Countywide : Gas Prices Mixed Blessing for OCTD

While motorists are having to contend with sharp increases at the gas pump, consider the problem for the fleet of buses operated by the Orange County Transit District.

A report presented to the district’s board Monday showed that the price of diesel fuel, even at wholesale values, has risen 55% and will cost the transit district $1.8 million a year more if prices remain level, said Joanne Curran, the district’s spokeswoman.

OCTD buys 5.4 million gallons of fuel a year to power its fleet of 442 buses.

The price of fuel is not locked into OCTD’s contract with Chevron, and the Aug. 3 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait has driven prices up from 52 cents a gallon to $1.07.

Curran said the district had budgeted fuel costs at 63 cents a gallon. But there is some good news, she said. During the last gas crunch in 1979, ridership increased 40%, Curran said.

If higher gasoline prices do persuade more commuters to abandon their cars and start taking the bus, the district can put 40 additional buses, reserved for emergency situations, into service, she said.

Annual ridership is at 46 million passengers, Curran said. But if the wholesale price of fuel should rise another 20%, and if the state mandates gas rationing, as it did in 1979, ridership could top 51 million passengers annually.

“If that happens, we’ll need an additional 45 buses and as many as 20 of our present bus lines would get additional service,” Curran said.