"The most consistent and smartest thinking and writing about progressive politics isn't happening in Sacramento, but being churned out day after day on sites and by organizations like Calitics, Orange County Progressive, and the California Budget Project." - CalBuzz
So why are we having to cut bus services? I mean, yes, I understand that right now the State is facing a devastating revenue crisis (spending is not the issue people). But why would we cut a lifeline to actual work for people who can't afford to own and operate a car? Why would we cut services that would actually keep people off of unemployment and keep them working during these difficult times?
And what can we do? Well according to Transit Advocates of Orange County..
The only solution to devastating bus cuts.
OCTA is cutting bus service because of lower sales tax revenues and the elimination of bus transit operations funding. The only way to prevent these cuts is to find more funding. Fortunately, OCTA already has sufficient funds within its control that can be re-assigned back to bus service, without any new monies from state or federal sources. Given the crucial role transit plays in retaining jobs and protecting the local economy, it is only fair to revisit decisions made in better times.
A few examples.
A total of $125 million was diverted from bus monies for the Bristol Street Widening project, with approximately $50 million still remaining unspent. $46 million was borrowed from transit monies to purchase the 91 Express lanes. Finding another source to fund general OCTA road planning could free up $4 million a year of bus-eligible monies. OCTA often talks about "the color of money" to explain why they can't spend road monies on buses. We understand. But why are BUS monies being used to widen Bristol St.?
While other media and blogs focus on potential financial conflicts in Santa Ana's agenda item to award a contract to Cordoba to study a streetcar system, maybe it's time to look at the bigger picture.
OCTA, like many government agencies, is bleeding as revenues have plummeted. Flush with money a few years ago as Measure M was producing more tax revenue than anticipated, OCTA is now facing up to a new economic reality.
The latest staff projection indicates that the 11.2 billion projected from Measure M2 will be far smaller, a third smaller than projected.
And OCTA has also lost millions as the state ended a fund that subsidized local transit, and as sales tax revenues that directly subsidize local transit are far lower than projections. OCTA is simultaneously making deep cuts to existing bus service, yet spending millions studying new systems that would supplant bus systems.
The Go Local plan was a political compromise. Without some transit component, Measure M renewal couldn't get enough votes. With anything that looked like a revival of Centerline, Measure M renewal probably faced some organized opposition. And there was pressure from a few supervisors to really push the existing rail line as the central transit component.
Voila! a transit plan that was vague, to be named later, open to multiple plans, yet controlled by the OCTA's board's discretion.
What has emerged is a cluster of incompatible ideas, most of which are not likely to find funding.
The best idea now might be to focus on a single system that radiates out from Anaheim, where the voter approved high speed rail and the existing Metro Rail line will provide both long-distance and regional connections. Anaheim also has existing attractions and a ridership of tourists and conventioneers that could support a viable system.
Pissing away money on studying a low-speed trolley in Santa Ana is something that makes no sense for OCTA in our current economic climate.
While OCTA has limits on how they can spend measure M money, it might make sense to pull back and look more carefully about when and how to spend the money allocated to the Go Local concept.
OCTA is a strange agency, with a convoluted budget.
First and foremost, it's a bus company which also operates paratransit and rail services.
It's also a conduit for the half-cent measure M funds to fund major capital improvements. OCTA also does regional transportation planning.
As a bus company, the agency provides highly-subsidized transportation services to people who can't use a car, either because of age, disability, or poverty. Fares recover only 21% of the cost of a bus ride, and a tiny fraction of the $28.00 it costs to provide transportation to someone who qualifies for ACCESS service.
Yesterday, OCTA chose a direction which will dramatically slash bus service, adding to reductions that have already been made. Slashing services not only makes transit far less usable, but it also eliminates about 400 jobs.
Moorlach appears to be the only director voting no despite dithering from Green and others.
Time to contact your Senators and Congresspersons, and let them know that California should not receive stimulus money if they insist on hundreds of millions of state cuts to transit.
The biggest problem here is the elimination of the state Transit Assistance Fund, which cuts $108 million from transit funding during the next five years.
Write the President and your representatives to tell them that California needs to maintain minimum levels of service!
Mr. Kelly, as usual is eloquent. How can Obama's stimulus package be subverted to justify this local plan to decimate our transit system?
A good point! Will California's cuts to transit, which ultimately drive these cuts, survive the maintenance of effort requirements of the stimulus package?
The federal government has pitched in. California has defaulted. OCTA directors are abject cowards who won't diverge from the Republican message to cut services to the most vulnerable and vote against restoring the taxes that were cut.
The OCTA directors talked today about options for extending the 57 freeway including wasting money to study a 3.9 billion dollar Big Dig underneath the Santa Ana River, with Norby and Campbell advocating that we spend money studying stupid ideas to prove that they are stupid.
Campbell wants to do a new arterial at "bridge grade" with absurd ideas about connecting to arterials. Has he ever seen the bridges, or envisioned intersections?
Moorlach makes sense in saying that there's a point where you really have to be realistic.
Amante froths.Does he even know what he's saying?
Pulido gets it absolutely wrong, talking about politics forcing technical issues, working with "back of the napkin" schematics. He compares a toll road under the Santa Ana River to the Chunnel between England and France, and thinks there's some economic model that would justify this as a toll road. He thinks $4.5 billion is a realistic number, as OCTA drastically reduces the bus budget because of a $30 million shortfall.
Dixon is intrigued by Campbell's stupid ideas.
Art Brown says it's time to stop buying expensive reports that will never make sense.
Today's OCTA meeting begins with a heart-felt send-off for Art Leahy as he leaves to be CEO of LA's MTA.
I've had a chance not only to observe Art Leahy over the years, but also to engage him in extended dialogue.
Art Leahy and Monte Ward are both strong leaders, smart, patient, hard-working, principled, dedicated, involved, open to dialogue. Art also has a great sense of humor, and a commitment to public service.
Thank you, Mr. Leahy for your extraordinary service.
If the reference in the headline eludes you, it comes from the fourth book of the Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and it was the message left by the dolphins when they departed Planet Earth just before it was demolished to make way for a hyperspatial express route.
OCTA will look at Transit Scenarios at their meeting on Monday, but the real discussion should start with the agenda item that allocates Local Transportation Funding.
This is where you can see that a constant sum of $38 million a year is still being taken from bus funding to pay back bonds from the Orange County Bankruptcy. With reduced funding, this takes 30% off the top of the money that is dedicated to fund public transit. This obligation extends through FY 10-11. See update below.
This revenue stream comes from dedicated sales tax revenue, and the topline money available has dropped dramatically from an 07-08 estimate of 157.7 million to next year's estimate of 126.7 million, a staggering drop of 19.7% that shows the incredible impact of the Great Recession on the OC economy.
Another little kicker is that OCTA is taking the maximum percentage allowable from this fund to pay for administration, 3.8 million for OCTA Commission Planning, $174 thousand for SCAG, and $4.2 million for OCTA Consolidated Agency Funding.
So in addition to the 30% that goes to bankruptcy recovery, another 6.5% goes to overhead.
So a dedicated revenue source that starts at 126.7 million ends up at 88.7 million.
