Will Kempton
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.
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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CEO Will Kempton behind the wheels of an OCTA bus. Beep beep!
Submitted by Steven on 15 September, 2009 - 8:37am
OCTA's CEO Will Kempton is at it again, promoting transit options in this YouTube video. This time, he's behind the wheel, driving a bus. Note that OCTA's bus drivers do much more than just drive: they make sure all customers are on board, they collect fare, they handle customer questions, they communicate with central dispatch (and police if they have to), and they make sure they're on schedule, all on top of driving. It's a difficult job, that's for certain. Catch the video right here: read more→
Distinguishing OCTA's Board from OCTA's Staff — pushing transit vs cutting it entirely
Submitted by Steven on 11 August, 2009 - 5:39pm
Here's the confusing thing about OCTA: it's a two-headed beast. Two heads. Its (1) staff seem to largely support bus service, while many of its (2) boardmembers want to cut transit service to its knees. Let's take one staff member in particular: the new CEO, Will Kempton.
OCTA's CEO takes Route 83 to work, and is very pro-transit...
OCTA staff recently posted a Youtube video of him chatting it up with one of their bus operators. Kempton says, "What I want to do is to make transit not just a service for the transit-dependent population, but make it a mode of choice for [others] to use on a regular basis. I mean, this is very comfortable, very easy; just get on the bus, and ride."
This comes as a surprise, as Kempton oversaw many highway and freeway projects during his tenure at Caltrans. However, to personally get to work, he would take Sacramento RT's light rail.
While I'm very happy that Kempton wants Orange County to have more liveable communities and sustainable transportation, I have a feeling his goals may not be realized. The previous CEO, Art Leahy, is adamantly pro-transit — he was a former bus driver in Los Angeles, after all. He came to OCTA to oversee the Centerline light rail project, but short-sighted voters — I hear especially in Irvine — shot the plan to pieces. The irony is that Anaheim and Santa Ana are pushing for rail expansion, and Leahy recently left OCTA to oversee Los Angeles's Metro, which is working furiously on 4 Metro Rail projects and 2 Metro Liner bus rapid transit expansions.
Kempton comments in a recent OC Register article about his desire to soften the bus cuts:
Q. You've been riding the bus to work at the OCTA. What if anything can be done about the OCTA's bus-service cuts?
A. First, let me talk about transit in Orange County, too. I understand that the Measure M program is roughly 75 percent highways and 25 percent of it going to transit. So I know that there's a significant interest on the highway side as well.
But on the transit side … I think that there's a lot that we need to do from a mobility perspective to encourage and develop alternative modes of transportation.
You're not going to be able to build highway facilities to accommodate all of the demand, and we have in this county a very significant transit-dependent population, (and) their needs have to be met. And that's important for the economy as well because a lot of the folks that are using the transit operations are the heart and soul of our service economy.
The challenge to me is to figure out ways that we can reduce that impact, soften that blow. I've had a lot of experience in my career in terms of moving dollars around. I know transportation finance pretty well. I will be turning over every stone to see if there is a way to come up with some dollars to avoid or minimize those additional cuts going forward, and that's a huge challenge, because it's not that there is a lot of money lying around.
Q. Here in Orange County there's a culture that's not particularly friendly to transit, even compared to L.A. right next door. How do you even try to change that mind set?
A. It comes down to viable options.
We're not talking about people having to get out of your car and get on a bus that's going to take you an hour and a half and three connections when you can get from point A to point B in half an hour by using your car. That isn't going to work. It's got to be market-driven, so people make a choice in terms of the cost (in both money and time).
I don't disagree with much of what you said about the culture down here and people being wedded to the automobile, but when they can actually gain some productive time using a mode that is going to allow them to do work while they're on the train or on the bus and make that trip in a comparable amount of time or at least a reasonable amount of time in comparison, then I think people will use transit. But we've got to do much more on the marketing and awareness side.
Q. What are some viable options?
A. I'll go back to rail. In looking for a residence in Orange County, we've been attracted to South County. One of the positive features of moving down there is the fact that there is rail service, a viable option, from Laguna Niguel/Mission Viejo to Orange, and it's half an hour. Now I would submit that competes very favorably with a drive during peak hours; then it's a 10-minute shuttle ride from the rail station in Orange to this office. So in 40 minutes I'm going to be able to – if we do end up locating down there – I'm going to be able to make my commute on a service like that. So there's a viable option.
Now, I think our marketing strategy needs to be focused on those viable options. I think we have a lot of education to do.
I'm not suggesting that I'm going to come in here and overnight change the culture in Orange County and that we're going to see everybody riding transit. That's not what I'm talking about. But I believe there are viable options that people are unaware of and for a variety of reasons aren't trying and we've got to get the word out so that we can get those people to try it out. My theory is that once folks try it out, they'll be hooked.
Here's Will Kempton riding the 83 from Anaheim to Orange:
...while some politicians controlling OCTA want to completely slash all bus service...
...such as OCTA director John Moorlach, who wants the agency to study abolishing bus service. In yesterday's Orange County Register article:
Board member John Moorlach, also a county supervisor, said the transit agency's board should look at whether it should even offer bus service. He asked the agency's staff to find out what percentage of the county's population regularly rides the bus, and how that compares with other counties. He also asked for data to compare ridership declines with drops in population and job losses.
"Is there a point where maybe a bus system isn't even necessary?" Moorlach said in an interview. "That's maybe a radical thing, but it seems to me every once in a while you need to have that kind of dialogue."
He commented on this after OCTA boardmembers learned that bus ridership has plummetted 20% from the same year, despite the fact that:
- the economy has gone sour, taking away many jobs,
- OCTA has been on a service-cutting spree since 2008 — so of course you're going to have fewer riders — and
- OCTA recently raised fares (e.g. $95 versus $0 for a UC Irvine annual bus pass).
- If we're going to get rid of bus service, shouldn't we also get rid of Metrolink? And all the other "entitlements" that taxpayers give to freeway users?
One commenter, brentocr, on the OC Register site rattles off other reasons why Moorlach's lack of "fair and balanced" transportation ideas is bad public policy:
If we want to complain about buses and public transit being subsidized, then we need to do so with eyes wide open to the full extent of our subsidies for EVERY common form of transit, public or private. Consider:
*) Most roads that private automobiles, trucks, and buses use are paid for 70 percent (or more) from the general fund. Gasoline taxes and user fees don't come close to covering costs.
*) Our domestic auto industry is now partially owned by the taxpayer. We paid about $50 billion for GM, when the market valued it at $500 million just before nationalization. We may get that money back, but if not, we made a 100x subsidy to our private car industry.
*) The $3 billion "Cash for Clunkers" program will directly subsidize about 750,000 auto buyers, or about one-fourth of one percent of the population.
*) Private airlines benefit from taxpayer funded FAA air traffic control systems and taxpayer built airports.
*) The private rail system was originally built in exchange for land grants. It couldn't exist today without these rights of way.
These are just the direct subsidies. One could go on about externalities like pollution and oil wars, whose costs end up being borne by the taxpayer in other ways.
If we ultimately shut down the OC bus system, it shouldn't be because we subsidize it and nothing else. Give me a better reason. Otherwise, give me a better public transit system! read more→
What are OCTA's priorities? Feeding the freeways at the expense of transit users
Submitted by Steven on 30 July, 2009 - 12:00pm
I apologize for the lack of timely posts and all the fluff food pieces along OCTA; as you can see, the website's been running on auto-pilot and posting pre-written blog posts while I've been living in a hospital.
Los Angeles's many transit riders talk optimistically about expanding its subway to UCLA, light rail to USC and Santa Monica, and light rail to Ontario Airport. Meanwhile, Orange County continues to turn to freeways to support automobile users while ignoring the needs of non-drivers, seniors, the disabled, and other public transit users.
Two weeks ago, the OCTA spent $155,000 on a (rather gaudy) freeway sign welcoming automobile drivers to Orange County. Ted Nguyen and OCTA seem to be happily promoting their rather gaudy monument, while ironically calling for bus users to "share the pain" of deep bus service cuts. It's pretty much a kick in the groin for bus riders who have to tolerate waiting longer in the sun, say, at Jamboree/University/Eastbluff in Newport Beach, because there are no bus shelters. This money could have been used, say, to purchase 15 bus shelters. read more→
