Orange County Transportation Authority
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Image:Orange County Transportation Authority logo.png
The Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) is the public sector transportation planning body and transit service provider for Orange County, California. Its ancestor agencies include not only the prior Orange County Transit District but also such diverse entities as the Pacific Electric Railroad and the South Coast Transit Corporation. In 2005, OCTA was judged America's Best Public Transportation System by the American Public Transportation Association, for its record ridership gains in the bus and the Metrolink trains that its operates or funds. OCTA also operates the 91 Express Lanes.
The Authority's administrative offices are located in Orange and it maintains bus operations bases in Anaheim, Garden Grove, and Santa Ana. A paratransit base operated by Laidlaw for the authority's ACCESS service is located in Irvine.
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History
In 1991, OCTA was created by under state law combining the Orange County agencies that managed transportation planning (Orange County Transportation Commission), Park-and-ride facilities, public transportation (what was then Orange County Transit District), and other transportation related administrative offices into one organization. OCTA administers funds from Measure M, the half cent transportation sales tax. Measure M was passed in 1990 and has paid for freeway expansion on most freeway miles in Orange County, traffic signal synchronization, and increased Metrolink service.
OCTA suffered tremendously during the 1995 Orange County bankruptcy. The agency lost $202 million in revenue over 17 years due to the bankruptcy. [1] As a result, fares were increased and bus service was reduced.
In 2000, OCTA embarked on a bus restructuring effort dubbed Straightlining, later renamed to Point to Point. The goal of Straightlining was to better utilize funding for the bus system by eliminating long deviations and keeping buses on major streets instead of through neighborhoods. Routes were straightened out and almost every route in the system was changed. However, the project failed spectacularly, as ridership dropped due to the increased number of transfers required, while paradoxically overcrowding on some routes increased because OCTA failed to plan for increased ridership along many of the core routes. In addition, the implementation of Straightlining was problematic as over 100 schedule changes were required in the three months immediately following implementation. Politically, problems occurred such as removing service to the local Braille Institute, which was rescinded before implementation. In the end, many routes were re-combined and deviations reinstated, and the CEO resigned.
Logos
 The Present OCTA logo, used since 1991 |
Public Transportation
Routes
OCTA operates 77 lines which encompass every city in Orange County, along with the Los Angeles County communities of Lakewood, La Mirada, Cerritos, Hawaiian Gardens, and Long Beach, along with express service to Los Angeles and Diamond Bar.
- The double digit routes (and route 1) are the fixed routes that cover almost every city in Orange County. Buses operate on most major arterial streets.
- 1xx routes are descended from the old RunAbout service that used to serve residential neighborhoods. Most of these routes use smaller buses. Some routes are pieces of pre-2000 longer routes shortened during Straightlining, and use full size buses.
- 2xx routes are intra-county freeway routes which utilize OC freeways. These routes run from park-and-rides and transit terminals to the business districts and back, although one route, Line 205, is used by service workers to commute from the Santa Ana central core to jobs in Laguna Hills and at Disneyland.
- 4xx routes are the Metrolink shuttles which go from the Metrolink stations to business districts and vice versa. Metrolink fareholders ride free on these buses (as they do all OCTA buses), but otherwise regular fare is charged.
- 7xx routes are express routes. Lines 701 and 721 serve Downtown Los Angeles using the Harbor Freeway Transitway and charge a premium fare, while Line 757 connects Santa Ana with the San Gabriel Valley community of Diamond Bar and does not charge a premium fare.
Some routes operate short turn trips which either start or end in the middle of the route. Those trips say Short Trip/Viaje Corto on the headsign, followed by the final destination. The final destination of every bus is on the marquee.
Fares
The OCTA offers a number of fare and pass options. As of February 2006:
| Fare type | Regular | Senior/Disabled |
|---|---|---|
| One-way fare | $1.25 (Express $3.75) | $.50 (Express $3.35) |
| One day pass | $3 | $1 |
| 7 day pass | $15 | $5 |
| 15 day pass | $26 | $9 |
| 30 day pass | $45 | $15 |
| Bundle of 10 prepaid one day passes | $27 | $9 |
- Fare boxes accept all coins except for pennies, half dollars, and the old "Eisenhower" Dollar coin. They accept $1, $2, $5 bills and, if necessary $10. The fareboxes cannot make change.
- A day pass is valid from the time it is purchased or validated until 11:59pm that night.
- A youth 30 day pass for ages 7-18 is available for $26. Also, a youth summer pass is available for $40 and is valid from June 1 to August 31.
- Many colleges offer a quarter 75 day pass or a semester 120 day pass for $75 and $120 respectively for their students; however, the tuition at the University of California, Irvine includes the bus pass. This allows students at UCI to use their UCI ID on the bus as a bus pass. This pass is valid for all routes operated by OCTA except routes 701 and 721. (The UCI program is similar to programs offered at the University of California's Berkeley, Davis, and Santa Barbara campuses.)
- Although there is an Express Route 30 day pass for $128, normal passes do not work on these routes. However, a 30 day or one day pass is valid for a credit of $1.25 towards an express fare ($.50 credit for S/D).
- Up to three children 6 and under may ride free with any paying passenger or pass holder.
- One day passes (individual, not the bundle) are available on the bus; all other passes must be purchased at a pass sales outlet or directly from OCTA (a list can be found here).
Bus fleet
As of 1997, all busses are equipped with bike racks and can carry a maximum of two bicycles at any given time.
- 2101-2161 (North American Bus Industries 40.09-LFW low floor, 2000)
- 2201-2378 (North American Bus Industries 40.09-LFW low floor, 2001 )
Low floor busses with the wheelchair equipment mounted in the rear door of the bus, in the way of a ramp that swings out. The interiors are gray, with an upholstered blue-and-red-on-gray seat insert. Originally powered with a Detroit Diesel Series 50G engine, some of these buses have been repowered with John Deere 6081H Natural Gass engines.
The 2100/2200 series above were the first buses in the fleet to use liquid natural gas as fuel instead of diesel.
These busses were designed with the driver's comfort and convenience in mind, as well as a sort of futuristic design. The interior of this bus is white walled with a brown floor, features fully upholstered seating, and is the only bus in the fleet that uses contact tape for the passenger stop request, rather than traditional pull cords.
Originally these units did not have air conditioning on board, and did not have windows that opened. The air conditioners were added on shortly after these units were deployed, and the windows were replaced in the late 1980s sometime.
Two of the busses in this class were, at one time, outfitted with reclining seats, however these have not been seen on the road for some time, and may have been sold off as surplus.
These were originally scheduled to be mothballed and/or sold off as surplus, however an increase in service in 1999 required that these units continue service until more busses can be acquired.
Gillig Phantoms were added to the fleet in 1985 with the 4000 series of units, however this series of busses was released to the public in 1989. The interiors of these busses feature woodgrained walls, with the front half of the seating featuring full upholstery, and the rear half seating simply having a brown seat insert.
These units were mothballed in 2000 for a short while, until a service increase in 2001 brought them back into service.
In 2003 or 2004, these units were outfitted with a more powerful engine, and the wheelchair lift was also replaced with a more efficient unit.
- 5000-5039, 5101-5114 (New Flyer Industries D40HF 1990 )
These are the first New Flyer buses in the OCTA fleet. These busses came outfitted similarly to the other busses as far as seating, and sport a front-loading wheelchair lift and woodgrained interiors.
The 51xx series, while otherwise identical to the 50xx series, also feature overhead luggage racks, upholstered seating, and reclining seats for most of the forward-facing seats (the four seats in the wheelchair restraint positions don't recline). This particular series of busses is primarily used for the Los Angeles bound routes.
- 5201-5250 (New Flyer Industries D40LF low floor, 1995 )
- 5301-5397, 5401-5418 (New Flyer Industries D40LF low floor, 1997-1998 )
- 5419-5420 (New Flyer Industries]] DE40LF low floor, 1999 )
These two low floor buses were the first hybrids to be delivered to OCTA. They are mainly used on Route 64 and occasionally on Route 60.
- 7201-7210 (New Flyer Articulated D60LF low floor, 1999- )
- 7301-7320 (New Flyer Articulated D60LF low floor, 2000- )
- 7401-7420 (New Flyer Articulated D60LF low floor, 2001- )
These articulated buses are used throughout the day on routes 43, 57 and 60, but during rush hours several other important routes, like the 29, 47, 53, 59 and 70 use them as well.
- 5421-5422 (New Flyer Industries]] GE40LF low floor,2005 )
OCTA received 2 GE40LFs from NewFlyer in the fall of 2005. These 2 units are in active revenue service and can be found on Route 64.
Trivia
- South Coast Plaza is the most served attraction on the OCTA routes, served by 11 routes (51, 55, 57, 76, 86, 145, 172, 173, 211, 216, 464).
- The longest route is the 1 (Long Beach-San Clemente) which utilizes Pacific Coast Highway for the vast majority of its route. Trips take an average of 2-2.5 hours.
- Routes 20, 21, 62, 74, 75, 131, 147, 164, 173, 175, 187, 188, all the 2xx (except 205), 4xx and 7xx routes do not operate weekends or holidays (routes 86, 87 and 178 do not operate Sundays and holidays). Routes 43, 50, 57, 60 run 24 hours a day.
CenterLine light rail
The CenterLine, a 9.3-mile light rail system serving Irvine, Costa Mesa and Santa Ana, was originally planned in the 1990s, and was intended to open in 2009. Costing $1 billion USD, the route would have served destinations including John Wayne Airport, South Coast Metro, South Coast Plaza, Santa Ana College, and downtown Santa Ana. As of February 2005, the CenterLine was suspended indefinitely, and later in May 2005, the plan was officially scuttled in favor of researching express bus service throughout Orange County and improvements to the Metrolink trains.
When the line was initially being planned, it was envisioned as a 30-mile route that would run from Fullerton to Irvine, through Anaheim, Orange, Santa Ana, and Costa Mesa. However, a lack of public support led to numerous trunctations; Orange was initially removed from the route, followed by Anaheim.
Highway and Road Operations
OCTA is responsible for the Countywide Master Highway Plan, which designates major arterial streets in the County, However, all road maintenance responsibilities are with the city where the street operates in, or the County in the case of unincorporated areas. OCTA street funding is steered towards roadways on the Master Plan in recognition of their role in regional travel.
Current Projects
In 2003, a budget crisis caused funds otherwise allocated for the expansion of the Garden Grove Freeway to be diverted to the resolution to the deficit; accordingly, OCTA took Measure M funds and self-funded the expansion. In summer of 2004, the contractor Granite Meyers-Rados (a joint venture between C. C. Meyers and Rados) was selected, and construction was started by December of that year. Estimated time of completion for the expansion overall is November 2006.
OCTA has completed carpool lanes and added some regular lanes on all other freeways. The last freeway widening to break ground is a short segment of the Santa Ana Freeway from the Riverside Freeway to the Los Angeles County line. There, the roadway will be expanded from three lanes in each direction to five (one carpool and four regular lanes). At the county line, the roadway will revert to three lanes in each direction, because the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority has not allocated funding for the expansion in Los Angeles County.
91 Express Lanes
OCTA administers the 91 Express Lanes after purchasing them from the California Private Transportation Corporation. The roadway was purchased to extinguish a "non-compete" clause that prevented safety and traffic flow improvements along the ten mile stretch of tollway. The other tollways in Orange County are governed by the Transportation Corridor Agencies.