OCTA continues to emphasize active transportation such as bicycling and walking as part of a balanced and sustainable network of transportation options to help people more easily move through the county.
Working with local city planners and stakeholders to provide education, safety awareness, and engineering for bike and pedestrian paths, OCTA accomplished the following:
The OC Loop – Strong progress has been made on the vision for 66 miles of continuous trails for the county’s active transportation users. The Loop is now approximately 88% complete, with recent construction taking place in Anaheim and Yorba Linda, as well as in the County of Orange jurisdiction. Work continues to close remaining gaps in the Loop, including about 3 miles in Garden Grove and Santa Ana along the OCTA-owned Pacific Electric right of way
Safe Travels Education Program (STEP) – OCTA has collaborated with STEP, a program that implements safe walking and biking routes to school by promoting safety campaigns in at least 25 public elementary schools. Those efforts have included working with schools and parents to coordinate the safest routes to schools in Anaheim, Buena Park, Costa Mesa, Garden Grove, Orange, Santa Ana, Placentia, Westminster, and Yorba Linda.
Electric Bikes (E-bikes) – OCTA collaborated with a social media influencer to develop e-bike safety content for younger riders. The video received more than 1 million views on Instagram and more than 500,000 views on other social media platforms. OCTA continues to raise awareness for safe e-bike operations and is planning additional community outreach.
Public Virtual Workshops – OCTA hosted virtual workshops to receive public feedback about implementing alignments for three additional regional bikeways. OCTA discussed concepts along with addressing potential concerns for successfully implementing the bikeways. The final report addressing issues raised during the public workshops is expected to be finished this fall.
2023 Bike to Work Month and Return of Bike Rally – OCTA marked Bike to Work Month this year and, after three years off because of the COVID-19 pandemic, returned with a record-breaking Bike Rally on May 18. More than 70 cyclists, including OCTA board members, city officials, and public attendees, participated to promote how convenient – and healthy – biking to work and beyond can be.
Over the past several years, at both the state and federal level, funding and policy have shifted with more emphasis on active transportation. This shift included a $1 billion augmentation to the state’s Active Transportation Program, development of new grant programs administered by the Southern California Association of Governments and funded by the California Department of Housing & Community Development, and sustainability and equity grants focused on multimodal transportation and resiliency. Learn more about OCTA’s active transportation efforts here.