All aboard! Neighborhoods shuttle service set to launch on April 22

Omar Passons with Suttle.

Park-2-Park shuttle will serve North Park, South Park, University Heights and Normal Heights

By Manny Cruz

Omar Passons has a passion. He wants to bring a new transportation alternative to North Park and its adjacent neighborhoods, an inexpensive and reliable shuttle service aimed at getting cars off the streets, improving the business climate and educating people about the culture and history of their communities.
On Thursday, April 22, Passons — a six-year resident of North Park — will launch the Park-2-Park shuttle, a service that will ferry passengers through North Park, South Park, University Heights and Normal Heights every Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. For a $5 fee, a passenger can utilize the shuttle throughout its operating hours (6 p.m. to midnight on Thursdays and 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
“It will be the best, most efficient, most fun and most informative way to get around these areas from Thursday to Saturday night,” says Passons.
For the past several weeks, Passons has been promoting the Park-2-Park shuttle with various business and community leaders and residents in the four neighborhoods in hopes of generating broad support for the business venture. “This is a creative promotion opportunity for local small businesses and they will be given the option to promote or advertise their businesses at shuttle stops, through a DVD on board, by direct communication with riders and in a variety of other ways,” says Passons.
Representatives from a variety of small businesses — restaurants, yoga and dance studios, bars, music venues and other commercial enterprises — are being invited to an informational meeting in early March “to learn more about the options and decide whether this is a viable option for their business,” according to Passons.
Passons is an attorney with Caltrans, the California Department of Transportation, and is president of the North Park Community Association board of directors. He says the Park 2 Park shuttle is his private business venture and is not connected in any way to the state agency or the community association.
Passons has contracted with SureRide Inc., a mini-bus charter company in National City, to provide the 36-passenger vehicles and drivers for the shuttle service. He says two vehicles will be used at the start with the possibility of adding another one later.
At the April 22 launch, says Passons, volunteers will be on hand to greet patrons and talk about the historical aspects of the neighborhoods — “to give them a feel for the communities.” “My service,” he says, “will show significant respect and deference to our local history and quirkiness and it will cater to a broad audience.”
The shuttle, according to Passons, will not only generate more business for  commercial enterprises, but help reduce traffic on local streets. He says he will be encouraging people to park their vehicles in the parking garage across from the North Park Theatre. “I am working on deals for free passes for those who use the parking garage and full security near True North Tavern and a few other spots around the area during the late-night hours,” says Passons.
Aware that many North Park residents are concerned about problems associated with popular drinking establishments — littering, public drunkenness, noisy, unruly behavior — Passons says he is not running a party bus. “I am not creating a party bus,” he emphasizes. “This is about connecting our communities and letting people get around and enjoy themselves responsibly.”
“I expect that most people who try to board the Park-2-Park shuttle will be appropriate in their behavior,” adds Passons. “The ones who aren’t will be refused entrance and we’ll post the non-emergency police number and a local hotline on our Website so that neighbors know who to contact if people are violating the law … I want to be a part of a project that adds to our neighborhoods, not one that makes things worse.”