What Next For CSUN and Metro? and What About Metrolink?

Numble has reported on Twitter that it is unfortunately looking increasingly like Metro is going to scrap the North San Fernando Valley Bus Rapid Transit Project.

Valley NIMBYs have won again.   The biggest loser with this decision are the stakeholders for California State University, Northridge (CSUN) who were hoping to get a mass transit line to serve the campus.

While I did not attend CSUN myself,  I certainly value that it is a diverse university with 38,500 students that adds 1.9 billion into our local economy annually.  From an equity standpoint, CSUN deserves as much to have access to a mass transit line as UCLA and USC.  And, quite frankly, the alternate promise of a local bus every ten minutes just doesn't cut it.  But I like like to be in the solution.  So what can we do for CSUN instead?

Here is a Metro map of the San Fernando Valley prior to the implementation of the NextGen service plan ended nearly all of the Rapid buses.

As you can see, CSUN was served by a Rapid bus on Reseda Blvd.  Therefore, easiest and cheapest alternative to serve CSUN now that the North San Fernando Valley Bus Rapid Transit project appears doomed would be to put bus lanes on Reseda from the G ("orange") Line.  There could be G1 buses running between North Hollywood and Chatsworth, and added G2 buses running between North Hollywood and CSUN.

A future extension of this could have bus lanes running on Reseda all the way to Ventura, and then over to Universal City Station.  (For some reason, Ventura Blvd. always gets left out of these discussions when it is one of the prime destinations and transit corridors in the Valley).  This way, when the G1 line is inevitably upgraded to light-rail, the G2 can keep running as a BRT.

There is one other mass transit approach that needs to be re-considered:   Double-tracking Metrolink/Amtrak between Chatsworth and VanNuys.  Coming Amtrak/Metrolink improvements and run-through service at Union Station will increase rail demand and possibilities in the area as commuter rail turns into regional rail.  

We need to take another attempt at double-tracking this rail corridor.  Whether than means improving the design for it, or building a bigger coalition, we need to do it.  The future regional transportation needs here are too important to just give up entirely.  

As part of this double-tracking, the Northridge Station can be reconfigured to be friendlier to CSUN, although there is a free shuttle now.

What do you think?  How would you best serve CSUN with mass transit?