OCTA is starting to plan how to make the next round of cuts in bus service scheduled to come in March 2010. OCTA is having to cut bus service because the State did not fund public transportation this year. This cut by the State left OCTA, along with many other public transportation services, trying to fill an unexpected void in funding. OCTA will be having community meetings to receive feedback on proposed plans for service cuts.
During the 2009 fiscal year, about 133,000 hours of bus service was cut out of 1,932,580 hours of bus service offered during June 2008. Fiscal year (FY) 2009 ended in June of 2009, and now OCTA is operating in FY 2010. 400,000 hours of bus service will be cut in FY 2010. The current plan by the OCTA board has 300,000 hours of bus service being cut in March 2010. OCTA currently operates 80 weekday routes, 45 Saturday routes, and 42 Sunday routes. Weekday routes make up about 81% of riders, with Saturday and Sunday each providing about 9% of the riders.
OCTA will present the proposed cuts during upcoming community meetings and other outreach to riders. It is important that bus riders let OCTA know what will work and will not work for them. There are three strategies for making the service cuts.
- Maintain the highest levels of service on the routes with the most riders. 27 of the routes carry 84% of the riders. The remaining 53 routes carry 16% of the riders. A more detailed breakdown is: 71% of riders ride 15 core bus routes, 13% of riders ride 12 routes which connect to the core, 15% of riders ride 32 other bus routes and 1% of rider use the 21 StationLink and Express bus routes.
- Reduce service proportionally system wide. StationLink and Express bus would not be included in this plan.
- Modify days and/or hours of operation. During the weekdays, the hours of operation could be reduced. During the weekends, the hours and number of routes could be reduced.
Community meetings are being held at these times and locations.
- Thursday, September 24, 6 - 8 PM, OCTA Headquarters, 1st Floor, Room 154, 600 S Main St, Orange, CA 92863 - Use bus routes 53, 56, 83, 147, 453, 757
- Tuesday, September 29, 6-8 PM, Anaheim Downtown Community Center, Halls A&B, 250 E Center St, Anaheim, CA 92805 - Use bus routes 42, 43, 47, 147
- Thursday, October 1, 6-8 PM, Laguna Hills Community Center, Heritage Rooms B & C, 25555 Alicia Parkway, Laguna Hills, CA 92653 - Bus Routes 87, 91
If you cannot make it to a meeting to give your input, send your input to OCTA in writing or drop it off when you buy a bus pass. Send the info to Wendy Knowles, Clerk of the Board, OCTA, 550 S Main St, Orange, CA 92863-1584, phone 714-560-5676
The Public Hearing (which comes before the decision) is on Monday, October 26, 2009, at 9 AM, at OCTA Headquarters . Generally speaking, if you have something that needs to be used to make a decision, you need to get that info in as soon as possible and not wait for the public hearing.
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