Service area Orange County Fuel type Diesel, CNG, LNG Headquarters Orange Fleet 556 Stops 6,200 | Hubs 6 Chief executive Darrell Johnson Founded 1991 Routes 77 | |
Service type bus service, paratransit, toll roads Annual ridership 51.4 million passengers per year (FY 2012-13) Operators First Transit, MV Transportation Profiles | ||
The Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) is the public sector transportation planning body and mass transit service provider for Orange County, California. Its ancestor agencies include not only the prior Orange County Transit District but also such diverse entities as the Pacific Electric Railway and the South Coast Transit Corporation. In 2005, OCTA was judged America's Best Public Transportation System by the American Public Transportation Association, for its record gains in bus and Metrolink commuter trains ridership that it operates or funds. OCTA also operates the 91 Express Lanes.
Contents
- History
- Labor disputes
- Routes
- Current
- Fares
- Prepaid Fares
- CenterLine light rail
- OC Streetcar
- Highway and road operations
- Recent projects
- 91 Express Lanes
- References
The Authority's administrative offices are located in the city of Orange and it maintains bus operations bases in the cities of Garden Grove, and Santa Ana. First Transit operates about 33% of OCTA's Fixed Routes out of the Anaheim, & Irvine bases. While MV Transportation operates OCTA's paratransit base for the authority’s ACCESS service also in Irvine.
History
OCTA's predecessor agency, the Orange County Transit District, was created in August 1972 by a referendum of county voters. It originally started as Santa Ana Transit, a small transit agency with five bus routes operating in Orange County. Santa Ana Transit later merged with other, smaller agencies throughout the county, eventually leading to the formation of OCTD. The routing system was formed over the course of about 15 years and was held in place until the merge to OCTA.
In 1991, OCTA was created under state law, combining the seven separate Orange County agencies that managed transportation planning:
Park-and-ride facilities, public transportation and other transportation related administrative offices merged into one organization. OCTA administers funds from Measure M, the half-cent transportation sales tax. Measure M was originally passed in 1990 and renewed in 2006. It has paid for the expansion on most freeways within Orange County, street improvements and repairs, traffic signal synchronization, and increased Metrolink service.
In 1995, OCTA suffered tremendously during the Orange County bankruptcy and never fully recovered. The agency lost $202 million in revenue over 17 years due to the bankruptcy. As a result, bus service was reduced.
In October 2015, OCTA rebranded its bus services as "OC Bus" and launched the OC Bus 360° plan, which aims to consolidate routes into more frequent service and increase ridership. OCTA also plans to replace 40% of its bus fleet with compressed natural gas-powered vehicles. The change was approved by the OCTA board on February 22, 2016.
Labor disputes
OCTA (including the former OCTD) has been involved in various labor disputes between itself and its drivers, members of the Teamsters Union Local 952, including strikes in 1986 and 2007.
In April 2007, drivers threatened to strike again over the current contract. OCTA offered a 13% raise over three years, but union sources said that it only came out to 8% after factoring in inflation. The drivers voted to strike. California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger intervened. He first issued a one-week cool-off, and later extended it to 60 days, while talks continued. Negotiations over wage and pension issues failed, and the union started to strike on July 7, 2007, at the end of the cooling-off period. This conflict was resolved on July 16, 2007 when the union ratified a new contract. Within a few days, the bus system was running at full capability.
Routes
OCTA operates 65 bus lines, encompassing every city in Orange County. Some of the lines serve the Los Angeles County border communities of Lakewood, La Mirada, Cerritos, Hawaiian Gardens and Long Beach along with express service to Los Angeles, Diamond Bar, the San Bernardino County cities of Chino Hills and Chino and the Riverside County cities of Riverside and Corona.
Some routes operate short turn trips which either start or end in the middle of the route.
All OCTA buses are equipped with bike racks and can carry a maximum of two bicycles at any given time. Bikes are only permitted on board buses if both racks on any particular bus are taken and that same bus happens to be the last trip of the day.
South Coast Plaza is the most served attraction on the OCTA routes, served by 12 routes (55, 57, 76, 86, 150, 211, 216, 464, 794). The longest is route 1, (Long Beach–San Clemente) which utilizes Pacific Coast Highway for the vast majority of its route of over 40 miles. Trips take an average of 2 to 2.5 hours.
Routes 43, 50, 57, and 60 were four routes that formerly operated 24 hours a day. "Night Owl" service, from 1 a.m to 4 a.m., was dropped on March 14, 2010 due to budget cutbacks. OCTA also eliminated routes 62, 74, 75, 131, 147, and 164 and reduced frequency of trips in March 2010 to save money.
Current
OCTA's cutaways are excluded from this list.
Fares
Since 10-09-2016 (no fare to kids below 6 with fare-paying rider; limit 3):
Prepaid Fares
Discounted prepaid passes are available at local grocery stores and retailers. Since 10-09-2016:
CenterLine light rail
The CenterLine was a proposed 9.3-mile light rail system serving Irvine, Costa Mesa and Santa Ana. It was originally planned in the 1990s and was intended to open in 2009. Costing $1 billion, it was originally envisioned as a 30-mile route that would run from Fullerton to Irvine, through Anaheim, Orange, Santa Ana and Costa Mesa. The route would have served destinations including John Wayne Airport, South Coast Metro, South Coast Plaza, Santa Ana College and downtown Santa Ana.
While OCTA secured funding through Measure M, lack of support from Orange County's congressional representatives resulted in no federal funds obtained for the proposed transit line. In February 2005, the CenterLine was suspended indefinitely, and in May 2005, the plan was officially scrapped in favor of expanding express bus service throughout Orange County and improving existing Metrolink commuter rail service.
OC Streetcar
As of 2016, OCTA is collaborating with the cities of Santa Ana and Garden Grove to build the OC Streetcar, a 4.15-mile (6.68 km), 12-station light rail line along Santa Ana Boulevard and 4th Street in the two cities, using portions of the West Santa Ana Branch of the old Pacific Electric right-of-way. The western terminus of the proposed route would follow the Pacific Electric right-of-way near the intersection of Harbor Boulevard and Westminster Avenue in Garden Grove, then along street running track on Santa Ana Boulevard into Downtown Santa Ana, where it would reach the Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center at its eastern terminus. In February 2016, $125 million towards the project was included in the proposed United States federal budget for the 2016-17 fiscal year. OCTA plans to begin construction in 2017 and open the project in 2020.
Highway and road operations
OCTA is responsible for the Countywide Master Highway Plan, which designates major arterial streets in the county, however, all road maintenance responsibilities fall with the city where the street operates in, or with the county, in the case of unincorporated areas. OCTA street funding is steered towards roadways on the Master Plan in recognition of their role in regional travel.
Recent projects
West County Connectors: In June 2010, OCTA broke ground on the West County Connectors project. The $328 million project is Orange County's largest stimulus project and one of the biggest construction jobs in nearly a decade. It will add a 6-mile carpool lane and directly connect the carpool lanes on the San Diego Freeway (I-405) with the San Gabriel Freeway (I-605) and the Garden Grove Freeway (State Route 22). The project also improved and rebuilt three freeway overpasses at Valley View Street, Seal Beach Boulevard and the 7th Street Bridge into Long Beach.
Riverside Freeway (SR-91): This project added a new eastbound lane between the SR-241 in Orange County to the SR-71 in Riverside County, widening bridges and building new retaining and sound walls to reduce traffic noise.
This was the first project in a series of improvements planned for the SR-91. The second project added a new lane in each direction from the SR-55 to SR-241. The third project will add a new westbound lane from SR-57 to Interstate 5. The project is expected to be completed in 2015.
Orange Freeway (SR-57): Work got started in the summer 2011 on the SR-57 to add a new northbound lane from Orangethorpe Avenue to Lambert. The project was completed in early 2014. Another project, which will added a new northbound lane from Katella Avenue to Lincoln Avenue, got underway in early 2012 and will by completed by late 2014.
I-5 Gateway Project: Construction began in spring 2006 on the I-5 Gateway project. The four-year project is widening the remaining two miles of the I-5 in Orange County from the SR-91 to the Los Angeles County line. The I-5 Gateway project is the final link in the original Measure M's freeway improvement program. The project was completed in 2010.
In addition to freeway improvements, OCTA is in the midst of the most comprehensive rail safety program in the nation that includes a public awareness program regarding safety near the tracks and implementing safety enhancements at more than 50 railroad crossings throughout the county.
The safety enhancements scheduled for completion in 2011 include:
Work also is under way to expand Metrolink service in Orange County from the Fullerton to a Laguna Niguel/Mission Viejo station.
91 Express Lanes
OCTA owns and operates the 91 Express Lanes, after purchasing them in 2003 from the California Private Transportation Corporation. The express lanes are a four-lane, 10-mile toll road in the median of the Riverside Freeway (SR-91) between the Orange/Riverside County line and the Costa Mesa Freeway (SR-55).
OCTA purchased the 91 Express Lanes without taxpayer money and removed a "non-compete" clause that prevented safety and traffic flow improvements along the stretch of tollway.
In July 2003, OCTA adopted a toll policy for the 91 Express Lanes based on the concept of congestion management pricing, which is designed to optimize traffic flow at free-flow speeds. The policy calls for dropping and raising tolls based on traffic demand. Traffic volumes are monitored daily and adjusted quarterly.
The other tollways in Orange County are governed by the Transportation Corridor Agencies.