COUNTYWIDE : Public Input Sought on Bus Cutbacks

County transit officials are asking the public to attend one of several community meetings this week to help decide how bus service should be reduced in order to erase a $10-million budget deficit.

If approved by the Orange County Transportation Authority Board as planned on April 27, service reductions will take effect June 28.

The first round of community meetings will be at 9 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Holiday Inn in Costa Mesa. On Wednesday, the second round of sessions will be held at 9 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. in the Orange City Council chambers.

The OCTA board is expected to make a final decision at a public hearing at 9 a.m. April 27 at the County Hall of Administration in Santa Ana.

Written comments can be mailed to OCTA’s customer relations staff at 11222 Acacia Parkway in Garden Grove, officials said.

“These service changes are always difficult, especially when we have to reduce the level of bus service that we’re providing,” said OCTA Operations Director John Catoe. “We tried to make sure these changes impact the fewest number of customers. Our other option was to increase fares, but that decision would have affected every passenger.”

Already, OCTA officials said, some South County residents have objected to a proposal to split Line 85 into two different routes with a stop at the Laguna Hills Transportation Center for transfers. That line--which connects Santa Ana with Dana Point via freeways and surface streets--has been controversial because of overcrowding, especially during the morning southbound runs, that has resulted in buses being stopped by the California Highway Patrol.

Under the OCTA proposal, a new line 86 will operate primarily via Irvine Center Drive between Santa Ana and Laguna Hills, and a new route 87 will operate primarily via Crown Valley Parkway between Laguna Hills and Dana Point, terminating at Dana Point Harbor.

Routes 1, 22, 26, 35, 36, 37, 42, 45, 51, 71, 75, 80 and 141 would also be affected by proposed service reductions.

Declining sales tax revenue due to the slow economy, coupled with increased unemployment, has prompted the OCTA board to look for the least-utilized routes before singling out any for cuts, OCTA officials said.