In an effort to increase ridership, a government-funded shuttle system that carries senior citizens and others between Thousand Oaks and the San Fernando Valley has switched its home base to Thousand Oaks' Goebel Senior Center and added a third day of service.

The Senior Concerns Shuttle, which began operating in February 2007, had been picking up its passengers at the Senior Concerns agency building on Hodencamp Road near Hillcrest Drive in Thousand Oaks.

"The reason we shifted the pick-up spot was because the dispatcher said most of the seniors knew where the Goebel center was but not Senior Concerns," said transportation analyst Roy Myers, with the Thousand Oaks' Public Works Department. "We're hoping more people learn about it and will use it," he added.

Senior Concerns is a private, nonprofit organization serving older people and the community at large.

The shuttle takes riders to the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Woodland Hills and to the nearby Topanga and Promenade shopping centers.

The service has operated on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and it recently added service on Mondays.

It differs from Dial-a-Ride, which picks up passengers at their front doors.

The operating cost of the shuttle is roughly $60,000 a year, according one estimate by local officials. The city contributes more than 11 percent of the funds needed, and most of the remainder is covered by federal and state funds that come through the Ventura County Transportation Commission, according to local officials.

"We know folks wanted this service, they told us so, and that's why it was started," Senior Concerns President Carol Freeman said. "Now, with gas costs so high and impacting budgets, it makes even more sense."

Despite its name, the shuttle is open to the public of all ages, she emphasized.

To meet funding guidelines, ridership must incrementally increase within the program's first three years, Myers said.

In its first year starting February 2007, the shuttle generated slightly more than 6 percent in revenues from fares. Now in its second year, fare-box revenue is 7 to 10 percent but needs to reach 12 percent by early next year.

The third-year goal is 20 percent.

Looking down the road, "if we get to (only) 16 percent at the end of the third year, it will mean major adjustments. But if we reach 20 percent or more, the program will continue," Myers said.

"We feel the price is reasonable," Freeman said. The round-trip fare is $10 for seniors and people with disabilities, and $20 for others.

"But we need more people to use it," she said. "We don't want the shuttle to go away."

The Goebel center is at 1385 E. Janss Road, east of Highway 23.

Agoura Hills recently approved enhancing its Dial-a-Ride service, and in July it will begin picking up that city's residents at their homes and delivering them to Kaiser and shopping stops in the San Fernando Valley.

"We have two systems running parallel," Myers said, "and we're just entering talks with Agoura" to see if they can be coordinated.

To make reservations, call the shuttle line at 341-8004.

On the Net: http://www.seniorconcerns.org