Cellphones Mean Less Call for Call Boxes; Half Will Go
About half the call boxes on Orange County’s roads will be removed by July because motorists increasingly use cellular telephones in emergencies, transportation officials decided Monday.
The Orange County Transportation Authority board approved a plan to reduce the number of yellow call boxes to no more than 600 on freeways and state highways.
OCTA will space the phones every half mile instead of every quarter mile, as previously required. Call boxes also will remain available in parts of the county with limited cellphone coverage, such as canyons and remote areas, including Ortega Highway east of San Juan Capistrano.
In 1992, motorists in Orange County placed roughly 150,000 calls from call boxes. Last year, they made about 23,000.
OCTA officials say the plan will save about $1 million the first year -- money that will be passed on to the authority’s fleet of 35 trucks used to assist stranded motorists.
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