OC Transit Riders Left in the Rain… Literally

Finally, we’ve arrived at a bright, sunny Orange County weekend. It’s what we needed, especially since we’re still recovering from storms of epic proportions that Southern California residents rarely experience. This past week’s storms have definitely impacted many people’s commute; whether it’s from flooding, traffic accidents, or uprooted trees and cars due to the high winds.

The news media has been pretty gracious to us, giving us way more coverage than we really deserved; yet many folks couldn’t help but stay home and tune in to “Storm Watch 2010.” As thorough as they may have been about these freak tropical storms, while flipping through the basic news channels, I noticed one huge topic that was left out; you guessed it- transit.

In the midst of all the shots of flooded streets, stranded cars, and (oddly enough) tornadoes, it was rare to see footage of how transit riders were coping with the weather. Our brothers in LA were more fortunate (or unfortunate) to get coverage of the fallen tree landing on the Gold Line, but beyond that, not much else. I find it disappointing that news channels claim to cover “your commute,” but of course that always pertains only to the car culture. I would love for a news channel to tell me which major streets or surface areas were beyond flooded (if you were commuting in Santa Ana, that’s every street corner), that way I could avoid waiting for a bus there during torrential downpours.

During my commute from Santa Ana to Anaheim on Wednesday, I was able to see first hand the miserable conditions that transit users had to deal with. Many of the photos posted are from the bus stop on Main Street and Civic Center Drive in Downtown Santa Ana. This stop is a heavily used one, since it conveniently serves the 53 and 83. The most amazing thing I witnessed all day happened here.

As the rain poured down harder and harder, the lane in front of the bus stop flooded to the middle of the road. If you live in Santa Ana, you know by now that the city is just not built to handle large amounts of water at all (ironic, since we only have a major river named after us). As cars drove past the stop, water literally showered and covered the sidewalk and bus bench. Luckily for me, the video rental store located behind the stop provided a nice little alcove to hide in, but even this was not enough with certain splashes. The shamu-sized splashes eventually drove me to wait for my bus down the street where flooding was still present, but not as bad. Waiting in this type of rain is a great way to make a 15-minute wait seem like an eternity.

I did run into more flooding in Anaheim (Don’t even ask me about the tributaries coming out of Anaheim City Hall), but Santa Ana took the cake. Thinking about my struggle to stay dry in conditions makes me wonder how elderly bus riders manage to do the same thing. The upsetting thing is that it really takes storms like these for people to realize that many bus stops in Orange County don’t even have shelters. Even though shelters don’t help much in storms with high winds, they do provide some protection for the people who just want to make the same commute as every other driver. Hopefully Orange County cities will become more aware of this ailment in the coming months, but I wouldn’t hold my breath. When it comes to the process of “complete streets” and “routine accommodation,” the County really falls flat.

In my bus rides this past week, I’ve heard many other horror stories from transit commuters. It makes sense though; terrible weather equals terrible commutes. The only factor that doesn’t equate is the missing perspective of transit users from the ten o’clock news. I guess this just serves as another stark reminder that we as transit riders constantly get left out in the rain, literally.

James Suazo is a contributing writer and full-time student at California State University, Long Beach. He is also a member of the Transit Advocates of Orange County and resides in Santa Ana.