Orange County Transportation Authority

Orange County Transportation Authority

Founded	1991
Headquarters	550 S. Main St. Orange, California, USA
Service area	Orange County
Service type	bus service, paratransit, toll roads, light rail (operating in 2020)[1]
Routes	77[2]
Stops	6,200+
Hubs	6
Fleet	556 buses
Annual ridership	51.4 million passengers per year (FY 2012-13)
Fuel type	Diesel, CNG, LNG
Operator	OCTA, First Transit Inc., MV Transportation
Chief executive	Darrell Johnson
Website	octa.net

The Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) is the public sector transportation planning body and mass 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 Railway 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 gains in bus and Metrolink commuter trains ridership that it operates or funds. OCTA also operates the 91 Express Lanes.

The Authority's administrative offices are located in the city of Orange and it maintains bus operations bases in the cities of Garden Grove, and Santa Ana. First Transit operates about 33% of OCTA's Fixed Routes out of the Anaheim, & Irvine bases. While MV Transportation operates OCTA's paratransit base for the authority’s ACCESS service also in Irvine.

History

OCTA's predecessor agency, the Orange County Transit District, was created in August 1972 by a referendum of county voters. It originally started as Santa Ana Transit, a small transit agency with five bus routes operating in Orange County. Santa Ana Transit later merged with other, smaller agencies throughout the county, eventually leading to the formation of OCTD. The routing system was formed over the course of about 15 years and was held in place until the merge to OCTA.

In 1991, OCTA was created under state law, combining the seven separate Orange County agencies that managed transportation planning:

• Orange County Transportation Commission
• Orange County Transit District
• Consolidated Transportation Services Agency
• Orange County Local Transportation Authority
• Orange County Service Authority for Freeway Emergencies
• Orange County Congestion Management Agency
• Orange County Service Authority for Abandoned Vehicles

Park-and-ride facilities, public transportation and other transportation related administrative offices merged into one organization. OCTA administers funds from Measure M, the half-cent transportation sales tax. Measure M was originally passed in 1990 and renewed in 2006. It has paid for the expansion on most freeways within Orange County, street improvements and repairs, traffic signal synchronization, and increased Metrolink service.^[3]

In 1995, OCTA suffered tremendously during the Orange County bankruptcy and never fully recovered. The agency lost $202 million in revenue over 17 years due to the bankruptcy.^[4] As a result, bus service was reduced.

In October 2015, OCTA rebranded its bus services as "OC Bus" and launched the OC Bus 360° plan, which aims to consolidate routes into more frequent service and increase ridership. OCTA also plans to replace 40% of its bus fleet with compressed natural gas-powered vehicles.^[5][6][7] The change was approved by the OCTA board on February 22, 2016.^[8]

Labor disputes

OCTA (including the former OCTD) has been involved in various labor disputes between itself and its drivers, members of the Teamsters Union Local 952, including strikes in 1986 and 2007.

Wikinews has related news: Orange County bus strike ends as union, board approve contract

In April 2007, drivers threatened to strike again over the current contract. OCTA offered a 13% raise over three years, but union sources said that it only came out to 8% after factoring in inflation. The drivers voted to strike. California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger intervened. He first issued a one-week cool-off, and later extended it to 60 days, while talks continued. Negotiations over wage and pension issues failed, and the union started to strike on July 7, 2007, at the end of the cooling-off period.^[9][10] This conflict was resolved on July 16, 2007 when the union ratified a new contract.^[11] Within a few days, the bus system was running at full capability.

Bus service

Routes

OCTA operates 65 bus lines, encompassing every city in Orange County. Some of the lines serve the Los Angeles County border communities of Lakewood, La Mirada, Cerritos, Hawaiian Gardens and Long Beach along with express service to Los Angeles, Diamond Bar, the San Bernardino County cities of Chino Hills and Chino and the Riverside County cities of Riverside and Corona.

• 1-99 are the fixed routes that cover almost every city in Orange County. Buses operate on most major arterial streets. Route 1 is a "special case" in that it is the only single-digit route, acquiring the number from the Pacific Coast Highway (California State Route 1) and internally to the transit authority (as it was when it was operated by OCTD) the route number is 95.
• 100-199 routes descended from the old RunAbout service that formerly served residential neighborhoods, or provide service to portions of 1-99 routes which have reduced demand. Three routes (129, 143, 153) are routes that were truncated from routes 29, 43, 47, 53 and 59 as a result of the March 2010 service changes.
• 200-299 routes are intra-county express routes which travel solely within Orange County and utilize the county's freeways. These routes run from park-and-rides and transit terminals to the business districts and back. These routes operate only during weekday rush hours and do not operate reverse-peak services.
• 400-499 routes are the StationLink routes, Metrolink shuttles which travel from the Metrolink stations to business districts and vice versa. These routes operate only during weekday rush hours and do not operate reverse peak services.
• 500-599 Bravo! Express. These are routes that operate on heavily used routes. They make limited stops and only stop at transfer points to other routes. Currently 543 is in use, It operates on Harbor Blvd. from the Fullerton Transportation Center to MacArthur and Harbor in Santa Ana. It is named according to what route it accompanies, by just adding a 5 to the beginning of the route indicating express. The express busses have different color schemes from regular route busses.
• 600-699 are special use routes. The OC fair express shuttle fair-goers to different locations around Orange County and vice-versa to the fairgrounds located in Costa Mesa. The Solar decathlon in irvine also used these special shuttle numbers.
• 700-799 routes are intercounty express bus services. Lines 701 and 721 go from the cities of Huntington Beach and Fullerton, respectively, to Downtown Los Angeles using the Harbor Freeway Transitway, while Lines 757 connects Downtown Santa Ana with the city of Pomona, Line 758 connects the city of Irvine to Chino and Line 794 connects the city of Costa Mesa to Riverside. All five inter-county express routes charge an additional fare in addition to the base fare. These routes operate only during weekday rush hours and route 721 is the only inter-county express route that operates reverse peak services between Fullerton and Downtown Los Angeles.

Some routes operate short turn trips which either start or end in the middle of the route.

All OCTA buses are equipped with bike racks and can carry a maximum of two bicycles at any given time. Bikes are only permitted on board buses if both racks on any particular bus are taken and that same bus happens to be the last trip of the day.

South Coast Plaza is the most served attraction on the OCTA routes, served by 12 routes (55, 57, 76, 86, 150, 211, 216, 464, 794). The longest is route 1, (Long Beach–San Clemente) which utilizes Pacific Coast Highway for the vast majority of its route of over 40 miles. Trips take an average of 2 to 2.5 hours.

Routes 43, 50, 57, and 60 were four routes that formerly operated 24 hours a day. "Night Owl" service, from 1 a.m to 4 a.m., was dropped on March 14, 2010 due to budget cutbacks. OCTA also eliminated routes 62, 74, 75, 131, 147, and 164 and reduced frequency of trips in March 2010 to save money.^[12]

Roster

Current

OCTA's cutaways are excluded from this list.

Make/ Model	Year	Numbers (Quantity Ordered)	Engine/ Transmission	Fuel Propulsion	Assigned Divisions	Notes
NFI D40LF	1997-98	5301-5397, 5401-5418 (115 buses)	Cummins ISC-280 Allison B400R6	Diesel		Repowered from Detroit Diesel Series 50. Most units retired in 2009. Some units in storage. Serveal units in service also retrofitted with particulate trap To be replaced by 2015-2018 New Flyer XN40s.
NABI 40-LFW	2000	2101–2161 (61 buses)	Cummins ISL G Allison B400R6	LNG		Repowered from Detroit Diesel Series 50G engines. 2102 had John Deere 6081 engines. To be replaced by 2015-2018 XN40s. 2133 off roster.
NFI D60LF	2000	7301-7320 (20 buses)	Cummins ISL-330 Allison B500R6	Diesel		Repowered from Detroit Diesel Series 50 engines. All 7300 Series have been RETIRED as of 2014.
NABI 40-LFW	2001	2201–2299, 2301–2372 (171 buses)	Cummins ISL G Allison B400R6	LNG		Repowered from Detroit Diesel Series 50G engines. 2259 had Cummins C Gas Plus engines. 2206, 2275, and 2292 off roster.
NFI D60LF	2001	7401-7420 (20 buses)	Cummins ISL-330 Allison B400R6	Diesel		7405 retired. 3 units in contingency fleet.
NFI C40LFR	2007-2009	5501-5599, 5601-5678 (177 buses)	5501-5599, 5601-5674: Cummins C Gas Plus 5675-5678: Cummins ISL G Allison B400R6	CNG		5501 is a 2006 unit. 5501-5599, and 5601-5674 are currently being repowered by Cummins Westport ISL G.
NFI C40LFR	2007–2008	7501-7592 (92 buses)	7501-7528: Cummins C Gas Plus 7529-7592: Cummins ISL G Allison B400R6	CNG
NFI C40LFR	2008	5121-5150 (40 buses)	Cummins ISL G Allison B400R6	CNG		Suburban config
NFI XN60	2013	7601-7620 (20 buses)	Cummins ISL G Allison B500R6	CNG		First Articulated bus order since 2001. First CNG Articulated bus that OCTA ordered.
NFI XN40	2015-2018	5701-5902 (202 buses)	Cummins ISL G Allison B400R6	CNG		Pilot Bus 5701 bus has entered service and also received changes Base order is 202 units over three years with options for up to 10 units. 1st batch of buses will be delivered summer of 2016 To replace the 2000 and 2001 NABI 40LFW LNG

Fares

Since 4-09-2017 (no fare to kids below 6 with fare-paying rider; limit 3):^[13]

Fare Type	Regular/Intracounty Express	Senior/Disabled/Medicare
One Way	$2	$0.75
Day Pass	$5	$1.50

Prepaid Fares

Discounted prepaid passes are available at local grocery stores and retailers. Since 4-09-2017:^[14]

Fare Type	Regular	Senior/Disabled/Medicare	Express (Routes 701, 721 & 794)	OC Express (Routes 206, 211, 213 & 216)
Day Pass	$5 ($4.50 prepaid.)	$1.50 ($1.35 prepaid.)	$12 ($10 Senior/Disabled.)	$8 ($7 Senior/Disabled.)
30 Day Pass	$69 (Youth $40)	$22.25	$187.50	$125

Light rail

CenterLine light rail

The CenterLine was a proposed 9.3-mile light rail system serving Irvine, Costa Mesa and Santa Ana. It was originally planned in the 1990s and was intended to open in 2009. Costing $1 billion, it was originally envisioned as a 30-mile route that would run from Fullerton to Irvine, through Anaheim, Orange, Santa Ana and Costa Mesa. The route would have served destinations including John Wayne Airport, South Coast Metro, South Coast Plaza, Santa Ana College and downtown Santa Ana.^[15]

While OCTA secured funding through Measure M, lack of support from Orange County's congressional representatives resulted in no federal funds obtained for the proposed transit line. In February 2005, the CenterLine was suspended indefinitely, and in May 2005, the plan was officially scrapped in favor of expanding express bus service throughout Orange County and improving existing Metrolink commuter rail service.^[16]

OC Streetcar

OC Streetcar
West Santa Ana Branch of Pacific Electric Harbor & Westminster Willowick optional Fairview   Maintenance and Storage Facility   Raitt Bristol Flower Ross Downtown French Lacy Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center Pacific Surfliner and Metrolink

As of 2016, OCTA is collaborating with the cities of Santa Ana and Garden Grove to build the OC Streetcar, a 4.15-mile (6.68 km), 12-station light rail line along Santa Ana Boulevard and 4th Street in the two cities, using portions of the West Santa Ana Branch of the old Pacific Electric right-of-way. The western terminus of the proposed route would follow the Pacific Electric right-of-way near the intersection of Harbor Boulevard and Westminster Avenue in Garden Grove, then along street running track on Santa Ana Boulevard into Downtown Santa Ana, where it would reach the Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center at its eastern terminus.^[17] In February 2016, $125 million towards the project was included in the proposed United States federal budget for the 2016-17 fiscal year.^[18] OCTA plans to begin construction in 2017 and open the project in 2020.^[19][20][16]

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 fall with the city where the street operates in, or with 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.

Recent projects

West County Connectors: In June 2010, OCTA broke ground on the West County Connectors project. The $328 million project is Orange County's largest stimulus project and one of the biggest construction jobs in nearly a decade. It will add a 6-mile carpool lane and directly connect the carpool lanes on the San Diego Freeway (I-405) with the San Gabriel Freeway (I-605) and the Garden Grove Freeway (State Route 22). The project also improved and rebuilt three freeway overpasses at Valley View Street, Seal Beach Boulevard and the 7th Street Bridge into Long Beach.

Riverside Freeway (SR-91): This project added a new eastbound lane between the SR-241 in Orange County to the SR-71 in Riverside County, widening bridges and building new retaining and sound walls to reduce traffic noise.

This was the first project in a series of improvements planned for the SR-91. The second project added a new lane in each direction from the SR-55 to SR-241. The third project will add a new westbound lane from SR-57 to Interstate 5. The project is expected to be completed in 2015.

Orange Freeway (SR-57): Work got started in the summer 2011 on the SR-57 to add a new northbound lane from Orangethorpe Avenue to Lambert. The project was completed in early 2014. Another project, which will added a new northbound lane from Katella Avenue to Lincoln Avenue, got underway in early 2012 and will by completed by late 2014.

I-5 Gateway Project: Construction began in spring 2006 on the I-5 Gateway project. The four-year project is widening the remaining two miles of the I-5 in Orange County from the SR-91 to the Los Angeles County line. The I-5 Gateway project is the final link in the original Measure M's freeway improvement program. The project was completed in 2010.

In addition to freeway improvements, OCTA is in the midst of the most comprehensive rail safety program in the nation that includes a public awareness program regarding safety near the tracks and implementing safety enhancements at more than 50 railroad crossings throughout the county.

The safety enhancements scheduled for completion in 2011 include:

• Upgrades to warning devices in place to advise drivers of train tracks ahead
• Additional gate arms to prevent drivers and pedestrians from crossing the tracks when the gates are lowered and a train is passing
• Extended and raised medians to deter drivers from passing around lowered gates
• Coordinated local traffic signals to prevent vehicles from stalling on the tracks

Work also is under way to expand Metrolink service in Orange County from the Fullerton to a Laguna Niguel/Mission Viejo station.

91 Express Lanes

OCTA owns and operates the 91 Express Lanes, after purchasing them in 2003 from the California Private Transportation Corporation. The express lanes are a four-lane, 10-mile toll road in the median of the Riverside Freeway (SR-91) between the Orange/Riverside County line and the Costa Mesa Freeway (SR-55).

OCTA purchased the 91 Express Lanes without taxpayer money and removed a "non-compete" clause that prevented safety and traffic flow improvements along the stretch of tollway.

In July 2003, OCTA adopted a toll policy for the 91 Express Lanes based on the concept of congestion management pricing, which is designed to optimize traffic flow at free-flow speeds. The policy calls for dropping and raising tolls based on traffic demand. Traffic volumes are monitored daily and adjusted quarterly.

The other tollways in Orange County are governed by the Transportation Corridor Agencies.

Gallery

• 
  Route 60 Bus Stop at Newport & First in Tustin
• 
  Route 60 Bus Stop at Fairview & 17th in Santa Ana
• 
  Route 1 Bus Stop near Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach at night

• 
  Newport Transportation Center in Newport Beach
• 
  OCTA Bus Stop near Balboa Pier at night
• 
  Route 64 bus stop on Magnolia & Bolsa Avenue in Westminster at night

• 
  View Inside a NABI bus (2XXX series)
• 
  View Inside a New Flyer bus (56XX series)
• 
  View of a Route 83 bus

• 
  View of a Route 57 bus
• 
  View inside of a Route 57 bus
• 
  View of a Route 57 bus

See also

• List of OCTA Routes

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Orange County Transportation Authority.

• Official Orange County Transportation Authority website