Public Transit Policy, Analysis, Advocacy and Education
Newsletter of the Southern California Transit Advocates
Vol 10, No. 4, April 2002

Disclaimer: The Southern California Transit Advocates is not affiliated with any governmental agency or transportation provider. Names and logos of agencies appear for information and reference purposes only. 

At 9:23 a.m. I arrived at The Depot (aka Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center), meeting up with several members of SO.CA.TA and TAOC (Transit Advocates of Orange County). For a 15-20 minutes we indulged in an exploration of the station (I was impressed how many OCTA schedules were in the rack) before a hurried dashed through the parking lot in front of the station to reach the streetside bus stop at Santiago and Santa Ana Blvd. [Mark Strickert in his notes for the itinerary states direct service to the station is limited to weekday "StationLink" shuttles for Metrolink users, and a few off-hour shortlining #205s]. The bus we wished to catch (line 205) was already at the stop and we barely had time to cross the street and board at 9:54 a.m. It was a 1997 New Flyer low floor (#5328) with 20-25 passengers [all ride counts in this report exclude study tour participants]. After a quick five minute trip we arrived at the Santa Ana Transit Terminal (SATT).

SATT is one of my favorite transit facilities in the region. There are places to sit, a roof over your head, bathrooms and phones in the vicinity, an information board with schedules and during the daytime a food cart that sells hot dogs, snack foods and sodas. It almost constitutes bus rider heaven compared to the conditions we usually endure waiting for a bus. I luxuriated while glancing over the itinerary (6 pages including maps!). Phil Capo had now joined our merry band which consisted of: Russ Jones, Armando Avalos, Mark Strickert, Barry Christensen, Jane Reifer, Phil Capo, Dan Dalke, T.J. Stiller, plus Jose Solorio of OCTA with his son Michael.

One thing I noticed early was all the bus operators wore ribbons to honor the victims of Sept. 11th. (which had happened only two weeks prior).

After exploring/using the facilities/getting a quick snack we boarded line 155 at 10:20 a.m. The bus was a 1980 GMC RTS 03 (#3047) with cushioned seats. Our trip became a rolling colloquium on land use and transportation issues as Phil and Jane pointed our various features along the route. My impression was we were moving thru a commercial district. There was a great deal of transferring at Edinger and Standard to route 70 (the portion of the 155 we were riding used to be part of route 70). As we continued the surroundings became more industrial. At 10:47 a.m. we arrived at MacArthur and Main where we deboarded.

From the same location we caught route 180 at 10:55 a.m. This vehicle was another GMC RTS (#3062). There were only 4 passengers (besides us) but as the bus traveled along the route it began picking up passengers: 4 at Bristol, 3 at Callen's Common, 6 (and a bike!) at Sunflower plus many more boardings at South Coast Plaza. By the time we reached Baker there were 28 passengers. Along Baker many riders deboarded until at Mendoza only 8 passengers remained.

Now we had steady boarding and deboarding while passing thru a landscape of swap meets and schools. At Fairview & Arlington (adjacent to Orange Coast College) 8 passengers boarded. Shortly thereafter at Harbor and Wilson we bid farewell to Jose and Michael and as they hopped off thanked them for joining us. As we continued I noticed many shopping locations along the route. After fairly stable ridership the bus started to empty out with a large number of deboardings at Placentia and 19th. Tina Erickson informs me most of the people deboarding at Placentia and 19th used this shared stop to board the 47. Prior to "Straightlining," the southbound 43 turned west on Wilson to Placentia, south on Placentia to Hospital Rd. Since the 45 was routed south on Fairview to Wilson, west on Wilson to Harbor and south on Harbor to Victoria, OCTA wishing to simplify routing, "straightlined" the 43 on Harbor and the 45, (now the 47) on Wilson. After the change, people tried to connect the 43 with the 47 at Wilson. Now, since the 55 (was 180) shares stops on Harbor, people avoid walking between stops by going 43, 180 (55), 47. IMHO, staying at a shared stop is much safer than walking from one stop to another. As we continued I noticed we were in an industrial area that transitioned to commercial by the time we reached Orange and 17th at 11:35 a.m.

With 30 minutes until we caught our next bus members of the group fanned out to take a break. I ended up at a Koo Koo Roo with several of our group and in the midst of our animated discussion of transit issues we were surprised to note the song being played as background music was Judy Garland singing the Trolley Song from the movie Meet Me in St. Louis. This seemed to us a good portent for the tour. At 12:05 p.m. we caught route 173, an Aerotech cutaway (#8217) with 3 passengers. Our interest in this route is because it is slated for elimination (it averages 20 boardings a day). We deboarded at Placentia and Hoag Drive about 12:10 p.m., adjacent to Hoag Hospital.

We were supposed to catch at this location a route 71 bus due by at 12:20 p.m. Instead for 40 minutes we waited with the bus a no show. After a bit I found seating on the entranceway to the building we stood in front of (there was no shelter or bench at this stop) since it was looking like we might be there a while. Attempts were made to contact OCTA via cell phone and ascertain what the status of our bus was to no satisfactory effect. Finally at 12:47 p.m. the bus belatedly appeared, an RTS with 18 passengers (#3013). Among those already on board was a passenger in a wheelchair (who deboarded soon after we got on). There were also some riders carrying surfboards with them. We arrived at Balboa and 23rd in Newport Beach about 1 p.m.,half an hour behind our original schedule. Most of our party ate at Taqueria Tia Rosa, a Mexican-style eatery owned by a supporter of improved public transit! Phil Capo went down the street to the Crab Cookery, another highly regarded Newport eatery. While we ate our homemade tacos, quesadillas and burritos we were delighted to have a new TAOC member join our tour: Tina Erickson.

After finishing the repast some wandered to briefly explore the beach while the rest of us crossed the street to wait at the bus stop. Thankfully our party regrouped before the route 47 bus pulled up at 2:02 p.m. It was a New Flyer D-40 high floor (#5016). The bus operator was know-legeable and quickly answered questions posed by boarding riders.

By Placentia the bus began to fill up. While passing a swap meet we had 23 riders and with continued boardings we eventually had a seated load. Along McFadden there was heavy boarding/deboarding activity. We stayed on until Fairview and First, getting off at 2:50 p.m. Barry stayed on to go home and we gave him a fond farewell as the bus pulled away.

A this point our original trip plan was being adjusted to compensate for the late running route 71 (thankfully just such "wiggle room" had been built into the plan). From Fairview and First we caught route 64 at 3:07 p.m. It was a high floor Gillig Phantom (#4142) with 20+ passengers. We deboarded at First and Bristol at 3:15 p.m. This intersection had been chosen to highlight an issue relating to safety for bus riders. It was a desolate locale and I easily grasped at night time it would be be a dark and scary place to wait at to catch a bus. Mark Strickert tells me OCTA occasionally talks of setting up lighting for bus stops, but so far it's still just talk. At 3:27 p.m. we caught another route 64 bus. It was a New Flyer low floor (#5347) with 23 passengers. The seating layout was odd with many side facing seats at in the front half of the bus. Tina Erickson tells me all of OCTA's New Flyer low floors numbered from 5300 through 5410 or so have this "odd seating layout." Presumably it was designed this way for easy wheelchair access. The side facing seats on the right side allow for a wider aisle. The L-shaped configurations of four seats are where the wheelchairs go. We pulled into the Santa Ana Transit Terminal where most of the riders deboarded. I have since learned from Tina that most of the passengers on the eastbound 64 deboarded at SATT because, prior to "Straightlining," the route terminated there. Passengers who board the eastbound 64 between SATT and 1st and Main used to take discontinued routes like the 65 and the 61. They eventually discovered that the eastbound 64 took them to the same area. After mostly emptying out some new riders boarded at the terminal and further along the route, refilling the vehicle by the time we reached First and Main.

This was another location chosen to allow us to view first hand the difficulties OCTA users face. Strickert's notes state this could be the transfer point between routes 53 and 64 if the trend toward pulling service out of the Santa Ana Transit Terminal continues. Especially eye-opening was the southwest corner. Strickert in his notes asked "feeling claustrophobic?" regarding this locale. It has an extremely narrow sidewalk abutting an office building that one must negotiate to reach the bus stop on that side of Main. I couldn't even conceive how someone who used a mobility aid (cane, wheelchair) would be able to access the stop.

We next caught route 53 at 4:10 p.m. It was an RTS (#3002). The bus filled up as we went along, then had many deboardings at Warner. We got off at Columbine and Main. Then we took route 155 at 4:27 p.m., an RTS (#3078) with 6 passengers, to Bristol and Sunflower. From there we took route 51, yet another RTS (#3104) which took us through a cluster of fast food outlets, then an industrial area where we ran on a street beside a flood control channel with a walled in residential area opposite. Ridership was low on this route. Upon reaching the Santa Ana Transit Terminal Jane and Tina deboarded to go home. We said our goodbyes, had six passengers board, then departed and stayed until 17th and Bristol. Here we caught route 60, an RTS (#3129) with 24 passengers. TJ and Dan stayed on this bus while Mark, Armando, Phil and I deboarded to have a quick dinner before starting the optional late service exploration. Via routes 59 and 64 we reached Larwin Square, where we had a snack. Due to a no-show route 60 we had to hastily make our way to a stop served by route 64 then at Santa Ana Transit Terminal slipped onto route 205 to make our way the Disneyland Bus Stop. Mark Strickert bailed at Katella/Harbor to catch the 43/Harbor back to Fullerton. The rest of us should have arrived at the Disneyland stop in time to catch a downtown-L.A. bound MTA route 460 but instead as we approached the stop we spotted the bus down the street pulling onto the freeway, which meant it had departed early. The four of us had no choice but to wait an hour for the next 460. After 20 minutes the bus we would be taking pulled in. The driver turned out to be an acquaintance of Phil's, and came over to talk transit with us during his layover. I got to downtown L.A. only to have the final indignity: MTA line 20 service on Wilshire had melted down with two no show buses (when service is every 30 minutes). As you can expect the bus that took me home even at that late hour was crowded!

Our thanks to Strickert and Capo for planning a fun and informative trip. Special thanks to Jane Reifer, Mark Strickert and Tina Erickson for their helpful suggestions/ corrections for the draft of this trip report.