Bravo! rapid bus safe from cuts, to open in 2010, but lots of open questions remain

OCTA's rapid bus project, Bravo! (erroneously called "BRT") is still on track for opening in the summer of 2010.

Despite the budget cuts, the rapid bus is funded from a different pot of money. A handout from last Thursday's transit committee meeting stated:

Federal gas taxes fund the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) program; about $40 million is generated annually for OCTA. Eligible projects / services support goals to improve air quality. This includes high occupancy vehicle lanes, rideshare and vanpool programs. CMAQ funds also can be used for the first three years of new transit operations and requires Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and OCTA Board of Director approval.

CMAQ will be considered as a funding source for new Bravo! bus rapid transit service, subject to OCTA Board of Director approval. Bravo! is scheduled to begin operations in June 2010 and must be fully implemented by December 2010.

Along one of the Bravo! lines, OCTA chose to allocate transit money towards widening a local road (Bristol Street) without a dedicated transit lane. Director Nguyen (head of OCTA's transit committee) asked, "Are transit funds being used to widen Bristol Street and does the project include a dedicated lane for transit?" and OCTA staff replied in the handout:

In November 2005, the OCTA Board approved a five-year comprehensive funding strategy (CFS) that included $125 million to widen Bristol Street and a companion action to allocate $125 million to expand bus service by funding capital improvements to support bus rapid transit (BRT). Other improvements in the CFS included Metrolink expansion, grade separations, freeway improvements and street improvements.

The Bristol Street project was funded with gas tax revenues that flow to OCTA in exchange for LTF sales tax funds under the County of Orange bankruptcy recovery plan. To date, approximately $53 million has been spent on the Bristol Street widening project and $30.7 million is requested in the proposed fiscal year 2009/2010 budget. The project widens the street and does not presently include a dedicated lane for transit vehicles.

The BRT project was funded through the State Transportation Improvement Program, or STIP. As a note, in 2005, the BRT project had significant capital needs and the STIP had a transit capital focus. The Board action accommodated both the regional street improvement and the capital needs of the BRT system. Since then, STIP funds have diminished and there have been reductions in the scope of the BRT program. There have been no decreases in funding for the Bristol Street project.

Overall, it feels like yet another example of how transit riders have been robbed to pay for more roads. Although it will smooth traffic out, transit riders still have to put up with the congestion caused by private automobiles during peak hours. As you can see in the drawing of the Bristol Street widening, no buses are to be seen. There aren't even bicycle lanes.

And all the words coming out of OCTA directors and staff so far hasn't been enthusiastic about the rapid bus. It's not "Hey, let's improve transportation, like we're doing on the 91 freeway," but "We're legally required to do this under CMAQ."

Three questions remain with Bravo:

• UC Irvine is now proposed as a stop. This would be the first public transit link between the main UC Irvine campus and the gorgeous new UC Irvine Douglas Hospital in Orange. Whether the Board approves or not may depend on whether UC Irvine students raise their voice.
• Following a recent OCTA trend in cutting service, Downtown Long Beach and the Metro Blue Line stations are no longer part of the 17th-Westminster Line and are listed simply as "proposed" stops. I believe OCTA should re-include these stops as part of the new line since Downtown Long Beach, Pine Avenue, the Aquarium, and Queen Mary are  extremely popular destinations; I've always seen Orange County riders take line 60 all the way to Downtown Long Beach.
• Why wasn't Bravo included as part of Orange County Ready to Work? I've tried getting ahold of OCTA's Rapid Bus project manager and twittered their communications director Ted Nguyen but received no responses. I'm sure Inland Empire residents traveling on the 91 to get back to their houses will be happy with the $200 million widening project, but that doesn't help Orange County residents who have to put up with slow, crowded buses.