County may start Barstow-to-Victorville bus service

BARSTOW • Barstow residents needing to get to Victorville but lacking a car may soon have an easier mode of transportation.

The county transportation authority has received federal funding to start bus service between Victorville and Barstow that could begin running in about six months. The service will likely run three times a day, five days a week with stops at St. Mary Medical Center in Apple Valley and the Victor Valley Mall, according to Beth Kranda, a staff member with San Bernardino Associated Governments.

The Barstow stops and the actual start date for the service have yet to be determined, Kranda said. The service will be run through the Victor Valley Transit Authority.

For Barstow residents like Frank Dillard, who likes to go shopping at the Victor Valley Mall but lacks a car, this is good news. Getting from Barstow to Victorville now costs Dillard $19 for a round-trip Greyhound bus ticket, plus fare for a city bus to get from the Greyhound station to the mall.

The bus leaves Barstow at 10:30 a.m. and arrives in Victorville about 30-minutes later, Dillard said. The last Greyhound bus leaves Victorville for Barstow at 2 p.m., giving Dillard about 3 hours to get to the mall, do his shopping and return to the bus station.

“That would be great to get a bus to go to Victorville,” he said. “I hope this works out.”

For many seniors, having bus service to and from Victorville would make it easier for them to pay their utilities and get to doctors’ appointments, said Jeff Eason Sr., president of the Barstow Senior Citizens Center. He hopes local businesses don’t suffer by establishing a route between Barstow and Victorville, but said having that service is also important for people living outside the city.

“Until future (businesses) in Barstow builds up, the connection between Barstow and Victorville is important,” he said, pointing out that many medical specialists practice in the Victor Valley. “There’s more shopping in Victorville than there is in Barstow.”

Kranda informed Mayor Pro Tem Julie Hackbarth-McIntyre, Barstow’s SANBAG representative, about the bus service to Victorville at a meeting in Victorville on Wednesday.

That meeting also included representatives from Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt’s office and the Victor Valley Transit Authority, who also discussed ways to address complaints from customers who say they have been missing their buses.

The complaints have primarily come from customers outside city limits who say they have been missing rides because the buses aren’t following their schedule, McIntyre said. SANBAG and other government officials from the High Desert will be working on fixing that problem.

Contact the writer:
(760) 256-4123 or jcejnar@desertdispatch.com