Last month, OCTA representatives attended the Orange County Council of Governments (OCCOG) 2024 Annual Conference, which brings together Orange County's elected leaders, as well as OCCOG members’ staff, partners, and the consultant community for education and collaboration to focus on five infrastructure policy areas including energy, transportation/mobility, water, air quality and land use/housing.
Representing OCTA at the gathering of nearly 200 Orange County leaders were CEO Darrell Johnson and Sustainability Planning Manager Dan Phu.
As part of a panel discussion titled “Changing Times in Transportation”, Johnson referenced several topics, including OCTA’s ongoing efforts to ensure that the coastal rail line is safe now and in the future, managing and delivering OCTA projects during an inflationary economy using cost-effective construction methods and long-range planning, and collaborating with partner transit agencies, county transportation commissions and others to continue moving forward with decreased funding.
During a session on “The Future of Infrastructure along Our Sensitive Coast”, Phu provided an overview of OCTA’s coastal rail efforts, including emergency repairs, assessments, collaboration with state agencies and coast rail resiliency studies.