No Fare, Says OCTD to Its Riders : Event Is Pleasant Surprise to Some

The bus doors swung open and Mike Armoldi stepped inside. Digging deep into his tight faded jeans, Armoldi, 17, fished out coins to pay his fare. Then he froze. Armoldi stared at the coin slot as if it had come from a “Twilight Zone” set.

Tissue protruding from the fare box made it impossible for Armoldi, 17, to plunk his coins down.

A “what is going on here?” look momentarily flashed across his face. Confused, Armoldi tried to pick the mass of tissue from the fare box.

“Free today. Free today,” bus driver Rudy Puma chanted.

“Well, all right!” Armoldi replied, thrusting the coins back into his pocket and taking a seat.

The Orange County Transit District was offering free bus rides Friday to lure more customers and to thank passengers who rode the buses during December’s strike by district drivers (some routes were operated by supervisors and drivers who crossed picket lines.)

OCTD spokeswoman Claudia Keith said Friday that ridership is at about 95% of prestrike levels, or 100,000 to 110,000 passengers daily.

To boost those numbers, the OCTD advertised the free-fare day on radio and in local newspapers, Keith said. There was even a full-page insert in the Penny Saver. Bus drivers also passed out flyers for about a week, Keith added.

The district lost about $40,000 to $50,000 in fare box revenues for the day, plus $35,000 in advertising costs, according to Keith. She said it was too early to say if the one-day promotion was a success. One OCTD official bemoaned Friday’s rain and said the district might have to try another free-fare day during the summer or fall.

But even among those who dodged Friday’s raindrops--and despite the advance hoopla--most riders were surprised at not having to pay.

Jose Munoz, 22, was puzzled when he couldn’t pay his fare. He still looked mystified when he sat down after bus driver Puma told him the ride was free. He doesn’t speak English, explained fellow passenger Tony Fonseca, 20, who told him in Spanish what was happening.

Speaking through Fonseca, Munoz said the free bus ride was “a very good” idea.

“Sometimes during the strike I had to walk from where I live in Santa Ana to the hotel where I work in Irvine,” he said.

Puma drives the No. 74 bus on the UC Irvine and South Coast Plaza route. He said he had been passing out flyers to remind passengers of the free fare for a few days. Yet some of those he distinctly remembers handing a flyer to still tried to pay. “People forget,” he said laughing, as yet another passenger got on and tried to pay.

Bus driver Patricia Pentard, who drives the No. 64 route down Bolsa Avenue, agreed. “I had to tell mostly all of them,” she said. “but when I did, they were really happy.”

Gretchen Garza’s first bus ride was a free one Friday.

She received a notice about the free ride Wednesday through the mail and planned to take her 3-month-old daughter, Leslie, to visit her 90-year-old aunt who lives in a retirement home in Seal Beach.

“I normally drive but my husband has the car today. This is my first time on a public bus,” said the 18-year-old Garza, who moved to Tustin from Brownsville, Tex., a month ago.

“Jack” of Santa Ana, who did not want to divulge his last name, said he was going to Disneyland to meet a friend Friday. Like many other riders, he did not know why OCTD was giving free rides.

Rick Bartos, 25, of Tustin, said he thought OCTD had been making a lot of money lately and could afford some “charity.”

Randy Chrapkowski, 32, of Huntington Beach said it was nice surprise not to have to pay on Friday. His car had broken down Thursday.

Christopher Scott, 20, of Anaheim, said the free ride was a “nice gesture,” but it should happen on a few more days for the regular riders “who deserve it.”

Michelle Hammond, 17, who was on her way to Santa Ana High School on Friday morning, agreed. She said that during the strike she “got to work late, got to school late,” and that the people who drove the buses then “were a joke.”

However, she had “little to gain” on this day because, like many others, she had a $25 bus ticket already that allows for unlimited rides for a specified time.

A few days before the promotion, the passengers were reminding each other, said driver Bonnie Spaulding. “By Wednesday they were networking among themselves saying, ‘Don’t pull out that 75 cents on Friday.’ They were pretty delighted about the whole thing.”

Driver Puma gained a few chuckles all day long. When two young girls got on and asked why there was no fare collection Friday, he said, “It’s a special day just for you two. Only for you.”

Times Staff Writer Leonel Sanchez contributed to this story.