Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/tag/octa/)
Transportation officials in just the past couple of days are reporting sharp declines in bus ridership amid orders by the governor and local health officials for people to avoid public gatherings and stay at home.
The existing OC Streetcar project has faced scrutiny by some city and transportation officials who say the it is too expensive for its relatively short, four-mile route, when there are less expensive options like buses.
Orange County transportation officials are moving ahead with more public bus service cuts to cope with a years-long ridership decline, but backed off plans to slash some bus routes after objections from riders.
Increased bus service and new streetcar routes are on the table as Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) officials study options for the county’s busiest bus corridor, Harbor Boulevard.
Day to day commutes might get a little easier for Garden Grove residents following a decision by city council members to adopt traffic light synchronization projects for Garden Grove Boulevard and Katella Street.
Leaders at the Orange County Transportation Authority want to halt a proposed project for a $180 million connecting ramp between the 241 toll road and the 91 freeway toll lanes, citing concerns the timing of the project would increase traffic on the already congested 91 freeway.
The Orange County Transportation Authority’s (OCTA) plans for the future could give public transportation in the county’s north and central areas a boost, including the possibility of two streetcar routes along north Harbor Boulevard and Westminster Avenue.
Bus ridership on north and central Orange County routes overhauled last year by the Orange County Transportation Authority has increased by nearly 20 percent, according to report presented Thursday to the board’s transit committee.
Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) managers secretly lowered performance standards for a bus contractor with a history of late buses and missed trips, effectively making the contractor look better in monthly performance reports.
On June 20, Friends of Harbors, Beaches and Parks (FHBP) and the Orange County Transportation Agency celebrate the dedication of 1,300 acres of permanently preserved lands. Melanie Schlotterbeck writes that it’s a culmination, noting that activist leaders took the long view in 2000 in creating the Green Vision Map that highlighted lands in Orange County that needed to be protected along with a leadership role by partnering with the OCTA to conserve lands through Measure M2, the county half-cent sales tax.