In 2017, OCTA kept Orange County’s residents, workers and visitors moving forward with progressive transportation services and ideas for today and tomorrow.
Moving forward on the I-405, the nation’s most congested freeway and the biggest project in the agency’s history, OCTA signed a $1.9 million design-build contract and secured a loan with the U.S. Department of Transportation for $629 million to improve 16 miles between SR-73 and I-605.
The Federal government helped OC Streetcar roll forward with $50 million in funding and approval to enter into the engineering phase.
After five years and seven bridges and underpasses, the O.C. Bridges Program was completed. The program built structures along the BNSF Corridor in Anaheim, Fullerton, and Placentia that eliminated the need for drivers to wait at railroad crossings.
OC Bus 360°, an ongoing effort to reinvent transit service, improved travel times and frequencies on 12 routes and introduced Route 53Xpress, a limited-stop service that reduces commute times between Anaheim and Santa Ana. The OC Bus mobile ticketing app recorded nearly 40,000 registered users and collected approximately 7 percent of total fare revenue, more than double the industry average.
Since October 2016, OC Bus weekday ridership has increased nearly 20 percent on routes where service was improved.
Summer shuttle and trolley services set ridership records in Laguna Beach, Huntington Beach, Dana Point, Newport Beach, San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano. OC Fair Express Saturday and Sunday service recorded 88,000 boardings, a 33 percent boost compared to last year’s weekend numbers.
Metrolink in Orange County welcomed an average 6,000 weekday boardings and carried 4.5 million people. The Angels Express carried fans to 53 Angels’ home games with more than 39,000 boardings. Rams football fans rode special Metrolink trains to LA, racking up 4,000 boardings during five weekends of service.
Commuters took advantage of OC Vanpool to form 88 new vanpools, bringing the total number to 531. OC Vanpool provided service to 151 worksites throughout the county and added 10 new employers to the program, which takes cars off the road while reducing commuter stress, time, and expense.
Find out more by viewing OCTA’s year-end accomplishments report and video.