Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/tag/orange-county-transportation-authority/)
Toll revenues have fallen with the traffic by about 60%, according to the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA), which operates the 91 lanes and will operate the I-405 Freeway toll expansions when they open up.
While bus drivers and operations employees directly employed by OCTA get to keep their jobs and even their pay as some stay home, bus drivers employed through two private contractors the agency gives money to have been laid off, and will see their benefits follow their jobs out the door.
It’s the first round of cuts to bus service transportation officials have made responding to the public safety crisis, which has caused sharp drops in bus boardings for an agency that sees ridership fall year-by-year.
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.
A resolution approved by the city council at their Tuesday meeting advocates expansions to the route north up Harbor Blvd to Anaheim’s tourist-heavy resort district, and down Bristol St. toward John Wayne Airport.
If voters approve the repeal of a statewide gasoline tax in November, the Orange County Transportation Authority is likely to cut bus service by 11 percent and make other reductions to transit programs.
OCTA officials ended discussion in June of a Harbor Boulevard streetcar after cities couldn’t agree on the project. Meanwhile, an existing streetcar plan to connect Santa Ana and Garden Grove will cost far more than originally expected.
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.
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.