Metrolink, bus upgrades are planned
Priorities for Orange County’s largest transportation agency include improvements to Metrolink and bus service, road repairs and freeway construction, officials said Monday.
The improvements were part of a $1-billion-plus budget approved for the Orange County Transportation Authority’s fiscal year that begins July 1.
The renewal of a sales tax two years ago gave voters a hand in choosing transportation projects for the county, said OCTA Chairman Chris Norby. Known as Measure M, the initiative will raise nearly $12 billion over three decades for transportation projects.
Of the new $1.06-billion budget, about $266 million will go for bus service, including a new Bus Rapid Transit system in which buses stop every mile. About 225,000 people ride buses daily in Orange County.
Each department was asked to reduce costs 2% to allow the agency to maintain the same level of bus service to compensate for reductions in the sales tax revenue and fare revenue -- both due to the slumping economy, said Joel Zlotnik, an OCTA spokesman.
OCTA budgeted nearly $170 million to pay for Metrolink upgrades that include more parking at train stations, station construction and more trains.
By 2010, the goal is to have commuter trains running every 30 minutes from 5 a.m. to midnight weekdays between Fullerton and Laguna Niguel.
Seven locomotives and 59 passenger cars have been ordered, new track has been laid, and parking lot improvements are scheduled or underway for stations in Fullerton, Orange, Tustin, Irvine and Laguna Niguel.
OCTA switched to expanding Metrolink services after it shelved the controversial $1-billion CenterLine project.
CenterLine was envisioned as a 28-mile route with stops at major destinations from Irvine to Fullerton. But after community and political opposition and a lack of federal assistance, the project died.
Money originally budgeted for CenterLine was then shifted to Metrolink, OCTA officials said.
Other projects for fiscal 2008-09 include construction of connectors from the 405 Freeway to the 605 Freeway, widening the 5 Freeway to 10 lanes near the Los Angeles County border, and adding transit options for riders to and from Metrolink stations.
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