OCTA’s Sense of Direction

* Articles Jan. 11 and Jan. 14 show the Orange County Transportation Authority’s bias against roads and for rail.

OCTA will spend another $6 million for preliminary engineering of a light-rail system from Fullerton to Irvine which would cost us $1.7 billion counting only capital costs, and commit us to annual expenses of $70.4 million with no foreseeable source of such funds.

That will leave us with two possible solutions: an additional tax or abandoning the project. Three million dollars has already been spent studying transportation solutions and from it has come the fact that rail is the most expensive, least effective transportation solution.

When I voted for Measure M it was not for rail but for better transportation solutions that work--roads and highways.

LOUANN WALLACE

Santa Ana

* I was heartened to read in your Feb. 8 editorial acknowledgment of the sacrifices OCTA’s 750 bus drivers made due to the Orange County bankruptcy recovery plan.

These drivers took a direct pay cut and also suffered cuts in health benefits and working conditions, which translates into less pay for more work. It is not unusual for a driver to have earned $7,000 less this last year (after the cuts) than in previous years.

I hope that all the members of the OCTA board of directors and top management remember these sacrifices their drivers have made. No other group paid such a high price for the county’s bankruptcy than OCTA’s fine, professional coach operators, and it’s about time someone thanked them for their sacrifice.

MIKE PATTON

Business Representative

Teamsters Local 952

Orange