What are OCTA's priorities? Feeding the freeways at the expense of transit users

I apologize for the lack of timely posts and all the fluff food pieces along OCTA; as you can see, the website's been running on auto-pilot and posting pre-written blog posts while I've been living in a hospital.

Los Angeles's many transit riders talk optimistically about expanding its subway to UCLA, light rail to USC and Santa Monica, and light rail to Ontario Airport. Meanwhile, Orange County continues to turn to freeways to support automobile users while ignoring the needs of non-drivers, seniors, the disabled, and other public transit users.

Two weeks ago, the OCTA spent $155,000 on a (rather gaudy) freeway sign welcoming automobile drivers to Orange County. Ted Nguyen and OCTA seem to be happily promoting their rather gaudy monument, while ironically calling for bus users to "share the pain" of deep bus service cuts. It's pretty much a kick in the groin for bus riders who have to tolerate waiting longer in the sun, say, at Jamboree/University/Eastbluff in Newport Beach, because there are no bus shelters. This money could have been used, say, to purchase 15 bus shelters.

Serena Maria Daniels, from the Orange County Register, writes,

This morning, the Orange County Transportation Authority unveiled a $155,000 sign announcing entry to the county along the southbound 5 freeway in Buena Park.

The 19-foot tall by 20-foot wide sign – with stone veneer columns and aluminum County of Orange seals – was unveiled from under an orange-colored cover amid cheers from dozens of local and state officials and fanfare performed by costumed Medieval Times trumpeters. ...

The debut of the landmark sign marks a turning point in progress on the OCTA’s 5 freeway widening project, a $325-million endeavor in which two miles of the interstate – between the 91 freeway and the county line – are being widened.

The sign was paid for with funds from the 5 freeway widening project’s budget. The project is paid for, in part, with Measure M sales tax revenue.

And, this past month, OCTA introduced us to its incoming CEO, Will Kempton. Mr. Kempton is a 30-year transportation veteran who, since 2005, has headed Caltrans, the massive state government bureau that "handles everything from building freeways and fixing potholes to overseeing public transit systems and removing snow from mountain roads." That seems like a perfect fit with Orange County, a place overrun with freeways and 60-mile-per-hour "local" roads.

It's hard to gauge how much good Will Kempton will do to public transit. For starters, Caltrans hasn't done a whole lot for public transit. Public transit is seen as largely a city and county issue; but the one service under Caltrans's control — Amtrak California train service — has hardly improved. But, Kempton rides Sacramento RT light rail to work. That's got to count for something, right?

Finally, someone at the Transit Advocates came across this two-year-old editorial, from OCTA Vice Chairman Jerry Amante — and mayor of Tustin. Amante's piece proudly proclaims that "adding roadway capacity provides real traffic relief versus mass-transit schemes," clearly stating his belief that continuously expanding Orange County's freeways is good for its citizens. It's nice to know that politicians such as these are implicitly helping speed the dismantling of OCTA's transit system:

The Orange County Transportation Authority is completing the final couple miles of widening the Santa Ana (Interstate 5) Freeway, all the way up to the L.A. County line, and a widening of the San Diego (I-405) Freeway is next on the agenda. This has some L.A. leaders in an uproar because, while they continue their decades-long practice of flushing millions in transportation tax dollars down the drain on public transit, their constituents are increasingly noticing the difference between the intermittent traffic on Orange County freeways and the gridlock they experience on L.A. freeways.

There is a philosophical difference between OCTA's reputation as a road-builder – at least since the proposed CenterLine light-right system was laid to rest several years ago – and Los Angeles' Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which focuses its resources on subways and rail. What it boils down to is that, in Orange County we're proud to build lanes, not trains.

Never mind that Amante cites libertarian-leaning research from the Reason Foundation, and the fact that he also misses one point: it's much, much nicer to travel Los Angeles by transit, whereas Orange County's options are severely limited by infrequent, crowded standing-room only buses, local roads dangerous for pedestrians and bicyclists, and infrequent trains.

On Monday, I'll introduce a guest post about OCTA's actions and comments regarding bus service.