OCTA Report Paints Dire Results From Recovery Plan

Using transportation tax funds to help bail out bankrupt Orange County threatens to reduce bus service by at least 21%, cause more than 200 layoffs and force the elimination of bus routes heavily relied upon by commuters, the disabled and the poor, according to a report released Thursday.

The dire scenario was depicted in an Orange County Transportation Authority report as state legislators mulled the county’s bankruptcy recovery plan, which involves a complicated tax-swap that could strip the OCTA of $15 million a year for 15 years.

While OCTA has given its qualified approval to the bankruptcy recovery plan, Lisa Mills, the agency’s assistant chief executive officer, said it cannot lose that much income without transit services taking a hit.

“That’s just not realistic,” Mills said. “There are consequences to having this deficit. There are going to be some very deep, painful cuts.”

The 21% reduction in service would mean:

* Elimination of 31 of 73 countywide bus routes and reduction of service along remaining routes by 10%.

* Reduction of service to South County from 22 routes to eight.

* Ending express bus service between Orange, Riverside and Los Angeles counties, as well as rail station bus shuttles.

* Ending preparations for a community shuttle bus program set to begin in October in Mission Viejo and other county areas.

But perhaps the most controversial cut would involve limiting personalized pickups for the disabled and seniors to a three-quarter-mile stretch along main bus routes--the minimum required by federal law.

And that’s the rosy view.

The 21% bus service reduction is predicated on passage of the county’s current bankruptcy plan, which strips OCTA of $38 million in transit tax revenue every year for 15 years but “backfills” the loss with $23 million in annual gasoline tax money dedicated to road construction.

If the gasoline money is not part of the final plan, service would be slashed by up to 57%, Sunday bus service would be eliminated, there would be no door-to-door service for South County’s elderly and disabled, and about 500 employee positions would be eliminated, according to the report.

The predicted impacts worry those who work with the disabled and elderly. Some observers, however, say the predictions are part of an OCTA campaign to fend off any further tax grab as it fights a public perception of it as a cash-rich agency reluctant to lend a hand to the bankrupt county.

“As we’ve seen and heard before, the OCTA threatens cuts. But there is always some way to find the money,” said Bruce Whitaker of the Committees of Correspondence, a citizens group monitoring the bankruptcy recovery efforts.

Orange County Supervisor William G. Steiner, who serves on the OCTA Board of Directors, also believes the report focuses on a worst-case scenario.

“I’m more optimistic than that,” Steiner said. “I feel we can set some priorities and shift some funds to soften the blow.”

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In a related development, a $20,000 poll released Thursday by OCTA found that 58% of county voters would oppose a ballot measure diverting transportation funds to help the bankrupt county government.

The results contradict the views of numerous county officials, state representatives and agency critics who believe voters would be willing to divert Measure M funds to help the county recover from bankruptcy.

Supervisor Jim Silva, who lobbied for a public vote on the issue, said he is skeptical of the poll’s findings and wondered whether the poll questions had a certain “spin” to them. OCTA officials defended the poll of 600 county voters as fair, objective and an accurate reflection of voter sentiment.

Mills noted that the $38-million annual tax diversion is not the only loss OCTA faces. The agency has yet to recover $221 million in funds that remain tied up in the county’s investment pool collapse, and is bracing itself for a 44% cut in federal transit funds.

OCTA’s board of directors will have the final say about what transit programs will be cut, Mills said, adding that they will probably look for ways to lessen the impact on bus service. The study, Mills said, gave priority to the routes most used by bus riders and those used mostly by riders with few alternatives.

“We may be able to find some ways to mitigate the impact, but we cannot backfill all of that loss,” Mills said. “The impacts are going to be severe. The board will have to make some tough decisions.”

While OCTA is the richest agency in the county, its funds are often restricted by legal requirements and mandates, preventing agency officials from swapping funds from one project or service to another, officials said.

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The prospect of service cuts sent shock waves through agencies that provide support and services to the elderly and disabled, many of whom cannot drive and cannot afford transportation alternatives.

“This is frightening because mobility is a big issue for people with disabilities,” said Harry Taylor, community services planner for the Regional Center of Orange County, a nonprofit agency for children and adults with developmental disabilities. Hundreds of his clients depend on some sort of OCTA bus service, Taylor said.

“We’re worried about what kind of an impact this might have,” said Peggy Weatherspoon, director of the Orange County Area Agency on Aging, which serves people who are 60 or older, most of whom are at or below the poverty level. “Seniors depend on bus services to get them to senior centers, nutritional sites and medical appointments. It’s vital.”