Presidential library to get improved bus service, new tenants sign for Town Center
By Michelle Knight
knight@theacorn.com

Big things will be happening this fall. Not only is the Simi Valley Town Center mall scheduled to open in October, but the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library will open a display of Air Force One when its new pavilion is completed. And Simi Valley Transit wants to be ready.

The council agreed this week with transit officials to add the presidential library as a regular stop.

"I’m proud of the city’s transit service," said Councilmember Glen Becerra.

The system currently runs seven buses along four routes. Buses traveling Route D service the west end of the city and stop at the presidential library by request only. Anticipating that more riders will make the library their destination when the Air Force One pavilion is completed, transit officials will add it as a permanent stop beginning this fall.

The library has made several changes to accommodate bus riders. The main entrance was revised recently so passengers could be easily dropped off and picked up and buses could turn around. Parking at the library is limited.

Transit officials expect the mall, located just north of the 118 Freeway between First Street and Erringer Road, to be the largest generator of bus trips. About 95,000 bus trips to and from the mall are expected in the first year. Current annual ridership is estimated at 467,000 passenger trips.

In anticipation of the additional bus riders, the city council approved the purchase of two new buses, which were delivered last month, and approved changing bus routes to include stops at the new mall when it opens on Oct. 27.

Routes A and B, which operate Monday through Saturday, and Route D will include stops at the mall. Route D operates only on weekdays.

City officials said the changes in bus service also will allow Metrolink and Amtrak passengers to take a connecting bus to the mall or to the presidential library. And with bus stops within a one-quarter-mile walk of hotels and motels, guests to the city can easily visit the mall and library.

Hoping to avoid service interruptions, Councilmember Steve Sojka asked transit staff to iron out any problems that may arise with the mall’s developers well in advance of the mall’s scheduled opening.

City Manager Mike Sedell said problems still are bound to crop up during certain times of the day.

Meanwhile, the Simi Valley Town Center mall has announced that 24 additional retailers will join anchors Robinsons-May and Macy’s in the 640,000-square-foot shopping center. Those with an * are new to Ventura County.

All Pro Sports; Anchor Blue; Anthropologie; *Beach Bums, Brighton Collectibles, offering clothing accessories; Cingular Wireless; Claire’s; Forever 21, fashions for young women; *Great Wraps, which features submarine sandwiches and smoothies; *Gloria Jean’s Coffees; Hot Dog on a Stick;

Hot Topic; Lane Bryant; Limited Too; NUVO International Skin Care Centers; *San’s Pizzeria; Select Comfort, a bed retailer; Sunglass Hut/Watch Station; Things Remembered; Urban Outfitters; Vans; Verizon Wireless; Vitamin World; Wetzel’s Pretzels.

To date, the total number of mall retailers is 64.