Santa Ana

EDIT June 24, 2010: I got this email from Tamara Warren, project manager for corridor studies at OCTA, to clarify some of my errors in my original post. I've asked her for permission to post:

I would like to correct two points in the note.  The note mentions that the SR-22 connectors are part of the City of Santa Ana’s Go Local project.  This is not true.  Although the ramps are of interest to the City of Santa Ana and they would like to pursue further study, they are not part of their Go Local project.  The concept of ramps from the SR-22 connecting motorists to downtown Santa Ana utilizing the PEROW is part of the City of Santa Ana’s long term vision for the area. 

The note also mentions that Santa Ana’s Go Local project would prevent SCAG’s Pacific Electric corridor project.  OCTA owns the PEROW and along with all of the cities on the PEROW we are working in partnership with SCAG on their corridor study.  SCAG is coordinating with the City of Santa Ana with the intent to ensure whatever proposals come out of the SCAG study, they will complement each other and work in tandem and not prevent either effort.  I would appreciate it if you would correct the wording below to ensure the information being shared is accurate.  

Again, I really appreciate your interest in our CCCMIS study and for helping us get the word out on our study effort. Please let me know if you have any questions. 

OCTA staff are finalizing a set of options to present to the OCTA board and local governments on how to relieve congestion in central Orange County, based on a projected 15%-20% increase in population and congestion.

OCTA's staff are proposing the following ideas and this week have been soliciting feedback in workshops in the community. I went to their Fountain Valley meeting and a handful of people showed up, but from what I heard from other community members, improving transit service was a concern. Below is a comprehensive map of their proposals. Note that right now the team's survey will very likely gauge public support for these proposals; my guess is that OCTA's Board will cherry-pick from this list based on what people in Orange County vote on.

In other words, take OCTA's survey now!!

read more→

I'm catching up on all the transportation stories over the past month, and came across two Orange County Grand Jury reports that criticize OCTA for failing to protect transit commuters while spending a disproportionate amount of money on freeways and Metrolink. Within the same period, they criticized Santa Ana's City Council for a lack of government transparency in awarding a $4.85-million contract to the least-qualified firm for their pet Santa Ana streetcar project.

The OC Register, L.A. Times, and other blog outlets have articles that summarize the findings:

• Grand jury says OCTA fails low-income bus riders: After a 20 percent reduction in bus service, the grand jury wants OCTA to re-examine its spending decisions. (Orange County Register)
• O.C. Grand Jury criticizes Santa Ana council over transportation contract: A report says the bulk of a $4.85-million consulting agreement for a streetcar project went to a firm that experts had rated the least qualified of all the bidders. (Los Angeles Times) 
• Grand Jury Exposes Santa Ana City Countil...Now What! (TheLiberalOC.com)
• Well-connected firm got 'flawed' contract: Grand Jury finds that Santa Ana officials used a 'compromised' process to award a contract worth nearly $5 million. (Orange County Register)

Some choice tidbits from the Orange County Grand Jury report on OCTA's shortcomings: read more→

Tonight's the night! Doors open 5:30pm; we'll start the meeting at 6pm. Light refreshments will be served. Attached is the agenda, and here are some more details:

Santa Ana Depot (train station), 5th floor.
To arrive by transit: OCTA 59, 62, 83, 206, 462, 463, 464, Metrolink, Amtrak

Please attend; We'd love to meet you! You'll hear the latest on the bus funding situation, the bus cuts situation, and what can be done to help save our bus service. You can let us know your concerns and questions. Refreshments will be provided at no charge. Please let us know ASAP if you can volunteer as a greeter or translator.

Finally, we’ve arrived at a bright, sunny Orange County weekend. It’s what we needed, especially since we’re still recovering from storms of epic proportions that Southern California residents rarely experience. This past week’s storms have definitely impacted many people’s commute; whether it’s from flooding, traffic accidents, or uprooted trees and cars due to the high winds.

The news media has been pretty gracious to us, giving us way more coverage than we really deserved; yet many folks couldn’t help but stay home and tune in to “Storm Watch 2010.” As thorough as they may have been about these freak tropical storms, while flipping through the basic news channels, I noticed one huge topic that was left out; you guessed it- transit.

In the midst of all the shots of flooded streets, stranded cars, and (oddly enough) tornadoes, it was rare to see footage of how transit riders were coping with the weather. Our brothers in LA were more fortunate (or unfortunate) to get coverage of the fallen tree landing on the Gold Line, but beyond that, not much else. I find it disappointing that news channels claim to cover “your commute,” but of course that always pertains only to the car culture. I would love for a news channel to tell me which major streets or surface areas were beyond flooded (if you were commuting in Santa Ana, that’s every street corner), that way I could avoid waiting for a bus there during torrential downpours. read more→

After a crazy day at the women's urgent care clinic at UC Irvine Family Health Center in Santa Ana, our Ob/Gyn residents and we medical students chowed down at Pop's Café, a nearby sit-down eatery close to a cornucopia of regularly-running OCTA lines.

I had an omelette stuffed with cheddar cheese, avocado, tomatoes, topped with a cool dollop of cream cheese and fresh sprouts. Pop's Café comes with your choice of hash browns, irish potatoes (a lighter mix of potatoes with onions and morsels of green bell pepper), or watermelon.

Dr. Jordan (soon to become a gynecology-oncology fellow) ate hers with watermelon:

I ate mine with the Irish potatoes and two buttered pieces of raisin bread toast. It was delicious! read more→

Johanna Brewer, an Informatics Ph.D Candidate at UC Irvine, graciously allowed me to re-post her ethnography of the OCTA bus system here. She writes: "Alternative Mobilities [Who Rides the Bus and Why Do We Care?] is an ethnographic study of the Orange County public transportation system which I undertook with my colleague David Nguyen. In our study we were struck by the overwhelming diversity of the ways in which people ride the bus - and this in turn leads to a re-thinking of what "design for mobility" might be. We are working on a long paper about the study but you can get more information by reading this position paper."

You can visit her webpage, and download the original paper. read more→

The Transit Advocates held a rally in Santa Ana this past Thursday night.

Students from Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Long Beach, Santa Ana College, and UC Irvine helped conduct a peaceful rally that attracted more than 40 people, which is a pretty decent outcome for Orange County. The crowd included a lawyer, UC Irvine's CALPIRG transit committee president, social advocates, members from the Latino community, the disabilities community, Serena Maria Daniels and staff from the Orange County Register, a reporter for UC Irvine's New University newspaper, and Joel Zlotnik, in charge of media relations at OCTA.

The rally was both emotional and informative: members of the Transit Advocates (such as Roy Shahbazian below) outlined details of the service cuts (many of which this blog has covered — so I won't rehash the details).

If you missed the rally, the main point was handed out in this flyer I designed below. I've also uploaded more photos of the Orange County Bus Cuts Rally here. Here's the text of the flyer:

ATTEND OCTA’S BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING.

Monday, June 8, 2009 – 9:00 am
OCTA Headquarters, 1st Floor, Rm. 154, 600 S. Main St., Orange, CA
This is where the directors decide what to do with your bus service. Attend this meeting to tell them and Orange County that we demand better transit service.

CALL YOUR LEGISLATOR.

The only way to stop the cuts: restore transit funding! Most legislators voted to eliminate funds to keep your bus running — and they don’t know the severe impact they had on transit. Tell them how the cuts affect you and demand they restore funding.

Speaking points to legislators:
• Budget cuts impact bus riders. Bus service is being reduced by almost 40%!
• Bus service is a lifeline transportation for people with no alternatives — riders will lose their jobs and healthcare.
• We have bus capital funding, but we need bus operations funding.
• Ask them to explore ways to restore operations funding, or ask feds to make capital funding flexible on a temporary emergency basis.

Not sure who your state legislators are?
• Call (714) 567-7600, the OC Registrar of Voters
• Visit www.leginfo.ca.gov/yourleg.html read more→