].