OCTD Votes to Purchase 40 New Buses : Transit: Two board members oppose the move, contending that present buses aren’t running at capacity and petroleum-fueled vehicles are on the way out.

Faced with soaring ridership and passenger complaints about delays in service, the Orange County Transit District board voted 3 to 2 Tuesday to buy 40 new buses in advance of 1991 anti-smog regulations that would effectively ban the purchase.

Supervisor Roger R. Stanton, who heads the OCTD board, voted against the purchase after suggesting that the current fleet is not running at capacity. He noted that he sees buses on the street occasionally that are “far less than filled.”

“Are we increasing capacity far more than we need to?” Stanton asked.

John Erskine, a Huntington Beach councilman, also voted against the proposal, saying that the district should not purchase more petroleum-fueled vehicles.

In building their case for the new buses, OCTD officials pointed to a 33% increase in ridership during the past two years and a rise of more than 50% in passenger complaints, mostly about service delays.

They also said the district must make the purchase this year because federal air-pollution regulations that take affect Jan. 1, 1991, will require use of engines that are not commercially available.

The new anti-smog regulations will be enforced by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The South Coast Air Quality Management District is considering similar rules.

The rules would require that bus emissions be reduced to levels currently obtained with experimental, methanol-fueled buses, which produce 90% less soot or particulate matter, and about half the nitrous oxides of a regular bus, according to AQMD spokesman Tom Eichhorn.

Erskine said he was opposed to increasing the district’s reliance on petroleum and recommended that the district use its smaller, propane-powered Dial-A-Ride vans as much as possible until new engines that run on alternate fuels become available in the “next year to two years.”

“I guess we’re caught between a rock and hard spot,” OCTD General Manager James P. Reichert said after the board meeting. “We would love to have zero-polluting buses, and there is much progress being made, but the engines we need (to meet new emission standards) are simply not being manufactured.

“At the same time,” Reichert added, “we’re getting tremendous pressure to put additional service out there.”

Tuesday’s vote authorized the expenditure of $9.6 million to buy the 40 buses, purchase two experimental “superbuses” that have been provided for the past two years by a private contractor, and refurbish 27 buses.