Thanks to $1 million in local state sales tax funds, passengers waiting to ride OC Bus will be able to shelter with greater comfort at 35 of the county’s busiest bus stops in the city of Santa Ana.
The funds are provided through OC Go, also known as Measure M, the county’s half-cent sales tax for transportation improvements. The measure, renewed by voters in 2006, includes funding to improve transit amenities at the county’s busiest bus stops.
This is part of OCTA’s ongoing investment in communities where the demand for public transit is greatest. Santa Ana, which has some of the county’s most heavily used bus routes, applied for the competitive funds and will work with OCTA to implement the upgrades.
“A big part of our mission is to provide our bus passengers with a safe and enjoyable experience that encourages them to ride public transit, and these local sales tax funds will significantly enhance the experience for OC Bus riders,” said OCTA Chairman Steve Jones, also the Mayor of Garden Grove.
The bus stops serve several popular routes along Bristol Street, 17th Street and Harbor Boulevard, among many other locations throughout the city.
Improvements include replacing existing shelters (from rain and sun), benches, trash receptacles, advertising cases and repairing concrete.
While bus stops throughout the county are located on city property and maintained by individual cities, OCTA works in partnership with those cities to determine the best locations for stops and provides competitive funding for improvements.
To date, the OCTA board has approved more than $3.1 million for similar bus-stop improvements throughout Orange County.