Vote Due on Idea of Merging Transit, Highway Panels

The Orange County Transportation Commission will vote Monday on whether it should seek legislation to merge all county transit and highway agencies.

In a report the commission released Wednesday, a subcommittee recommended that the commission begin working with the Orange County Transit District and other public transit providers to develop language for a bill that would authorize a merger. Such a measure would have to pass the Legislature and be signed by Gov. George Deukmejian to become law.

The possibility of placing all county transportation agencies under the control of one board of directors has provoked debate among city and county officials. Most county officials like the idea. But some city officials have alleged that the move is a power grab and would result in the formation of a new board dominated by members of the Orange County Board of Supervisors.

The Transportation Commission sets transportation policy, pays for studies and helps pay for projects such as car-pool lanes and so-called super streets. The transit district runs a bus system and programs aimed at promoting ride sharing and use of flexible work schedules.

James P. Reichert, general manager of the Transportation Commission, has said he is keeping an open mind. But Wednesday he presented a staff report to the transit district’s board of directors that suggested a merger would “remove current checks and balances” between a policy-making body such as the Transportation Commission and a service provider such as the transit district.

The transit district’s report raised a number of other issues and alleged that advocacy for public transit services could be “diluted both at board level and in citizen participation.”

But the report also acknowledged that a new county transportation authority “would be perceived as more ‘powerful,’ which would enhance coordination with other agencies at the local, state and federal levels.”

The transit district’s board appointed its own subcommittee Wednesday to further study the merger issue.

In what appeared to be a battle of reports, the Transportation Commission’s document emphasized that the public needs to be able to know better whom to hold accountable for transportation decision-making. It concluded that there is duplication between all the boards and agencies involved in seeking funds and legislation both in Sacramento and in Washington.

Stanley T. Oftelie, executive director of the Transportation Commission, said Wednesday that his agency is already implementing some programs and is not just a policy overview agency as depicted by the transit district.