Limited bus service is already on its way :(

“Since Leahy became CEO in January 2001, neither he nor his agency has done anything to solve the county’s traffic nightmare…”

Raise your hand if you think anyone can solve automobile traffic without a change in behavior on the part of drivers. To be honest though, traffic in Orange County isn’t even as bad as traffic in LA County. I commuted for a period of time from Orange to Irvine. But then again, I CARPOOLED, something most OC residents aren’t willing to do. Love those carpool lane transitions.

“install a meaningful mass transit system”

Orange County didn’t want one.

“improve the agency’s abysmal track record on bus service.”

As a bus rider in Orange County I have no complaints in the sense that it’s a bus. What do you expect from it? It’s going to take an hour to go 8 miles no matter what.

I’m disappointed with the delays in getting limited bus service started, but with the state transit cuts I’m not expecting any miracles to happen.

“Originally conceived as an ambitious 87-mile answer to Orange County’s horrendous congestion question, the OCTA had already reduced the CenterLine to a 29-mile route by the time Leahy came aboard. Under Leahy, CenterLine has shrunk even more: if built, its planned 9.3-mile length would barely pass through Irvine and Costa Mesa before slicing through Santa Ana’s Bristol Street and Civic Center Plaza. And even this scenario isn’t certain.”

…which is exactly what Orange County residents wanted. Art Leahy did a wonderful job serving OC interests. Drivers come first. Sorry that they wanted him to be a miracle worker and simply make traffic disappear with his mind.

“Leahy said that in his current job at OCTA he still likes to go for a drink after work at the Santa Ana train station and make sure the buses are arriving and departing on time. That’s a hobby that may serve him well in Los Angeles, where an MTA survey last year found its buses are tardy much more often than buses run by nine other major transit agencies.”

“They also say that his bottom-up approach to learning transit will serve him well in a region where the vast majority of public officials never set foot on a bus or train unless it’s for a photo op.”

“”Bus driving is a tough way to make a living,” Leahy said. “There’s the issue of managing heavy equipment in an uncontrolled environment while collecting fares and talking to customers. I became a much more determined student because of it and I realized I needed an education. Going through bus driver training was my equivalent of going to boot camp.”"

Time will tell whether he’s for real or not, but he’s saying all the right things so far.

Damien G., Ubrayj, why would you assume that he doesn’t realize that L.A. is a different county than the OC? Yeesh.

@Brad:
That is a very good point. . . OCTA does use google transit, doesn’t it? Getting MTA on google transit would help immensely, especially for visitors who don’t know our transit system or the MTA website, but do know how to use google for directions.

If you want to talk about rail, the OCTA has been very supportive of Metrolink and is planning 30-minute service between Fullerton and Laguna Niguel. It’s not the worst transportation agency in the world.

Why fault him for that? As CEO of Metro he better give Los Angeles County what they want AND voted for. More rail and better bus service.

He understands bus operations, including what it’s like out on the streets (he started as a RTD driver in 1971 and worked his way up to Executive Officer for Operations by the time he left in 1996). He understands construction projects, having overseen Minneapolis’ light rail line project. He knows Metro, having been back in the region since 2001 and watching from across the Orange County line.

This is as close to perfection as Metro is going to get as a successor to Roger Snoble.

I look forward to NOT having the local returns guidelines modified to fit CA Streets and Highways Code Sec. 885.2 (wherein cycling is explicitly defined as an appropriate use of general transportation funds).

I look forward to NOT having Transportion Demand Management money be shifted to improving sidewalks, pedestrian, cyclist, and bus access despite the clear wording in the Local Returns guidelines is as follows “The term TDM encompassess both the alternatives to driving alone and the techniques or supporting strategies that encourage the use [of other] modes.”

Bravo, MTA. Maybe this guy knows how to unscrew the agency that is leasing its own property to itself to benefit AIG’s pissed off investors.

He was good at developing relationships with local elected officials in Orange County, which should serve him well dealing with the fragmented Metro board.

And he encouraged productive input from transit advocates to OCTA. He should be a good choice for Metro.

Here’s what I think about OCTA:
Pros:
- Buses were remarkably on time (partly I think b/c traffic is not as bad on OC local streets)
- Always clean and graffiti free
- Many low floor vehicles
- Bus stop overhead lighting and visual alerts for the driver to see evening riders

Cons:
- No real limited/rapid routes, and I don’t think BRAVO will make any impact on ridership
- Very limited weekend service (many routes run every 60-70 min)
- No rail. We’ll see how Metrolink 30 min service works.
- Virtually no TOD.
- Don’t know why OCTA purchased a bunch of NABI LNGs several years ago, then now recently bought a bunch of New Flyer CNGs. Shouldn’t they have stuck with one alternative fuel?

We’re about to embark on the most ambitious transit system expansion since the 1980s and handing our hand out to compete with major metro areas for scarce federal dollars, so we pick a guy out of Orange County to run the operation?

No one at D.C., New York City, Chicago, Boston, let alone Denver or Seattle was available?