Commentary : Look at Orange County Transit--What’s Wrong With This Picture?

There is a familiar children’s game called “What’s wrong with this picture?” where one studies a drawing and searches for women with mustaches or dogs with duck feet.

If you are a commuter on Orange County streets and freeways, take a look at this transportation picture and see if you can find what’s wrong with it:

Supervisor for Orange County’s 1st District, Roger R. Stanton, serves on the Orange County Transportation Commission (OCTC) and the Orange County Transit District (OCTD). He does not serve, however, on either of the transportation corridor agencies.

Second District Supervisor Harriett M. Wieder serves on the OCTC. But she does not serve on the OCTD or either of the corridor agencies.

Third District Supervisor Gaddi H. Vasquez serves on the Foothill-Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency and the San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor Agency. He does not serve on either the OCTC or OCTD.

Fourth District Supervisor Don R. Roth serves on the OCTD board but not the OCTC or either of the corridor agencies.

Fifth District Supervisor Thomas F. Riley serves as chairman of the OCTC, chairman of the San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor Agency and as a member of the Foothill-Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency, but he is not on the OCTD.

What’s wrong with this picture? Why do these busy people serve on so many transportation commissions, committees and agencies? And why do each of them serve on some but not others?

Or, more bluntly, why are there so many transportation agencies competing for dollars, overlapping their administration, and causing confusion for the commuting public?

When you look at the county’s transportation picture, it looks like one of those drawings where you start seeing things are terribly wrong the longer you look at it.

Public accountability should not be like a child’s game full of hidden clues or surprises. Our commuters deserve a transportation picture that is clear and straightforward. We shouldn’t have to play games to find out who is in charge of the various components of our transportation network.

Earlier this year, the OCTC conducted a survey of community leaders asking them about transportation leadership in Orange County. Here’s what the survey summary said:

“Responses show a great deal of confusion regarding a perceived authority figure which can be held accountable for transportation issues, decisions and plans currently shared by more than one agency. . . . It should be noted, however, that the majority of responses regarding the responsibility for transportation problems pointed at county government and the Board of Supervisors.”

For the past six months, I have been the member-at-large of the Orange County Transportation Commission. I serve with Supervisors Riley, Wieder and Stanton, and with three fine city council members: Irv Pickler of Anaheim, Clarice A. Blamer of Brea, and Richard B. Edgar of Tustin.

I’m impressed with the quality of work the OCTC does. I’m impressed with my fellow commissioners, with the staff, with the creative things the commission is doing in trying to help the Orange County commuter get to and from work.

But I’m not at all impressed by the blizzard of acronyms, the lack of accountability for decisions made and the dizzying number of government agencies tangled up in our transportation decision making.

When Supervisor Vasquez recently suggested we look at merging at least four of these agencies into one, I cheered. And when Councilman Pickler and Supervisor Stanton asked OCTC to look into the idea because it sounded so positive to them, I cheered again.

But we need more than cheering. We need action. And, by some transportation leaders, we’ll need a little personal sacrifice. It is time we make some sense out of this nonsense. And it is time we create a single transportation authority for Orange County that provides aggressive leadership with the authority to make things happen.

Who should be the key decision makers in this new Orange County Traffic Authority? It will be hard to find a consensus, but I think we should include all five supervisors. Our survey indicates that people think the supervisors already have the responsibility. They are each accountable to one-fifth of the electorate at the ballot box, so every voter in the county would have a say. And, because the supervisors all serve on transportation agencies, they have the expertise.

The cities, too, should have a role in this new agency and two city council members--one from north of the Costa Mesa freeway and one from south of that clear dividing line--should join the five supervisors on this authority. That will provide a municipal perspective to the transportation decision making and also safeguard the interests of the cities.

A seven-member board would be ideal. I recognize that such a proposal eliminates the seat I now hold--and a post I enjoy immensely.

But if we are going to improve transportation accountability and make our transportation system work better, we have to streamline our existing government agencies, eliminate waste and confusion, and reduce the number of people in the decision-making process--even if one of the people who is eliminated is me.

I’m willing to retire from the commission if we can make the transportation picture simpler, clearer and more effective--and if we can consolidate our existing agencies into a single countywide traffic authority with powers and abilities necessary to improve our transportation situation.

The Orange County commuter deserves nothing less.