Perhaps you enjoyed a trolley trip in Dana Point last summer and avoided the hassle of driving or parking in the popular beach town. Maybe you went back to Laguna Beach and visited the seasonal art shows because the Laguna Beach Summer Breeze eliminated the fun-sapping traffic along the main road through town.
If so, you were one of the more than 1.8 million people who have taken advantage of an OCTA program that gives funding to cities to operate shuttles, trolleys and special event transportation. The funding is provided through OC Go (also known as Measure M), the county’s half-cent sales tax for transportation improvements
To date, the OCTA board has awarded more than $43 million from the program to help fund 29 for of these services that make it convenient to hop on a shuttle instead of getting in their car.
Eighteen services were in operation between April and September of last year, including those in Dana Point, Huntington Beach, Laguna Beach, Lake Forest, Newport Beach, San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano.
San Clemente also operates a service through the program that subsidies Lyft fares for those looking for a ride in neighborhoods previously served by OC Bus routes 191 and 193, which were eliminated in 2016 because of low productivity.