Countywide : New Task Force Will Explore Rail Projects

Orange County’s tollway agencies formed a task force Thursday to explore the possibility of installing rail transit systems along the routes of three planned toll facilities.

“In my opinion, it is incumbent upon the boards of directors of these agencies to examine all aspects of transit,” said San Juan Capistrano Mayor Gary L. Hausdorfer.

Hausdorfer and Costa Mesa Mayor Peter F. Buffa, both directors of the Orange County Transportation Corridor Agencies, briefed other board members about their recent tour of high-speed rail facilities in West Germany and France.

Both mayors said that private firms interested in using the tollway agencies’ rights of way for rail projects could be tapped for funds that would help alleviate the agencies’ current cash crunch.

The tollways are to be financed with developer fees and toll revenue. But pre-construction expenses are exceeding revenue because tolls can’t be collected until the roads are already in use, officials said. Plans call for issuing construction bonds, but officials are attempting to delay such financing as long as possible in order to minimize interest charges.

Buffa, who is a member of a privately funded foundation boosting local and regional rail transit projects, said he will meet early next month with Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich to discuss proposals for a high-speed monorail service that would loop the Los Angeles-Orange County basin.

The Japan-based HSST Corp. has proposed such a monorail loop, but the firm has also demanded concessions on a variety of financial and environmental issues, including free rights of way, development rights along monorail routes and exclusive franchises in perpetuity.

In addition to Hausdorfer and Buffa, the rail task force includes Orange County supervisors Gaddi H. Vasquez and Thomas F. Riley, Irvine Mayor Larry Agran, San Clemente Councilwoman Holly Veale, Newport Beach Councilman John C. Cox Jr., Santa Ana Mayor Daniel E. Young and Tustin Mayor Richard B. Edgar.