Direct bus route from H.B. to Angel Stadium approved

The Orange County Transportation Authority board of directors Monday approved a direct bus route from Huntington Beach to Angel Stadium in Anaheim.

The approval sets the stage for OCTA’s acceptance of a $128,500 grant that would put the bus in service beginning April 4.

The Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Review Committee will decide Thursday whether to approve the grant, which would pay for the operating cost of the express bus service, said OCTA spokesman Eric Carpenter.

Carpenter said nearly 3 million fans visit Angel Stadium for Angels home baseball games each year. About 60,000 people from western Orange County, including Huntington Beach, Seal Beach, Fountain Valley and Westminster, visited the stadium last year.

This will be the first bus in the county that takes fans directly to Angel Stadium. Regular bus lines stop near the stadium on State College Boulevard and Katella Avenue in Anaheim, but this is the first that will drop off riders close to the entrance.

OCTA expects about 170 to 230 fans per game to take the bus to the stadium.

“We’re excited to expand the public transportation options for more of Orange County to get to Angels home games,” Carpenter said. “OCTA wants to do all we can to ensure that people think about taking the train or a bus instead of getting in their cars to get to the stadium.”

The bus, which would run from the Goldenwest Transportation Center at 7301 Center Ave., is scheduled to cost $2 each way for adults and 75 cents for senior citizens and disabled passengers. Children 5 and younger can ride free with a paying adult.

Carpenter said the Angels Express Bus is aimed to complement Angels Express Rail, which was implemented in 2011 in south Orange County and the Inland Empire.

“The Angels Express Bus service is intended to serve areas where rail service to the stadium is not as readily available,” he said.