amante
OCTA Weekly Update: continuing federal-level advocacy, Disneyland's new parking lot, and a recap of bus cuts coverage
OCTA released its weekly update a few nights ago, and here's my take:
- OCTA CEO Will Kempton and two of the Board of Directors recently flew to Washington, D.C., to continue their advocacy work on the federal level for public transit. They've asked for flexibility in funding so that public transit in Orange County can continue to operate (operating funds) instead of having funds locked in for just construction (capital funds).
- Disneyland hired some of OCTA's laid-off drivers and is renting some of OCTA's unused buses in order to serve a new Disneyland parking lot. OCTA is spinning this as a service to the "community," but I partly disagree: these buses don't serve Anaheim's community nor do they serve the rest of us living in Orange County, and only further encourages auto-centric behavior.
- There's a fairly long list of neutral-to-negative articles towards the end regarding the most recent cuts that OCTA took.
Southern California Transit Forum: transit screwed, plus videos, photos, & Twitter transcript
Submitted by Steven on 6 February, 2010 - 11:51pm
(Above photos by Simon Oh.)
Yesterday was a whirlwind of activity at the Southern California Transit Forum, a huge conference with over 350 attendees, including politicians, transit managers, coach operators, union representatives, lobbyists, and transit advocates. I'm still trying to digest it, but if I could describe my impressions in a few words:
- Transit staff get it. They know what needs to be done to address the massive bus cuts. The CEOs of Metro and OCTA know what's politically practical and feasible.
- Politicians don't get it — and if they do get the transit funding crisis, it's not a hot topic on their radar. They continually made references to how great foreigners think Orange County's freeways are, made up lots of inside jokes, and talked about shiny projects like California High Speed Rail while photos of happy, smiling patrons on the bus and train flashed in the background.
- There are few practical solutions left. OCTA and Metro are preparing rounds of massive cuts. Most politicians and staff are resigned to let the cuts happen because California state cuts are likely to happen. Instead, they're looking to do a statewide initiative to protect local funds, and more county-wide initiatives.
Photos, video, and more after the break. (Edit 1: Added CAHSR video below.) (Edit 2: Added OCTA's recap video below.) (Edit 3: Added Simon's photo above.) read more→
OCTA Weekly Update: High Speed Rail investment, Amante & Kempton's 2010 goals, & new Metrolink cars
Submitted by Steven on 28 January, 2010 - 6:12pm
A ton of news packed in OCTA's weekly e-mail newsletter. I've pasted it here below, and you can also view the original post here. In a nutshell:
- OCTA cheers for the new $2.34 bil investment in California High Speed Rail (the bullet train to link Anaheim, Los Angeles, and San Francisco). Improvements to existing track should bring Metrolink and Amtrak up to a max speed of 110 mph.
- Amante & Kempton talk goals. OCTA Chairman Jerry Amante wants to stabilize bus operations, but most of his details talk about further reducing bus service to an "efficient" level. CEO Will Kempton wants to further integrate Amtrak Pacific Surfliner, Coaster, and Metrolink Orange County Line / Ventura County Line services.
- Santa Ana is hosting two Go Local meetings next week about its planned freeway offramp through Garden Grove & the streetcar linking Garden Grove and Santa Ana's depot.
- OC Register takes a pessimistic view of the Irvine Shuttle, claiming that Irvine spends $19 per rider on a shuttle service that serves the Irvine Business Complex.
Anti-transit freeway/tollway-building politician now in charge of OCTA: welcome, Tustin Mayor Jerry Amante
Two Mondays ago at the OCTA Board Meeting, Jerry Amante — mayor of Tustin — was unanimously elected as chair of the OCTA Board. Amante served on OCTA's Board of Directors since 2006.
The irony is that Amante is now in charge of making decisions for OCTA's bus system. Why is this bad news?
- Amante has been unabashedly vocal about his preference for road-building over bus and rail.
- Amante wrote an opinion piece bashing Los Angeles's Metro Rail system and squawks about how awesome Orange County's freeways are.
- Amante's platform says nothing about the crowded, unreliable bus system that he currently runs. Instead, he wants to see money funneled into streets and roads.
- Amante has great enthusiasm for freeway and tollway committees. He's part of:
- OCTA's Central County MIS committee, which is proposing to extend the 57 as a freeway UNDER THE SANTA ANA RIVER. OMG.
- OCTA's State Route 91 Advisory Committee, which is using OCTA funds to add lanes to a freeway that's largely clogged with Riverside County commuters.
- OCTA's Highways Committee.
- the board of directors in charge of the 241, 261, and 133 toll roads in Orange County (the Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency). He blew his top when he found out that activists successfully blocked the extension of a tollway through San Onofre State Park, claiming that anti-road activists will "mire our residents in a poor quality of life" and threatening national security. Uh-huh. At least he didn't invoke Godwin's Law.
- Amante has hardly lifted a finger to help with the current transit crisis. He's voiced his desire to effectively double the cuts to OCTA's bus system this March 2010 — from this March's 150,000 hours to the full 300,000 hours of cuts. "...Better, he said, to make drastic cuts now and restore later. It's the old pull-the-bandaid-off-quickly theory."
OCTA Weekly Update: Amante new OCTA Board Chairman; Transit Forum on budget crisis; Metrolink service expansion; High Speed Rail meeting in Anaheim
Submitted by Steven on 17 January, 2010 - 8:14pm
Re-posting the first three parts of OCTA's weekly update here with some interesting tidbits!
Amante Selected As New OCTA Board Chairman 
Chairman Jerry Amante
OCTA Vice Chairman Jerry Amante was unanimously selected as the new chairman of the OCTA Board of Directors on Monday, Jan. 11, 2010. Amante replaces outgoing Chairman Peter Buffa, who continues to serve on the board as one of two public members. Stepping into Amante’s role as vice chairman is Orange County Supervisor Pat Bates, who represents the Fifth Supervisorial District. “I’m honored that my colleagues have selected me to lead this agency and I look forward to a challenging and successful year in keeping our residents moving,” Amante said. “Achieving our goals will require overcoming unprecedented economic obstacles as we seek innovative ways to ensuring Orange County remains an ideal place to live, work and visit.” Amante joined the OCTA board in December 2006 and has contributed significantly as a member of several key OCTA committees: Finance and Administration Committee, Highways Committee, Transportation 2020 Committee, Executive Committee and State Route 91 Advisory Committee. 
Vice Chair Pat Bates
Amante, an attorney and licensed real estate broker, and his wife Nancy have lived in Tustin for 22 years. They have two adult children. Amante also serves as the mayor of Tustin and is the president of the Orange County League of Cities. Replacing Amante as vice chair is Pat Bates, who joined the board in 2007. In addition to serving on the OCTA Board of Directors and the Board of Supervisors, Bates sits on the board of the both the Foothill/Eastern and San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor Agencies. Also at Monday’s meeting, Huntington Beach Councilman Don Hansen was seated on the OCTA board, replacing outgoing member Cathy Green, mayor of Huntington Beach. Transit Forum Tackles State Budget Crisis Leaders from government, business, labor unions and transit advocates will join together in a daylong summit as they seek solutions to an unprecedented statewide financial crisis facing public transportation. Open to the public, the Southern California Transit Forum is scheduled from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 5 in the Paul and Daranne Folino Theater at Chapman University in Orange. The Southern California Transit Forum will be held Feb. 5 at Chapman University to discuss the current transportation funding crisis. For more transportation updates, visit OCTA’s YouTube channel.
With millions of transit riders throughout the state already suffering from higher fares and reduced service, the recently released Governor's budget proposal for next year would take an additional $1 billion from public transportation. “Public transit in our state is on life support because of Sacramento’s continuous raids on our coffers, and it’s hard to imagine the damage that would be inflicted on the struggling economy and the people of California by further cuts,” said OCTA Chairman and Mayor of Tustin Jerry Amante. “If you are concerned as I am about the future of transportation, please lend your voice to the Southern California Transit Forum.” Topics that will be covered include legislative and legal options for preserving transit funding, proposed ballot initiatives, federal funding opportunities, economic impacts and stakeholder perspectives and information on the California high-speed rail. The free event is hosted by the office of Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez, OCTA, Teamsters Local 952, Chapman University’s Center for Global Trade and Development, Orange County Business Council, Mobility 21 and League of California Cities. For more information, click here. To register for the event, contact Peggy Wandelear at (714) 560-5939 or pwandelear@octa.net by Feb. 1. CEO Attends CTA Executive Committee Retreat in San Diego CEO Will Kempton attended an Executive Committee retreat for the California Transit Association in San Diego on Tuesday. The retreat’s agenda focused on the association’s 2010 work plan and legislative program, including a proposed initiative for the November 2010 that would protect transportation funding. The committee also discussed the status of negotiations with the administration legislative leadership in Sacramento regarding a litigation settlement and possibilities for the restoration of transit funding.
These two photos display a before and after shot of crossovers and switches, just north of the Laguna Niguel/Mission Viejo train station, allowing flexibility for trains to move on or off the main line when Metrolink service expansion is implemented. A crossover allows a train to move from one track to another. A switch is the mechanism that moves the track to direct a train onto a different path.
Metrolink Service Expansion Program Despite the recently announced service reductions, Metrolink and OCTA are continuing to push forward on the service expansion program later this year. The increased service will operate between the Fullerton and Laguna Niguel/Mission Viejo train stations. To increase trips along this rail corridor and provide the high quality, reliable service commuters expect from Orange County, a number of track and signal improvements are underway. Construction started at the Laguna Niguel/Mission Viejo and Fullerton stations in fall 2009 and has included expanding passenger platforms and building additional train turnback facilities to allow the trains to turn around more efficiently. Metrolink Service Impacted Due to Construction OCTA and Metrolink have begun work on a new countywide effort to expand rail service and to enhance rail safety in Orange County. Riders should be advised that there will be adjustments to Metrolink service on Sunday, Jan. 24, due to track construction for the expansion of train service in Orange County. The work will prohibit trains from operating south of the Irvine Metrolink Station. All Inland Empire-Orange County Line Sunday service (trains 857, 858, 859 and 860) will be canceled that day. Inland Empire-Orange County Line: Orange County Line: 
Staff Outreach to Inform Public about March Service Change 
A member of OCTA’s marketing team approaches college students to share information about the upcoming bus service reductions beginning in March.
OCTA’s marketing outreach team members will be attending college and university campuses around the county to communicate the upcoming changes to OCTA’s fixed-route bus service in March. OCTA will host an information booth as well as canvas bus stops that serve each campus and provide students with details about how bus routes will be changing and the alternatives that are available.
Contact Judy Leon at (714) 560-5358 or jleon@octa.net. CEO Visits Brea, Fullerton and Laguna Woods CEO Will Kempton will continue to introduce himself to city councils throughout Orange County this week. He will visit the following cities:
Contact Andrea West at (714) 560-5611 or awest@octa.net. 
High-speed trains similar to those at the St. Pancras International station in the United Kingdom will be zipping through the state once plans are approved and construction is complete for the California High-Speed Rail project. Picture courtesy of Jon Curnow.
High-Speed Rail Gains Speed Wednesday, Jan. 20 – The first in a series of community meetings for the high-speed rail project is slated for the Anaheim Council Chambers, 200 S. Anaheim Blvd., from 5 to 7 p.m. The open house-style meeting will give community members a chance to comment on the various project alternatives and have their questions and concerns addressed. A formal presentation will begin at 5:30 p.m. Contact Andrea West at (714) 560-5611 orawest@octa.net. 
Jan. 13 – The Orange County Register published an article about Irvine city leaders seeking an extension on the amount of time they have to spend state and federal funds on the Jeffrey Road construction project. Jan. 13 – The Orange County Register wrote a story about new traffic signals included in the Orange County Master Plan of Arterial Highways. 
In order to avoid a fare increase, the Metrolink board of directors reduced train service in Orange County that will most likely begin in February.
Jan. 13 – The Los Angeles Times included an article about federal railroad officials unveiling regulations for equipping the nation’s freight and passenger trains with automated braking systems required by Congress after the deadly 2008 Metrolink crash in Chatsworth. 
The OCTA Board of Directors voted in November 2009 to eliminate 150,000 bus service hours beginning in March.
Jan. 12 – The Orange County Register wrote an article about OCTA’s service reductions to date, efforts to minimize impacts to riders and the possibility of having to implement additional cuts if funding isn’t restored. Jan. 12 – The Orange County Register published a story about a community forum taking place in Anaheim to discuss the impacts of the high-speed rail project. Jan. 12 – The Orange County Register included an article about Metrolink service cuts and its impact on San Clemente. Jan. 11 – The Orange County Register and the Los Angeles Times both ran articles about the Southern California Regional Rail Authority’s decision to implement Metrolink service reductions. |
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