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Tonight's the night! Doors open 5:30pm; we'll start the meeting at 6pm. Light refreshments will be served. Attached is the agenda, and here are some more details:

Santa Ana Depot (train station), 5th floor.
To arrive by transit: OCTA 59, 62, 83, 206, 462, 463, 464, Metrolink, Amtrak

Please attend; We'd love to meet you! You'll hear the latest on the bus funding situation, the bus cuts situation, and what can be done to help save our bus service. You can let us know your concerns and questions. Refreshments will be provided at no charge. Please let us know ASAP if you can volunteer as a greeter or translator.

actually, not a whole lot to note except for Metrolink track closure dates (listed below) and the upcoming ARTIC meeting, which I'll post about in just a few minutes... read more→

Students of UC Irvine's about to get more active, thanks to David Weinreich, a masters candidate for Urban & Regional Planning. He writes:

I received a very enthusiastic response to my first email [to other Urban & Regional Planning students], looking to set up a group to advocate for students' interests in preserving our transit through OCTA's next wave of service cuts.

It is too late to do anything about the 150,000 service hours being cut on March 14, but we'll be organized to for the next round.  Many students (myself included) have no other way to get around.  As transit planners, I think it is crucial that we advocate for transit dependents--perhaps even find some solutions-- in the face of a very ugly situation.

We'll hold our first meeting this coming Monday to organize:
SE 306 Monday at 4:00pm

Here's a map of the campus. SE, I think, stands for the Social Ecology building, which is marked as "210" on this map. You can take OCTA lines 59, 79, 175, and 178 to get there. read more→

At the Transit Forum, OCTA Director Will Kempton kept saying there was this lawsuit they were fighting against the state to get our transit money back, and this would be the lifesaver to protect us from more brutal cuts in the fall. Remember?

I looked into it, and it turns out that, yes, there was a lawsuit fought by the California Transit Association (not OCTA), and they won it last fall. But it doesn't mean any more money will be coming transit's way. That's because the suit was over a fund paid for with voter-approved initiative money from the SALES TAX on gasoline & diesel. read more→

Just a round-up of some even more grim news:

Erik Holmes at the newly-launched Orange County Local News Network wrote last week that OCTA's about to lay off "60 bus drivers, 15 mechanics and 43 administrative workers" this February to coincide with the massive 150,000-hour service cut. This March, OCTA will eliminate 24-hour service, 7 routes, some weekend service, reduced frequencies, plus introduce "new routes." OCTA has already posted the final cuts happening (kudos to the poor web designer who had to HTML and PDF-ize all this), and the bizarre routes they've spawned in North County and Irvine that will actually force riders to transfer. Routes 129, 143, 153 are such examples (on the right) that have been carved out of existing routes. 

(My take is that once an OCTA route becomes a 100-series "Community Route," it becomes so infrequent (like the 90-minute-frequency route 175 in Irvine) that it becomes mighty tempting to eliminate.)

Even worse, OCTA CEO Will Kempton throughout the Transit Forum alluded to another round of cuts this coming September because it is very likely Governor Schwarznegger will get his way and steal all transit money once again. Holmes explains in "More bus cuts likely in fall":

A service cut in September would be the fourth such reduction since the beginning of 2009.

The agency cut 133,000 hours last March, 100,000 hours in September and 150,000 hours in November.

[OCTA CEO Will] Kempton said he is hopeful – but not necessarily optimistic – that state lawmakers will shoot down Schwarzenegger’s proposal and restore transit funding. Kempton is trying to delay for as long as possible the decision on whether to cut bus service further, hoping the political tides will turn against elimination of the gas tax. There has been some opposition to the idea from lawmakers, he noted.

But Moira Topp, a lobbyist who represents OCTA in Sacramento, told the OCTA board of directors Jan. 25 that Schwarzenegger’s proposal likely will prevail because of the state government’s dire financial straits.

“The sentiment … has been, ‘We’ve already made a decision [to cut] transit, and we will take the money,’” she said.

*sigh* Here's the complete list of cuts happening this March courtesy of OCTA:

 

Night Owl Elimination

All Days – Routes 43, 50, 57, and 60. No service from 1:00 a.m. to 4:00 a.m.  .

Route Elimination & Options

Weekdays – Routes 62, 74, 75, 131, 147, 164, and 693.
Saturdays – Routes 24, 76, 86, 172, 193, and 693.
Sundays – Routes 24, 51, 76, 82, 85, 172, 193, and 693.

Frequency Reductions & Options

Weekdays – Routes 24, 25, 30, 35, 37, 50, 55, 64, 66, 71, 72, 76, 82, and 145. 
Saturdays/Sundays – Routes 29, 50, 55, 66, and 89.

Route Restructuring & Options

All Days – Routes 29, 43, 47, 53, 59, and 70. New routes: 90, 129, 143 and 153 will be added.

Trip Reduction & Options

Weekdays – Route 21, eliminate midday service from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m..

ACCESS Service & Options

Learn how will ACCESS service be impacted and your available options.

Route Changes by City

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