At 4:31am on Monday, January 17, 1994, a magnitude 6.6 earthquake centered in the northwestern San Fernando Valley struck Southern California.
MTA managed -- even though the quake hit as morning pull-outs began -- to operate 94% of scheduled service on the morning of the earthquake, in addition to 51 quake-related requests for transportation from various emergency agencies. The following morning, 99.3% of scheduled service ran. On Wednesday, January 19, scheduled service levels were restored to full levels, and MTA provided eight vehicles for use by President Clinton’s entourage during his visit to the areas affected by the earthquake. In addition to scheduled service, MTA filled 110 emergency bus requests throughout the week following the earthquake. (On January 19, MTA also increased service on the peak-hour shuttle version of Line 152 between Burbank Metrolink Station and downtown Burbank.)
The Northridge earthquake disrupted several key Valley freeway connections -- portions of the Antelope Valley (SR-14), Simi Valley (SR-118) and Golden State (I-5) freeways collapsed -- and MTA used FEMA funds, to make connections between the Metrolink Santa Clarita Line (which had been quickly extended into the Antelope Valley) and employment centers in the San Fernando Valley.
In Burbank, Lines 154, 163, 164 and 165 were realigned to operate into Burbank Metrolink Station, effective the week after the quake (enhancing the Line 152 shuttle service). Three "emergency service" lines began operating January 26, 1994:
MTA Line 640 operated between Burbank Metrolink Station and employment centers in downtown Glendale, downtown Pasadena, and Cal Tech in the morning (6:00am-9:50am) and afternoon (2:50pm-6:05pm) peak-hours. Passengers boarded at the Metrolink station on eastbound trips, could board or discharge at the LADOT Line 549 stop in Glendale, and discharge at any of the Line 181 stops on Colorado Blvd. and Lake Ave. in Pasadena. On the westbound trips, passengers could board at the Line 181 stops along the route, board and discharge in Glendale, and discharge at the station. Line 640 operated 12 eastbound/7 westbound morning trips and 6 eastbound/11 westbound afternoon trips on a 20-minute frequency of service.
MTA Line 641 operated bidirectional service between Burbank Metrolink Station and employment centers in the Burbank Media District, Encino, Sherman Oaks, and Warner Center westbound in morning peak-hours (leaving Burbank every 20 minutes from 6:00am to 9:20am) and eastbound in afternoon peak-hours (leaving Warner Center every 20 minutes from 2:25pm to 5:45pm).
Passengers could board only at the Metrolink station on the morning trips, but had a variety of stops for discharge; Line 96 stops in Burbank, Line 560 stops on Van Nuys Blvd., Line 424 stops in Sherman Oaks, Encino, and Warner Center, Line 236 stops on Balboa Blvd., and the Line 427 stop in Tarzana. On the afternoon trips, passengers could board at any of the local stops along the route and could discharge only at the station.
Line 641 honored all Metrolink fare media and MTA one-zone express passes.
Foothill Transit operated Line 642 between Burbank Metrolink Station and Pasadena eastbound in morning peak-hours and westbound in afternoon peak-hours.
Line 642 honored all Metrolink fare media as base fare; passengers paid a one-zone express cash fare. Passengers carrying MTA one-zone express passes could also ride Line 642, a rare exception to Foothill Transit's normal policy regarding MTA passes.
On February 21, Line 640 replaced Line 642 by extending its route via Colorado Blvd. and continuing to the Hastings Ranch area via the San Gabriel Blvd. - Foothill Blvd. routing. At the same time, a board-only eastbound/discharge-only westbound route segment was added between Burbank Metrolink Station and Universal City, using what is now the route of Line 96 (and replacing the Burbank portion of Line 641). Service levels were increased to 14 eastbound/12 westbound morning trips and 13 eastbound/11 westbound afternoon trips, although the first four morning trips in each direction were shortlines (Burbank to Pasadena eastbound, Burbank to Universal City westbound) as were the last three eastbound afternoon trips (Universal City to Burbank) and the last westbound morning and last four westbound afternoon trips (Pasadena to Burbank). The remaining portion of Line 641 between Burbank, Sherman Oaks, Encino and Warner Center was cancelled, having attracted little ridership in the aftermath of the new emergency lines operated by Santa Clarita Transit, the resumption of Line 787 by Antelope Valley Transit Authority (it had suspended service south of Santa Clarita for a brief period), and the opening of Sylmar/San Fernando Metrolink Station on January 31.
All Metrolink fare media (as base fare; passengers still paid a zone charge between Burbank and Glendale) and MTA one-zone express passes were honored.
The revamped Line 640 lasted exactly four weeks; it was cancelled March 21 due to declining ridership.
The additional Line 152 shuttle service between downtown Burbank and Burbank Metrolink Station ran until February 21; Line 545 ("Highway Hummer"), which was supposed to begin operation the day after the quake between Sylmar/San Fernando Metrolink Station and the Chatsworth/Northridge area, was delayed one week (beginning operation January 24) and operated via a detour on use surface streets in the aftermath of damage to the Simi Valley Freeway in the Sylmar area. January 24 was also the date MTA began providing detour service on Lines 180-181 and 201 to Glendale Metrolink Station; unlike the Burbank service, it was little-used and the detour was cancelled after a month. Antelope Valley Transit Authority temporarily operated its Line 787 only to Santa Clarita Metrolink Station, returning to full service after ten days when temporary HOV lanes were created by CalTrans. LADOT Line 573 had to temporarily discontinue service to Santa Clarita, although it extended service to Sylmar/San Fernando Metrolink Station on January 27 and restored service into Santa Clarita via temporary HOV lanes in July; LADOT also operated Line 643 (a shuttle van service) between Sylmar/San Fernando Metrolink Station and Sherman Oaks for two weeks in February. On February 3, Santa Clarita Transit began operating three emergency lines into the San Fernando Valley (two of which remain in operation today), and that same month California State University Northridge started a circulator and three off-campus shuttles, one of which operated to the hastily-opened Northridge Metrolink Station.
One thing MTA learned from the earthquake service was that Burbank Metrolink Station benefitted from improved bus connections; the detoured Lines 154, 163, 164 and 165 service to and from the station was made permanent with the June 26 semi-annual service changes. Line 96 was realigned to loop through the station a year later as part of the San Fernando Valley Transit Restructuring Study.
(Thanks to Edmund Buckley of Western Transit and Russ Jones for helping with the research on this page.)
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