CSUN Transit Center

The 2005 revision to the California State University Northridge Campus Master Plan called for a new transit station at approximately the same location as the previous bus-only lane (Etiwanda Ave. between Prairie and Vicennes Sts.) to provide dedicated bays for Metro local buses, Metrolink shuttles, and other services. The station design uses a one-block segment of Vicennes St. which is on University property; the street is sealed at the east end with a turnaround circle, and four bus bays were added on the south side of the street:

Metro considered several lines that operate near CSUN for rerouting into the transit station. The public hearing was conducted as part of the June, 2010 service change program, because when CSUN made their presentation to the Metro San Fernando Valley Governance Council in December, 2009 there was a possibility that the station construction would be completed by the 2010-11 school year; by the time the public hearing was announced CSUN was announcing "late 2010" as the completion date and Metro had planned to make changes as part of the December, 2010 service change program. The project design was subsequently put on hold in the spring of 2010 due to a delay in funding and construction was rescheduled for spring/summer 2011, with operation starting concurrent with the fall semester of the 2011-12 school year; it was further delayed by difficulties in the bidding process and CSUN revised its schedule once again, saying in June that they expected to open the station "shortly after the first of the year". CSUN finally broke ground on February 20, 2012 and completed construction in late April, and Metro finally implemented the changes June 17, 2012.

It should be noted that, because the access to the previous bus lane had been via a very narrow residential street which caused operational problems, access to the new station was to have been routed via Plummer St. and Darby Ave. This was an important consideration as every rerouted trip would have some additional route mileage (and therefore extra running time). However, just prior to finalizing implementation, LADOT decided not to install a traffic signal at Darby Ave. and Plummer St., instead opting to install the signal on Reseda Blvd. at Vicennes St. due to a recent accident near that intersection; as a result, routing was changed to use Vicennes St. directly from Reseda for safety considerations. Staff also felt that the new routing would improve on-time performance.

In addition to the Metro service changes, AVTA (Antelope Valley Transit Authority) routed its commuter Line 787 through the transit station; LADOT was expected to reroute DASH Northridge through the station via a slight deviation from the intersection of Reseda Blvd. and Nordhoff St., but as can be seen from the sign at the entry to the transit station, they have given no firm indication to CSUN that they intend to do so.

Lines 166 (local) and 364 (limited-stop) were considered for a deviation via Reseda Blvd. The proposal was not approved due to the extra running time needed to deviate one-half mile from Nordhoff St. to Plummer St. on each trip. It was also noted that Lines 166-364 already serve the southern end of the CSUN campus from existing stops on Nordhoff.

Line 167 service was deviated as there is only a relatively slight increase in mileage/running time due to the line already operating near to the access route.

Line 168 was proposed to be realigned via Reseda Blvd. - Plummer St. - Tampa Ave. as the extra mileage/running time was not much more than the existing deviation to serve Northridge Fashion Center. The realignment was approved by the Governance Council; however, Line 168 was instead cancelled due to poor performance as part of the December 2010 service change program.

Line 240 was considered for deviation (it had been the line using the bus lane until its closure in April, 2003). However, because of the line's already long length and high service frequency, the additional mileage/running time would have significantly increased the budgeted revenue service hours for the line.

Rapid Line 741 was the strongest candidate for deviation, since a significant number of CSUN students already used the line to get to the campus from the Orange Line station some five miles to the south. While originally proposed for a simple deviation, it was determined that Line 741 ridership between Nordhoff St. and the single remaining stop at Devonshire St. was minimal and therefore the Line 741 north terminal was proposed to be relocated to the transit station. However, the deviation route was implemented when CSUN delayed the establishment of restroom facilities at the station (necessary in order to establish an operator layover zone).

An additional proposal to extend Line 741 to Universal City Station via Ventura Blvd. was withdrawn at the public hearing due to the negative impact on Line 750, from which running time would have been reallocated to accomplish the extension.

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