Pacific Progressive

OCTA Considering Adding 405 Toll Lane Between Long Beach and Costa Mesa

At the February 8, 2010, OCTA Board of Directors meeting, a presentation about adding a toll lane to the 405 between Long Beach and Costa Mesa was discussed. The Board asked that the work be continued.  OCTA sees adding the toll lane (also called a HOT lane or High Occupancy Toll lane) as a way to relieve congestion on the 405.  The presentation is available here Download 405

OCTA claims that the current speeds on the 405 are about 20 mph in the general purpose lanes and about 35 mph in the HOV lanes during peak PM hours.  By 2035, the speeds are projected to drop to about 18 mph in both the general purpose and HOV lanes if no improvements are made.  What is very interesting is the projections made for adding additional lanes.  Adding one general purpose lane would bring the speed up to about 20 mph by 2035.  Adding two general purpose lanes would bring the speed up to 30 mph. But adding 1 general purpose lane and 2 express lanes (toll lanes) brings the speed up to 65 mph in the toll lanes and 25 mph in the general purpose lanes.  

The toll road plan for the 405 creates a freeway 7 lanes wide in each direction or a total of 14 lanes wide total.  The objective of this plan is money - the tolls are supposed to pay for construction costs. Given the financing problems for the toll roads  and the limitations on expanding the 5 and 91 caused by contracts with the toll road operators, this plan does not sound like the best one to make people more mobile in the area.  The operators of the toll lanes will prevent the the expansion of other lanes on the 405 if if would cut into their tolls.  If OCTA is looking to make people more mobile, they really  need to find ways to move people better using public transportation such as busses and light rail. 

Investment in Public Transportation Must Go Beyond Infrastructure

Eric Altman
Executive Director
Orange County Communities Organized for Responsible Development (OCCORD)

Public investment in our transportation infrastructure is good for the economy primarily because it has the potential to create good quality jobs. Taxpayers must understand that we get what we pay for, and we should insist upon high quality craftsmanship that lasts for generations. With prevailing wage provisions or, even better, project labor agreements, public agencies can guarantee that construction of transit infrastructure will adhere to the highest standards and best practices, and such policies can also ensure that public dollars reach local workers who spend their paychecks in our local economy – thus benefiting the entire community. Public agencies can use similar policies to create good jobs and ensure high quality craftsmanship as buses and trains are manufactured.

But to maximize the benefits of our investment, we must also consider what happens after the rail lines are built and the equipment comes off the assembly lines. First, government must invest in the operation, not just the construction of public transportation, and the equipment should be operated by public servants with the skills and training to maximize public benefit and safeguard public safety. Outsourcing public services puts jobs at risk and places our safety in the hands of private interests driven by the profit motive, not the common good.

Second, public agencies must plan for responsible development around transit centers. Transit-oriented development (TOD) brings together high-density residential, commercial, and civic land uses within a walkable radius around transit hubs. Locally, Anaheim’s Platinum Triangle and Santa Ana’s Station District have been pitched to taxpayers as cutting-edge TOD projects, but in their current form, they are unlikely to capture the benefits of public investment for local workers and communities. When cities use public resources to subsidize or incentivize such development, taxpayers should insist upon the same standards for craftsmanship and job quality that already apply to public transportation. To build a more sustainable economy in our region, we should also demand transit-oriented development that includes affordable housing, neighborhood parks, and the full range of benefits necessary for our communities to thrive. (A community-driven plan for responsible, transit-oriented development in Anaheim’s Platinum Triangle can be found on the OCCORD website at http://www.occord.org/section.php?id=35.)

Mission Viejo Reminds Residents About OCTA Service Cuts Starting March 14

During the recent round of OCTA service cuts, Mission Viejo fought hard to keep service thru the city.  Many students use OCTA to get to school or college.  Those who don't drive, including the elderly and disabled, rely on the bus as a lifeline to get to work, school, and their social life.  

In Mission Viejo, bus riders should be aware of a frequency reduction on routes 82 (weekday) and 89 (weekend) and the elimination of routes 82 and 85 on Sunday and the Saturday 86 route. 

OCTA has developed tools to help bus riders navigate the changes in service throughout the county. To see the cities affected, visit http://www.octa.net/CITY_mar10.aspx. 

Route-specific details including frequency reductions is available at http://www.octa.net/march2010impacts.aspx.

OCTA March 14, 2010 Service Changes - Check Your Routes & Save Your Paper Schedules

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:

www.octa.net. Click on "Bus", "Service Changes", "March 2010 Service Reductions".

Transit Advocates Meet and Greet & Bus Cuts Update - Wed, Feb 24

Join the Transit Advocates  of Orange County (TAOC) on Wednesday, February 24 from 6 - 8 PM at the Santa Ana Depot (the train station) for their first public meeting of 2010.  They will have information about bus service changes, updates to transportation funding, and the opportunity to learn how to become a better advocate for public transportation.  Light refreshments will be served.

 The Santa Ana Depot is located at 1000 E Santa Ana Blvd, Santa Ana, CA 92701.  The station is serviced by Metrolink, and bus routes 59, 62, 83, 206, 462, 463 and 464. 

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 

And it's not just transit that's been left out of the Senate jobs bill - there's no funding forinnovative 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.

"Pres. Obama Missed the Bus with Respect to Transit Funding"

Patrick Kelly, Secretary-Treasurer and Principal Officer, Teamsters Local 952, summed up the situation facing local transit systems - there is money to buy equipment but no money to operate equipment.  The comment was made in reference to the recent stimulus package which provided more money for buying equipment than operating the equipment.   Kelly was one of the panelists at the day long Southern California Transit Forum sponsored by OCTA, Teamsters Local 952, the office of Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez, Chapman University and other groups. He started the themes that would be repeated by other speakers:

• Flexible funding is needed in the federal transportation and jobs bills so a transit system can be allowed to move money from only being able to buy equipment to being able to operate the equipment they just bought.
• Cutting the transit system to meet the budget reduces ridership, which means lower revenue from fares and federal funds, which means more cuts, and the cycle repeats in a downward spiral.

At a separate event, Beth Krom, Irvine City Council member and former Mayor, pointed out that "cutting the operations money is one way they kill transit."  She explained that once operations money is cut, it's easier to justify cutting out new public transportation investment because "they can say, 'Look, nobody's riding the transit we have now.' "

Josh Shaw, Executive Director, California Transit Association, explained how the state funding sources, which were set up under Gov. Ronald Reagan, were calibrated to increase with rising sales tax and gasoline prices, and thus give more money for transit.  In January 2010, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed eliminating support for public transportation entirely as a way to balance the state's budget.  Shaw also reminded the audience that transit riders are an easy target because Sacramento doesn't hear from them. 

Reviving the Economy via Public Transportation

by Timothy A. Canova, Betty Hutton Williams Professor of International Economic Law and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Chapman University School of Law

Investment in mass transit and transportation infrastructure could play a significant role in directly stimulating the economy, creating and preserving construction and tax revenues that would more than pay for the initial outlays.

From the Erie Canal to the First Transcontinental Railroad, investment in transportation networks have been the primary engines of economic growth in American history.  During the Great Depression, massive investment in transportation infrastructure, including roads, bridges, seaports, tunnels, airfields and airports, created a modern transportation infrastructure that greatly helped the U.S. mobilization effort in World War Two.  After the war, in the 1950s President Eisenhower’s Interstate Highway Program provided a major stimulus to the economy and facilitated the growth of nationwide markets.  Certainly our generation is overdue for comparable investments in transportation infrastructure such as high speed rail, mass transit buses and commuter trains, as well as aging roads, bridges, airports and seaports.  We need to build a transportation system for the 21st century, a system that is more environmentally sound and that reduces our dependence on fossil fuels and Mideast oil.

According to Jerry Amante, the Chairman of the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA), as a result of the decline in sales tax revenues and state funding, the OCTA has lost more than $100 million in the past few years and faces another $330 million in anticipated losses over the next five years.  As Mr. Amante also points out, about 70 percent of those who commute on OCTA buses have no other means of transportation.  They rely on mass transit to get to and from school, work, the doctor, shopping, for the basic necessities of life (“Real Orange” news report by Pat Haslam, KOCE-TV, Jan. 20, 2010, 6:30 p.m. Evening News).  Cutting back on such service will result not only in tremendous hardship and dislocation for many, but will also undermine regional economies and raise a wide variety of costs stemming from higher unemployment.

Investment in Public Transportation Gives Californians the Most "Bang for the Buck"

by Melissa Fox

No expenditure of taxpayer money gets more “bang for the back” than investment in public transportation.  

By partnering with the private sector to create new, cleaner, and more efficient public transportation, government investment can create millions of new sustainable jobs, save billions of dollars in wasted fuel and lost time, and save further billions by reducing pollution and automobile accidents, and their related heath care costs.  

At the same time, investment in new, cleaner, and more efficient public transportation promotes both the environmental and the security interests of the United States by cutting greenhouse gas emissions and reducing our dependence on foreign oil.

In California, we do not need more toll roads that benefit only the few who can afford to ride them and that fail to reduce congestion or return the taxpayers’ investment. 

In contrast, investment in public transportation provides immediate economic benefits and the opportunity for our state to once again become a world leader in new technology and energy efficiency that will create new jobs and new industries now and in the future.

Investment in high speed rail in California will create more than more than 600,000 new private sector construction-related jobs to build the system and an additional 450,000 permanent jobs statewide once the system is fully built.  A significant percentage of these jobs will be right here in Orange County.

The positive effects on our state and local economy will be nearly immediate – in regard to both job creation and economic stimulus.  The long term benefit will be even more significant in creating sustainable jobs, protecting our environment, achieving energy independence, cutting health care costs, and reducing congestion.

Investment in public transportation is an investment in California’s future.

Melissa Fox is a candidate for the California Assembly in the 70th Assembly District

OCTA March 14, 2010 Service Changes

Starting on March 14, 2010, OCTA will cut 150,000 hours of service to make the amount of service offered more closely match the available budget.  Unless more funds can be found, another 150,000 hours of service will be cut to balance the budget.

Full information about the service changes is available here http://www.octa.net/march2010impacts.aspx

Here is a summary of the changes:

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 will also be impacted.  Details can be found here http://www.octa.net/access-service.aspx

Create Over 17,596 Years of Work by Investing in Public Transportation Projects

Public transportation projects create good paying jobs.  Same with highway construction.  A new report from the US Public Interest Research Group (USPIRG) "What We Learned from the Stimulus: And How to Use What We Learned to Speed Jobs Creation in the 2010 Jobs Bill"   shows the big bump to the economy created by transportation spending.  

Under ARRA (the recovery act), $4.4 billion was spent on public transportation, which translates into 72,328 months of full time jobs.  The highway infrastructure projects (over $15.8 billion) became 138,831 months of work.  That number of jobs is a boost to a sagging economy and kept things from getting worse.  More stimulus is needed to actual begin to grow the economy again.  

While both highways and public transportation projects build up the job base, public transportation is more cost effective at creating jobs because the projects spend less money on acquiring land, are more complex than the highway projects, while buying and maintaining vehicles.  The public transportation stimulus funds build the operating funds of local transit companies that residents use to get to work, school, medical appointments, and for general transportation.  Building up operations allows the working and school age public more access to jobs and education, further keeping the economy moving in the right direction.

Ballot Initiative Update - Jan 2010

Qualified Initiatives -  4

Four initiatives have qualified for the June 2010 ballot and one for the November 2010 ballot.

In June 2010, the initiatives about seismic retrofitting not raising property taxes on a home, open primaries and public financing of elections have been on the qualified list for a while. The newest entry is a two-thirds requirement for local communities to provide electricity thru a community choice program or provided services to new areas. This initiative was written by the electrical power industry to reduce competition from community based programs which allow bulk purchases of electricity and use of renewable energy sources.  

In November 2010, the water bond will be up for a vote. There are good things (like infrastructure) and bad things (like giving too much authority to state water banks and growers of pomegranates) in the bond.  

In for Signature Verification - 1

The measure sponsored by Mercury Insurance allowing insurance companies to give a discount to drivers who have continuously maintained auto insurance in for signature verfiication.  It is due out on Feb 5, 2010. (#1381)

Initiatives are currently in circulation - 62

Public Employee Pay, Pensions, Political Contributions

1435 - Limits Pension Payments That New Public Employees May Receive Upon Retirement. Initiative Statute. 

1434 - Reduces Public Pension and Retirement Health-Care Benefits.

1433 - Reduces Public Pension and Retirement Health-Care Benefits. 

1404 - Imposes Political Contribution Restrictions on Public Employee Labor Organizations 

1403 - Makes Illegal the Use of Public Employee Wage Deductions for Political Activities 

Parental Notification & Fetal Personhood

1411 - Requires Parental Notification Before Terminating Pregnancy of Female Under 18 

1410 - Requires Parental Notification Before Terminating Pregnancy of Female Under 18. 

1409 - Requires Waiting Period and Parental Notification Before Terminating Pregnancy of Female Under 18. 

1407 - Requires Waiting Period and Parental Notification Before Terminating Pregnancy of Female Under 18. 

1400 - Changes Constitutional Definition of a Person to Include Fertilized Human Eggs. 

Federal Grants Available

he summary of federal funding announcements brought to you by the Office of U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer is a service aimed at helping Californians become aware of funding opportunities offered through our nation’s federal grant-making agencies.  The summary for January 2010 includes 43 new or updated opportunities in the following areas: 
   

• Agriculture
• Commerce
• Community Service
• Education
• Energy
• Environment
• Health
• Homeland Security
• Humanities
• Justice
• Museum & Library Services
• Science
• State
• Transportation

Over the past year and a half, members of Senator Boxer’s staff in her California offices have been organizing Federal Grants and Resources workshops for local governments, small businesses and non-profit organizations throughout the state.  These workshops are successful because of the information provided by the federal agency representatives in attendance regarding grant and loan opportunities offered through their respective agencies, including opportunities specific to H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).  We encourage you to visit the Grants Assistance section of Senator Boxer’s website (http://www.boxer.senate.gov/en/services/grants/newsletter.cfm) to learn of upcoming workshops throughout California.  Members of the Senator’s staff are also in attendance at these workshops and look forward to speaking with you about how our office may be able to support your federal grant application. 

California High Speed Rail Authority Meeting In Anaheim - Jan 20

The California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) is planning high-speed train service for travel between major metropolitan areas of California. The high-speed train is proposed to connect Anaheim to San Francisco in less than three hours, with future connections that include San Diego and Sacramento.

The Los Angeles to Anaheim high-speed train section proposes to travel adjacent to the existing LOSSAN (Los Angeles to San Diego) Rail Corridor from Los Angeles Union Station to the future Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center (ARTIC).

The Alternatives Analysis process is underway for this section to identify the alignment and station locations to be further studied during the environmental review and preliminary design process. Public involvement is an important part of developing this project. The CHSRA will host a public open house meeting in the City of Anaheim to provide the community with a project update, information about the proposed alternative alignments, design options, and station locations being considered  specific to the City and details pertaining to the environmental process.

The open house will also provide stakeholders an opportunity to speak directly with members of the project team, ask questions and provide feedback.

When:   Wednesday, January 20, 2010.  Drop in any time between 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

*A presentation will occur at 5:30 p.m.

Where:   Anaheim City Hall – Council Chambers,  200 S. Anaheim Boulevard, Anaheim, CA  92805

*Anaheim City Hall is located on the Northeast corner of Anaheim Boulevard and Broadway Avenue. Free parking is available behind City Hall off Broadway Avenue.

 *Note: Community meetings are currently being planned for early 2010 for other cities in Orange County along the LA-Anaheim high-speed train section.  For more information or to be added to our mailing list for future project updates please email [email protected] or call us at (877) 724-5422.

That Airplane You're Riding In May Have Been Repaired in China

Many people feel safe riding on an airplane because they have been told that the FAA works hard to make the ride safe.  The planes are supposed to be overhauled and repaired according to strict schedules and work rules and parts are supposed to come only from the highest quality of suppliers. 

But what if your plane was repaired in China?  Would the rules be followed if the FAA inspector is not there?  

NPR has dug into the issue.  There are 267,000 workers at 698 FAA certified repair stations (2007 figures).  Current FAA rules do not require the airlines to report which, if any, of the repair stations are being used.  Read the full story at Flight Mechanics: The Business of Airline Repairs.