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Transit Advocates: Spread the word about Sunday's bus cuts

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Transit Advocates: Call your legislators today to save transit; Thanks for the meet & greet!

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Take Action! Bus
                        Cuts Info
Make a phone call to save transit.

Call local legislators today and Friday to save transit service.

It’s especially important to call your State Senators today or tomorrow to ask them to vote for transit funding in the budget. Since almost no one knows about this new effort, your calls will have a huge effect! The Senate is scheduled to vote on this on Monday. Download a list of your representatives to contact.

Ask them to support the alternate tax swap transportation funding proposal that doesn’t eliminate public transit funding. Ask them to support a budget package that includes all of the following elements:

 

●   The infusion of $400 million in one-time funding for the State Transit Assistance (STA) program.

 

●  An annual allocation of a minimum of $350 million with a 75%/25% split in favor of STA.

 

●  Protect the above from being reduced through line-item veto.

 

●  Extremely important to include contingency language to restore the current funding structure if all or part of the tax swap is declared invalid or otherwise unenforceable. Since there is a real risk of legal challenge to the tax swap, we urge the Legislature to include contingency language now to insure against such a scenario.

Be sure to mention that OCTA is cutting service 30% even on the busiest, most crowded routes, and that people won’t be able to get to work, school, or medical appts.

If you have the time, you can also call your State Assemblymembers, because they will have to vote on this issue again when it comes out of the Senate.

Download a list of your representatives to contact.

If you’re not sure who your legislators are, enter your zip code at:

 

Lastly, you could also call:
Senate President Pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg           (916) 651-1529
Speaker of the Assembly Karen Bass                            (323) 937-4747          
Speaker-elect of the Assembly John A. Pèrez               (213) 620-4646

 

Please drop us a quick e-mail to let us know who you called. Thanks!

Thanks for coming to our Meet & Greet.  

It was great to meet all of you in a more informal situation than an OCTA Board meeting. For those of you who couldn’t attend, you can still write us with questions. Also, let us know if you would like to attend a future meeting.
 

New: March 14 2010 Bus Books and Bus Service Change brochures are now both online!

Many routes are being severely reduced or eliminated.
It’s best to have both documents since the new concepts are explained in detail in the brochure, but the actual timetables are only in the Bus Book, etc.

The new Bus Service Change brochures are available online at www.octa.net/marchchange and are already on the buses. Bus Books are now available online and will be on the buses March 5. Please preserve your copies or use the online versions as OCTA is printing only limited amounts.

Important: Additional routes with smaller schedule changes, not mentioned in Bus Service Change brochure, but in Bus Book: 33, 55, 60, 79, 86, 167, 211, 411.

  read more→

Transit Advocates of Orange County - www.transitadvocatesoc.org - (714)607-0012

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Transit Advocates: Tonight! Meet & Greet, 6pm @ Depot At Santa Ana

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.

read more→

ARTIC: Anaheim's proposed station's public scoping meeting this Wed, Feb 24

ARTICHeader

Notice of Public Scoping Meeting Feb. 24, 2010 

Where:
Anaheim West Tower Gordon Hoyt Conf. Ctr., 2nd Fl.
201 South Anaheim Boulevard
Anaheim, CA 92805
 
Driving Directions

When:
February 24, 2010 at 4:30 p.m.
Visit anytime between 4:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.
 
Parking:
Parking for the meeting will be at:
City of Anaheim Parking Structure
200 South Anaheim Boulevard
Anaheim, CA 92805
Notice of Public Scoping Meeting
For the Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center (ARTIC) Draft Environmental Impact Report
 
The City of Anaheim is responsible for preparing the Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) for construction/ operation of the proposed ARTIC Project. ARTIC will be an intermodal transportation facility that will replace the existing Metrolink/Amtrak station currently located south of Katella Avenue and west of the Orange Freeway (SR-57). The proposed ARTIC site is located on a 16-acre site south of Katella Avenue, east of SR-57 and Douglass Road, and west of the Santa Ana River.  
 
AnaheimlogoARTIC will be an iconic transportation
facility where people will seamlessly move between transit services to reach Southern California activity centers and business districts. The station will accommodate passenger arrivals, departures and transfers with supporting retail, restaurants and passenger services within the building.
 
Your Input Counts
Interested individuals, organizations, and agencies are invited to participate to learn more about the project and provide comments on what issues you would like to see addressed in the environmental document.
 
Can't Attend?
Comments may be submitted by March 8, 2010
Contact: Ruth Ruiz, Public Information Specialist,
City of Anaheim
Office: (714) 765-5060 Email: rruiz@anaheim.net
200 South Anaheim Boulevard, Anaheim, CA 92805
Register Now!
Additional information may be found at:www.articinfo.com

   OCTAlogo               FRA logo           anaheimlogo


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OCTA Weekly Update: Meetings meetings meetings, Metrolink track closures, and reduced Metrolink service

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→

New student transit advocacy group! Meets Mon, Feb 22, 4pm @ UCI Social Ecology 306

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→

State to Eliminate Transit Fund

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→

Transit Advocates: Come to our free Meet & Greet! Wed Feb 24, 6pm

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Take Action! Bus
                        Cuts Info
We'd like to meet you.

 

You're invited to our free Meet & Greet: Wed Feb. 24, 6pm (doors open at 5:30).

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.

Check out more event info on the Transit Advocates' Facebook page.

OCTA Service Reduction –
Be sure to check your routes!

Many routes are being severely reduced or eliminated.
March 14, 2010.

The new Bus Service Change brochures are now available online at www.octa.net/marchchange and on the buses. Schedules will be available in the online Bus Book in late February, and on buses early March. Please preserve your copies or use the online versions as OCTA is printing only limited amounts. read more→

Transit Advocates of Orange County - www.transitadvocatesoc.org - (714)607-0012

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Transit Advocates: Tell your senators that public transit saves jobs!

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Take Action! Bus Cuts in 49 days
We need your help.

 

Tell Your Senators that Public Transit Saves Jobs.

The draft being circulated of the Senate's $85 billion jobs bill doesn't have a single dollar to address the crisis in transit funding, which threatens severe cuts to essential service and the loss of thousands of jobs.

We're joining our partners at Transportation for America, asking everyone to write your senators TODAY!

And it's not just transit that's been left out of the Senate jobs bill - there's no funding for innovative projects that can move us away from foreign oil, not a dime for high-speed rail or Amtrak, no reform of highway funding...the list goes on.

 

But a recent analysis of the previous economic stimulus package shows us that investments in public transportation have produced twice the jobs of highway projects.

If we are serious about creating and saving jobs, our senators need to insist on investing more in public transportation. Transit operating assistance - the emergency dollars that make sure America's bus drivers, rail operators, and station agents can get paid - keep all Americans moving.

When they don't get funded, bus routes are eliminated, weekend and evening service is reduced on trains and subways...millions of people are stranded at the station. And in difficult times, the economy suffers even more.

Don't let your senators squander this opportunity to make it right - demand that they fund transit operating assistance and other key transportation proposals!

 

  • To call Senator Dianne Feinstein: (619) 231-9712
  • To call Senator Barbara Boxer: (213) 894-5000
Please urge your friends and family to get involved.

 

Save the Dates

Transit Advocates Meet and Greet + Bus Cuts Update
Wednesday, February 24, 6 pm - 8 pm
Santa Ana Depot (train station)
We will have our first 2010 public meeting with bus service change updates and refreshments. Please attend; We'd like to meet you!

OCTA Service Change - Be sure to check your routes!
Many routes are being severely reduced or eliminated.
March 14, 2010

The new Bus Service Change brochures are now available online and on the buses. Schedules will be available in the online Bus Book in late February, and on buses early March. Please preserve your copies or use the online versions as OCTA is printing only limited amounts. The link to the online brochure is broken but you can access the information this way: read more→

Visit www.octa.net. Click on "Bus", "Service Changes", "March 2010 Service Reductions".
Transit Advocates of Orange County - www.transitadvocatesoc.org - (714)607-0012

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OCTA to axe 130 jobs, cut bus service in March, likely cut more service in September

 

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

  read more→

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