Bus Ridership Low, Defying State Trend

Orange County bus ridership this year will fall about 3 million short of expectation, transit officials said Monday, in part because they made drastic changes in the system despite protests from passengers.

As a result, the Orange County Transportation Authority will take in about $1.6 million less than anticipated, staff members reported to the board.

“We need to slow down the pace of major system changes, and assess their impact on our customers,” said Steve Wylie, OCTA’s assistant chief operating officer.

The transit agency increased the cost of an all-day fare last year from $2 to $2.50, and then overhauled bus routes, drawing 1,250 complaints from riders who said the new routes meant longer rides and more transfers.

In hindsight, staff members told the OCTA board, they should have collected better data and listened more carefully to rider feedback before making both changes in the same year.

That came as no surprise to many passengers.

“I think it was brave to admit they were going in the wrong direction,” said Jane Reifer, a leading critic of the OCTA changes who attended Monday’s board meeting. “But we’ve been telling them that.”

The shortfall in passengers has put Orange County at odds with statewide trends in public transportation. Of the state’s 29 largest transit systems, 25 are showing significant ridership increases.

Actually, OCTA ridership is increasing slightly--but far short of expectations.

After the route changes, many passengers complained that they had to go out of their way to catch a bus headed to their destination. Other riders were pleased with the changes, Wylie said.

“Any time you have a major change in routes, you’re going to lose some riders and gain some riders,” Wylie said. “But the riders you lose, you lose quickly. And those you gain come over a longer period of time, through marketing. One of the things we intend to do is a better job of marketing what services we have to offer.”

In a written report to the OCTA board, officials said their estimated target of 60.7 million boardings this year will drop to between 57 million and 58 million. Revenue for the year had been estimated at $39.3 million, but will come in closer to $37.7 million.

But transportation officials said these bleak numbers in no way reflect that the $2.50 fare and the new bus routes were a mistake--just that they should not have come so close together.

Wylie told the board that “$2.50 for a day’s worth of travel is still a good price by comparison.”

County Supervisor Todd Spitzer, who sits on the OCTA board, asked which change--the bus route overhaul or the day pass increase--had the most impact on ridership. Wylie said it was impossible to tell without better data.

OCTA plans new fare boxes as well as automated passenger counters to provide more reliable data on ridership.

By August, staff members told the board, OCTA should have ready a comprehensive proposal for winning back riders. Part of that package will include more frequency in core routes, and less waiting at bus stops.

“We need to squeeze out more productivity from our existing routes,” Wylie said.

Also included will be a better marketing plan, Wylie said, which will in part target Latinos and senior citizens.

Reifer said riders would welcome the more frequent buses on core routes, but said that must include more buses to downtown Santa Ana.

“OCTA also needs to do a much better job of keeping the public informed about its changes,” she said. “When they changed the routes last fall, people were showing up at bus stops only to discover no buses were coming.”

In other OCTA news, board members went on record opposing a bill by State Assemblyman Tom Harman (R-Huntington Beach) that would change the makeup of the OCTA board of directors to ensure Huntington Beach is represented. Harman complains that the OCTA is top-heavy with members of the Board of Supervisors, who hold four of the 11 voting seats.

“This has never been a parochial board,” said Supervisor Spitzer. “Supervisor [Jim] Silva has been diligent in representing Huntington Beach’s interests.”

Silva is a former Huntington Beach city councilman and represents the city as part of his district. Harman’s bill would decrease the number of supervisors to three, and would guarantee OCTA seats to appointments by the cities of Santa Ana, Anaheim, Huntington Beach, and Garden Grove. The number of voting members would increase from 11 to 13.