Los Angeles Times: "OCTA might cut Night Owl bus service"
The L.A. Times just published an article focusing especially on OCTA's Night Owl service, running 24-hour service on their most heavily-used routes. From Ms. Esquivel's article:
Nearly seven years ago, transportation leaders in Orange County rolled out predawn bus service to help graveyard-shift workers who often found themselves walking or pedaling bikes across the sleeping county as they tried to get home.
Now, with the Orange County Transportation Authority facing severe budget shortfalls, the Night Owl service, which runs from midnight to 4 a.m. on four routes through the heart of the county, is facing elimination.
...
The Night Owl service was launched in 2002 shortly after Arthur Leahy was hired as the agency's chief, and patterned after late-night bus routes he started when he was head of the transportation agency in Minneapolis. Leahy now heads the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
In Orange County, the four Night Owl routes have served a largely Latino ridership, mostly factory, hotel and restaurant workers whose shifts end long after regular buses stop running. Before the service was introduced, many workers said, they often walked or biked five miles or more to get home, trudging from Newport Beach or Irvine to Santa Ana and Garden Grove.
Night Owl riders said riding the bus helped them feel safe commuting to and from work in the predawn hours. The lines run north-south from Brea to Newport Beach and La Habra to Costa Mesa, and east-west from central Orange County to Long Beach. They serve about 350 riders a day.
Comments
Why not raise the fare to $2
Why not raise the fare to $2 and cut less service ? Seems like a no-brainer...
They probably will.
OCTA staff did a study at Transit Committee a week or so ago and found that $2.00 is the best they can do. If they raise it further, OCTA's estimated rider attrition rate will be so high that it would offset any financial benefit from higher fees. I'll write a post on this later...