OCTA Board finalizes bus cuts: decreased frequency, more transfers, and no 24-hour service
Submitted by Steven on 23 November, 2009 - 8:09pm
Today, the OCTA Board finalized plans to slash up to 300,000 hours of bus service from the bus system, 150,000 of which will be cut in March 2010.
The OC Register covered the story:
Bus riders and advocates – including students, low-wage employees and the disabled filled the meeting room to voice their concerns of the reduction. Cal State Fullerton students applauded the board for restoring the Fullerton to Orange route. If eliminated, they said, it would have affected many of their peers going to class.
Under the approved plan, late night-early morning service on four routes stops at 1 a.m. and resumes at about 4 a.m. Eliminated routes include service from Seal Beach to Westminster and Brea to Santa Ana on weekdays. Service from Huntington Beach to Costa Mesa will be eliminated on weekends. Midday service from Fullerton to Huntington Beach will be eliminated on weekdays. The plan eliminates about 8 percent of the county's bus service by early next year. Eight routes will be restructured and the frequency of service would be reduced on 11 routes on the weekdays.
Folks in Los Angeles County (particularly the excellent L.A. Streetsblog) are looking at OCTA's actions with some bemusement. They fault the state legislature for underfunding public transportation systems, but state that Los Angeles County could be next to face cuts:
While transit advocates ... have focused their advocacy efforts at the Board of Directors; the fiscal mess at the state level and the Governor's illegal desire to raid transit funds to alleviate said mess made today's vote a decision on where to make cuts not if to make cuts. That's not to say the OCTA, a group that has never met a road-widening project that it didn't love is blameless; it's just that decisions made to basically liquidate the voter-approved state operating assistance fund have left transit agencies in the lurch statewide. Locally [in Los Angeles County], Measure R may forestall local cuts, but that's not to say that they won't be coming sooner, rather than later.
Despite the bad news, I say kudos to OCTA staff (not to be confused with the OCTA board) for listening to the public's ideas: preserving most of the bus network's geography, preserving routes to CSU Fullerton, and keeping at least some service through 1 am. The buses will be crowded, but as long as riders stand to the back of the bus, it's better than no bus service.
Did you go to today's meeting? What do you think?
Comments
service on four routes stops at 1 a.m. and resumes at about 4 a
This is a lot better than I thought it would be. But they're only cutting out two buses. Are they really saving enough money to justify doing this?
Bye #24
I'll miss the #24- direct run from the RTA 149 stop at the Village at Orange to Fry's Electronics. The other route to get there is via #71 and #38, usually with a pointlessly long transfer in between at Anaheim Canyon Metrolink. Guess I'll start bringing my bike along.
Bus service cuts and lawsuits
The problem with lawsuits is cost. Perhaps there are lawyers that would be interested in bringing OCTA to accountability for their actions present and past. Remember the pointless point to point fiasco? Why does route 38 terminate eastbound at La Palma and Kellogg just short of a commercial sales area at Imperial. Why does 57 terminate short of CSUF. The list of inane and asinine actions can be quite long. Grand Jury investigation, yes we should push for that! Lawsuits to stop all cuts and to freeze the system as is may be needed. Perhaps getting in contact with radio stations, TV stations & newspapers to see if they would do investigative reports on what appears to be a deliberate policy of sabotaging the effectiveness of the public transit system in OC could eventually have a positive effect. Remember when these things are done careers could be wrecked and enemies made.
Dedicated to the OCTA Board:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Kkxbw3s2pM
Best Wishes,
Tony
A single thought let to the creation of the universe!
Nur kun has solved one of the most important delima of how we came to this world with his new, which states God did not create this world but was created by us with a single idea in eternity! Which means a whole lot more if you understand what he is trying to communicate after you read his free digital report!
Furthermore, another very intriguing chapter talks about all the unique reasons for a single symoblic word resembling every single humanity 10 fingers for millenias! What this means is we all share a connection with a word that is shared by all humanity. For example, what if your own name spelled out on every single human being (your mom, dad, siblings, etc.), wouldn't that make a difference in so many ways? So, would you not rather know what the symbolic word represents, and what it stands for or would you rather just ignore it?
Therefore, IMHO, I will say his digital report, "Rediscoveries of the centuries" ( get it freely at author's main site nurkun.com/ebook.html) will change the world for in many ways for the better for its unique perspective! If you don't agree, then, please illustrate why that could be!
Additionally, can someone give me their opinion on what do you think the purpose of what he is trying to convey with his theories and what do you think his mission is?
Post new comment