14 Practical Approaches to the Maddening Snarl Are Rewarded

Somebody ought to do something about this mess!

Is there a driver in the county who has not muttered those words at one time or another?

Complaining about traffic is easy. It takes much more to look around a crowded freeway and say, “I’m going to do something about this mess!”

Meet some folks who have done just that--the 14 winners of the 1989 Orange County Transportation Partnership Awards, presented last week in Anaheim.

And close behind are the 100 winners of the Orange County Transportation Commission’s 100 Traffic Solutions contest. Their suggestions were chosen from among more than 4,000 ideas submitted by 1,037 people, including many Life on Wheels readers.

The OCTC also sponsored the Transportation Partnership Awards, in conjunction with private industry.

“We just wanted to be civic minded,” says Jim Boulter, transportation coordinator for Hughes Micro Electronics in Rancho Santa Margarita, which won for its ride-sharing program.

“Every employee who comes in to work for us fills out an information form on how they come to work and how they would prefer to come to work,” he says.

After the form is processed, “We go back to them with a readout showing their choices and ask what they’d like to do,” he says.

The company offers van pools and car pools with preferred parking spaces, as well as showers and lockers for employees who run, walk or bike to work. So far, about half the 880 employees take advantage of those options.

Digital Equipment Corp. in Tustin did not just make the commute easier for some employees. Peter Jacklin, area information systems manager, eliminated it, in some cases, with a telecommuting program. Now many of the 45 employees working out of the company’s Tustin office can work at home up to 3 days a week.

La Habra-based Alpha Beta won for a multipronged effort to keep both its company vehicles and employee cars off the road during peak hours. According to Ronald Keele, the company’s director of transportation services, Alpha Beta trucks make 2,000 weekly deliveries, all during off-peak hours. The company also encourages flex-time, car pools and bicycle commuting.

The Associated Students of UC Irvine did not listen when experts told them that a student shuttle was not feasible. Now they operate four vans on three routes from as far away as the Balboa Peninsula, with fares set at 50 cents or less.

“The administration told us it would never work,” says Matthew Bracy, a UCI graduate who supervises the shuttle, “but we convinced them to give us a trial period.”

That was 2 years ago. Now, Bracy says, “we’re having a real explosion in ridership--a 56% overall increase from last year, and we’re 71% above winter quarter last year.”

Hughes Aircraft in Newport Beach offered incentives for ride-sharing and flex-time, including reserved, shaded parking spaces for car-poolers and a drawing with prizes. The company also offers locker and shower facilities for those who get to work under their own power.

Speaking of incentives, the Orange County Transit District won for setting up its commuter network seed fleet, offering vans to groups of five or more people who want to test-drive the idea of van-pooling. The vans are available for up to 90 days. All seven of the groups that participated last year set up their own permanent programs.

The South Coast Metro Alliance Transportation Management Assn. was also honored for incentives. During California Rideshare Week, the group sponsored programs with food, prizes and a rally to encourage drivers to share.

Anaheim won for establishing a city commuter services office, which provides free information on alternatives to driving.

Commuters may someday travel by rail along the same routes once used by the Pacific Electric Red Cars, thanks to the Lossan Rail Corridor Committee, whose members were honored for exploring rail corridors and old rights of way.

County Supervisor Harriett M. Wieder won for proposing that county employees use flex-time and alternative work hours. Sen. Marian Bergeson (R-Newport Beach) was a winner for her efforts to set up freeway call boxes, increase fines for car-pool lanes and expedite the Caltrans road design process. Sen. John Seymour (R-Anaheim), was recognized for introducing legislation requiring state agencies to use van pools.

“Commander” Chuck Street, traffic scout for KIIS-FM radio in Los Angeles, won for his efforts to encourage ride-sharing. The Saddleback Valley News was honored for a series on transportation.

OCTD Executive Director Stan Oftelie admits that not all of the 100 Traffic Solutions winning ideas can be implemented, “but all of these potential solutions merit careful consideration.”

Many of the ideas were suggested by several people, in which case the committee chose the best letter on the subject.

The envelopes, please:

* Bicycle commuting information center--Clyde James, Santa Ana.

* Survey of workers to establish needs for bike routes--Ralph Kennedy, La Habra.

* Bike trails on flood channels, utility company and former railroad rights of way--Ken Reynolds, La Habra.

* Barrier-separated bicycle routes along freeways or arterials--Jeffrey Masterson, Laguna Hills.

* Striping through intersections and removal of parking spots so bicyclists are not forced into traffic--Loren Felts, Huntington Beach.

* 24-hour bus route information phone--D.K. Bassett, Santa Ana.

* Evening bus service--Andrea Erickson, Lake Forest.

* Freeway express buses--Tom Shores, Corona.

* More park-and-ride lots--Dianne Cantor, Huntington Beach.

* Privately owned bus companies for express routes--Dave Schonfeld, Fullerton.

* Stops for public buses at company sites--Pete Whitney, Huntington Beach.

* Synchronize schedules among transit providers--Cathy Ekenstedt, South Laguna.

* Bus feeder systems for rail transit--Margaret Balmes, Yorba Linda.

* A regular newspaper feature about transportation solutions--Rob Merrell, Tustin.

* 24-hour “all-traffic” radio station--Paul Baldwin, Newport Beach.

* Movie theater film messages about transportation--Kim Shultz, Riverside.

* A “courtesy is contagious” campaign--Charles Randolph, Balboa Island.

* A logo to publicize traffic solutions--Andrea Brown, Anaheim.

* Educate students to become part of the solution process--Mary Ellen Hadley, Irvine.

* Educational videos on such topics as trucks and bad-weather driving--Harold Dunegan, Laguna Niguel.

* Raise minimum driving age to 18--George Hanlon, Huntington Beach.

* Prohibit uninsured drivers from registering their vehicles--Jane Kleiser, El Toro.

* Impound unregistered vehicles--Chuck Rhynes, Huntington Beach.

* Require annual vehicle safety inspections--Michele Slates, Fullerton.

* Tire-puncturing devices to stop wrong-way entry onto freeway off-ramps--anonymous.

* Sensor-triggered photos and mail citations to drivers running red lights--Gloria Schlaepfer, Fullerton.

* The same for violators of car-pool lanes--Frank Jussenhoven, Costa Mesa.

* Teach motorcyclists about the dangers of weaving in and out of traffic at high speed--Peter Ledergerber, Rancho Santa Margarita.

* Double-deck freeways--Jack Bentley, Santa Ana.

* Reversible-flow lanes on freeways--William Thompson, Irvine.

* Peak-period use of freeway shoulders--Garold Adams, Corona del Mar.

* Extend freeway lanes to eliminate lane-reduction bottlenecks--Melissa Makshanoff, Yorba Linda.

* Vision screens along freeway medians--Budd Anderson, Huntington Beach.

* Portable gawk screens--Mark Morton, Yorba Linda.

* CHP taking offenders off the freeway for ticket writing--Lyndon Kurt, Garden Grove.

* Raise the gas tax--Victor Caliva, Newport Beach.

* A transportation sales tax--Norma Stuard, El Toro.

* A value-added tax--Gordon Shaw, Placentia.

* Reduced parking fees for multiple-occupant vehicles--Wesley Hylen, Newport Beach.

* Raise vehicle registration fee--Kathie Driscoll, Irvine.

* Raise driver’s license fee--Warren DeYoung, Garden Grove.

* Develop private roads--Anthony Coco, Tustin.

* Growth management based on traffic performance--Marilee Pruitt, Irvine.

* More authority for coordinated regional planning--Bradley Woodhull, Fullerton

* Better jobs/housing balance--Bette-Jean Darst, Fullerton.

* Development of mixed residential-office-commercial sites--Jerome Greenblatt, Laguna Hills.

* Job bank/job swap for employment close to home--Robert Hill, Brea.

* Streamlined project planning and approval--John Michler, Irvine.

* Built-in parking space deficiency to encourage car-pooling and use of public transit--Wayne Clark, Irvine.

* More car-pool lanes--Dan Will, Huntington Beach.

* Educate employers about ride sharing tax credits--Jan Scholte, Mission Viejo.

* Tax rebates for public transit users--Kim Higgins, Costa Mesa.

* Incentives for shipping by boat or rail instead of truck--Scott McClellan, Capistrano Beach.

* Free ride promotions on Amtrak--Scott Frederickson, Laguna Niguel.

* Employer incentives for ride-sharing--Sandy Nelson, Corona.

* Preferential parking for car- and van-poolers--Adair Small, Irvine.

* Telecommuting--Debora Tesch, Irvine.

* Traffic solution contests--Richard Miller, Laguna Beach.

* Collision-avoidance radar--Frederick Mehrtens, Irvine.

* Automatic freeways--Beatrice Greer, Los Alamitos.

* Electric cars--Anne Butler, Orange.

* Smaller vehicles--Al Zoraster, San Clemente.

* Boat transit along the coast--Ron Holben, Huntington Beach.

* A traffic satellite (for traffic radio)--Rich O’Donnell, Redlands.

* In-car emergency beacons--Ken Morgan, Fountain Valley.

* Bar-code scanning system to bill for peak period usage--Lawrence Alderson, Tustin.

* Staggered hours in various areas--Daniel Smith, Tustin; Paul Balbach, Redlands; Steve Rode, Fountain Valley; Howard Williams, Santa Ana; Mark Gaughan, Balboa Island.

* Various forms of rail transit. Audrey Belmont, San Clemente; Karen Fong, Mission Viejo; Eric Donald, Cypress; Steve Barrett, Dana Point; Linda Grande, Corona; Frank Harding, El Toro; Wayne Watten, Orange; Thomas Trischler, Orange.

* Signs giving advance warning for freeway ramps--Kathy Harlan, Placentia.

* Intersection signs indicating whether street numbers are increasing or decreasing--Gene Kohler, Mission Viejo.

* Fluorescent street signs--Gerri Neal, Irvine.

* Freeway message boards--Neal Runsvold, Orange.

* Glove compartment maps of alternate routes--Larry Seigel, Irvine.

* Traffic-responsive signals instead of phased by time--Elayne Clarke, Tustin.

* Relocate pavement sensors for earlier signal triggering--Cheryl Endo, Santa Ana.

* Signals that allow left turns when there is no oncoming traffic--Michael Berlant, Irvine.

* Super streets--Allen Shirley, San Clemente.

* Add traffic lanes by eliminating parking and bike lanes--Chris Ema, Santa Ana.

* Turnouts for buses--Don Sizemore, Santa Ana.

* More one-way streets--Don Connelly Jr., Santa Ana.

* Reversible lanes on surface streets--Mark Nakakihara, Santa Ana.

* Grade-separated intersections and rail crossings--Pat Stuart, Orange.

* Traffic circles--Mr. and Mrs. Allan Stramler, La Habra.

* Peak-hour or general left-turn restrictions--Gordon Ripley, Buena Park.

* Lengthened turn pockets--Ted Mastos, Balboa Island.

* Prohibit trucks on freeways during peak hours--N.L. Anciaux, Seal Beach.

* Limit trucks to right lane except for passing--Harold Kaufman, Dana Point.

* Strict enforcement of truck load cover requirements--Mark Sloate, Dana Point.