Orange County’s sprawling suburbs, vibrant beaches, and bustling business hubs demand a transportation system that’s nimble, efficient, and responsive to how people actually move today. Yet, the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) continues to pour taxpayer dollars into a bus system that feels increasingly out of touch. Drive down Harbor Boulevard, Bristol Street, or Pacific Coast Highway, and you’ll notice OCTA buses lumbering along, often with just a handful of passengers, sometimes none. It’s a stark visual that raises a question: why are we still funneling public funds into a mode of transit fewer and fewer people seem to use?
The reality is, bus ridership is declining, not just in Orange County but nationwide. OCTA’s data shows a nearly 19% drop in bus boardings from 2014 to 2017, and while some routes have seen modest recovery, the trend persists. Beyond Orange County, Los Angeles County’s Metro bus system saw boardings plummet from 371 million in 2009 to 304 million in 2016, a 19% decline. Miami’s bus ridership fell 12% between 2012 and 2018, and Atlanta’s dropped 15% over the same period. Nationwide, bus ridership sank 15% from 2012 to 2018, per a ScienceDirect study, as people increasingly choose other options.
Why the exodus? Orange County residents, like many Americans, prefer the flexibility of personal vehicles or ride-sharing apps. With nearly 80% of households owning at least one car, waiting at a bus stop for a ride that may not align with your schedule feels archaic. Yet, OCTA planners seem stuck in a mindset that ignores this reality. Most of what OCTA does is funded through a bump in everyone’s sales taxes—a surcharge we all pay whenever we buy anything. OCTA owes it to us to be smart and innovative with those funds. Buses, and even rail and trains, are 19th and 20th century modes of transportation, ill-suited for a mostly suburban area like Orange County with no centralized city hub. Fixed routes struggle to serve sprawling communities that make up most of our county.
Too often, transit agencies play “SimCity” with public funds, designing systems to manipulate how people should travel rather than how they do. This top-down approach is inappropriate for public servants tasked with serving the public, not reshaping it. Some self-reflection is overdue: agencies must listen to what residents want.
OCTA’s attempts to boost ridership, like the Youth Ride Free program or the OC Bus App, haven’t reversed the slide. Could it be because fewer and fewer people actually want to ride in a bus? Taxpayer money—roughly $400 million annually for bus operations—subsidizes a system that’s underutilized. Those empty buses burn fuel, clog lanes, and worsen traffic. If we’re serious about helping people get to work, school, or the store, we need solutions that match how Orange County lives today.
Ride-sharing services—Uber, Lyft, and emerging competitors—offer a better path. They provide door-to-door convenience, real-time tracking, and pricing often competitive with a $2 bus fare when you factor in time saved. Why not redirect public funds to partner with these companies? Imagine OCTA subsidizing ride-share trips for low-income residents, students, or seniors. A pilot could offer $5-$10 ride credits for qualifying users, redeemable through an app linked to OCTA’s infrastructure. Arlington, Texas, has done this, replacing low-ridership bus routes with subsidized ride-shares, saving money while boosting mobility.
Ride-sharing is flexible, serving spread-out areas where fixed routes struggle. It’s demand-driven, scaling up during rush hours and down when needs are low. And it is tech-savvy, aligning with a county where smartphones are ubiquitous. OCTA could set parameters—capping subsidies at 20 miles per trip or prioritizing rides to transit hubs like the Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center—to keep costs in check.
Orange County deserves transportation that evolves with its people, not one that tries to mold them. The empty seats rolling past us daily—and the data from Los Angeles, Miami, and Atlanta—demand a rethink. True innovation requires planners to abandon their “SimCity” mindset, where they envision an ideal world and nudge people toward it. Instead, they should ask, “How do people want to get around?” and build systems that align with those preferences. Only then will we create transportation that’s cheaper, smarter, and actually used.
The OCTA Board of Directors must act now to launch pilot programs with ride-sharing services, redirecting funds from outdated bus routes to innovative, demand-driven solutions. Let’s move beyond the empty seats of the past and build a transportation future that truly serves Orange County’s residents. It’s time to lead with boldness and reimagine mobility for the 21st century.
Jon Fleischman has been a resident of Orange County for over 30 years. He resides with his family in Yorba Linda.
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