To help ensure the safety, security, comfort, and convenience of all those who use our services, the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) has developed a Customer Code of Conduct policy which applies to all those who choose to ride OCTA services. The policy outlines behaviors that will benefit everyone wanting to enjoy a safe, secure, comfortable, and inviting atmosphere and increases the overall efficiency of the transportation system to get you to your destination quickly.

OCTA’s Customer Code of Conduct rules are enforced through Federal and California laws, supported by Civil, Government, Penal, Public Utility and Vehicle Codes*. The OCTA Customer Code of Conduct policy requires you to treat others as you would like to be treated and show respect for the coach operator, your fellow passengers, the transit vehicles, and facilities.

An OCTA coach operator’s primary job is to operate the bus safely. If problems arise on the bus, their priority is to determine if a passenger’s safety or security is at stake. The coach operator will assess the severity of the problem and respond accordingly. Depending on the severity of the situation, the coach operator, at his/her discretion, may choose to talk to the passenger, call for assistance, or take no immediate action. The role of the coach operator is that of a peacekeeper and will inform, not enforce, policy.

Disruptive, violent, or illegal conduct will not be tolerated. No individual may engage in inappropriate conduct on, at, or in the facilities of OCTA including buses, trains, buildings, shelters, or bus stops.

Inappropriate conduct includes any individual or group activity which is: disruptive or injurious to other individuals lawfully using OCTA facilities or services; damaging or destructive to transit facilities or service; or disruptive, harassing, threatening or injurious to transit employees.

Inappropriate conduct may also constitute a violation of an ordinance or state law. Individuals who engage in inappropriate conduct or violate an ordinance or state law may be told to leave the bus immediately and may face possible prosecution under applicable municipal and criminal codes.

Violent, illegal, or disruptive conduct will not be tolerated onboard the vehicle. Violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law in accordance with:

• Penal Code Sections including but not limited to 171.7, 594, 640, 640.5 and 16590.

• Public Utilities Code Sections including but not limited to 99170.

  A first violation of any of the provisions of Public Utilities Code Section 99170 is an infraction, punishable by a fine up to seventy-five dollars ($75). A violation after a second conviction is punishable by a fine up to two hundred fifty dollars ($250) or by community service that does not conflict with the violator’s hours of school attendance or employment for a total time not to exceed 48 hours over a period not to exceed 60 days.

OCTA’s Customer Code of Conduct consists of the following rules:

Safety

• No rider shall interfere with the safe operation of any OCTA transit vehicle and shall always comply with instructions from the coach operator regarding the vehicle’s operation and matters of safety. Riders must remain behind the yellow line at the front of the vehicle and stay seated or hold on to a rail or stanchion while the vehicle is in motion. Riders are prohibited from hanging from, swinging from, or attaching anything to handrails.
• While on the streetcar platform, riders shall always stand behind the yellow line and shall not jump on and off the tracks at any time. While on the platform, no person shall engage in horseplay, loitering or any other action that will prevent the safe movement of the streetcar vehicle.
• Congregating or loitering in an OCTA transit vehicle near the doorways and aisles or at a train platform in a way that causes an inconvenience to other passengers or blocks entry and exit to the vehicle or the train cab or prevents vehicle doors from opening and closing is prohibited.
• No person shall operate, interfere with, enter into, or climb on or in, the property, facilities, or vehicles owned or operated by OCTA without the permission or approval of OCTA.
• No rider shall extend any portion of their body through a window opening of an OCTA vehicle in a manner that may cause harm or injury.
• No rider shall throw an object from an OCTA vehicle.
• Violating a notice, prohibition, instruction, or direction on a sign that is intended to provide for the safety and security of transit passengers, or the safe and secure operation of the transit system, is prohibited.

Transit Fares

• Refusing to pay the proper fare is unlawful, and can result in arrest, fines and/or ejection from the vehicle.
• Unauthorized use of a discount ticket or failure to present, upon request from an OCTA representative, acceptable proof of eligibility to use a discount ticket, is unlawful. Acceptable proof of eligibility is clearly posted on each transit vehicle. In the event that an eligible discount ticket user is not in possession of acceptable proof at the time of request, any citation issued shall be held for a period of 72 hours to allow the user to produce acceptable proof. If the proof is provided, the citation shall be voided. If the proof is not produced within that time period, the citation shall be processed.

Restricted Items

• Flammable liquids, fireworks, car batteries with acid, lithium-ion batteries and hoverboards are not allowed on any OCTA transit vehicle or facility.
• Possession of any article defined as a weapon including firearms, knives, sharp objects, martial arts and self-defense items are prohibited on all OCTA transit vehicles and facilities.
• Pets and livestock are not allowed on OCTA transit vehicles. However, service animals may accompany riders with disabilities. Riders are responsible for their service animals; to keep their service animals off the seats, for the animals to remain on the floor without blocking the aisle and to clean up after their animals. Service animals can be denied boarding if the animal is out of control, or its owner cannot control the animal or if the animal poses a direct hazard to health and safety of the rest of the riders.

Customer Behavior

• Riders must respect their fellow passengers. Fighting, vulgar language, harassing other passengers, shouting, spitting, throwing an object, pushing other passengers are prohibited at all times on OCTA transit vehicles and facilities.
• Sexual harassment defined as unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature directed at a fellow passenger or OCTA employee is strictly prohibited.
• Any type of offensive behavior towards a fellow passenger or OCTA employee based on that person’s sex, race, color, national origin, religion, marital status, sexual orientation, pregnancy, ancestry, age, military status, disability, or any other status is prohibited by federal, state, and local laws.
• Vandalism is prohibited on all OCTA transit vehicles and facilities. Whenever a person vandalizes real property, vehicles, signs, fixtures, furnishings, or property belonging to OCTA, it shall be assumed that the person neither owned the property nor had the permission of the owner to deface, damage, or destroy the property. Any person who maliciously commits any of the following acts with respect to any real or personal property not his or her own, in cases other than those specified by state law, is guilty of vandalism:
  • Defaces with graffiti or other inscribed material
  • Damages property
  • Destroys property
• Urinating or defecating in an OCTA vehicle or facility, except in a lavatory, is prohibited. However, this paragraph shall not apply to a person who cannot comply with this paragraph as a result of a disability, age, or a medical condition.
• Changing a child’s diaper on an OCTA transit vehicle is prohibited.
• Violating any of the conditions established by an OCTA ordinance under which a passenger may board an OCTA vehicle with a bicycle and where that bicycle may be stowed on the vehicle is not allowed.
• Skateboarding, roller skating, bicycle riding, roller blading, or operating a motorized scooter or similar device in an OCTA facility, vehicle, or parking structure is prohibited. However, this does not apply to an activity that is necessary for use of the transit facility by a bicyclist, if that activity is conducted with the permission of OCTA in a manner that does not interfere with the safety of the bicyclist or other patrons of the transit facility.
• It is unlawful to knowingly give false information to an OCTA employee, or contracted security officer, engaged in the enforcement of an ordinance or a state law, or otherwise obstructing the issuance of a citation for the violation of an ordinance or a state law.
• Soliciting money or distributing literature of any nature on an OCTA transit vehicle or facility is not allowed at any time.

Riding Courtesy

• When using the audio features of smartphones, tablets, and/or other sound-generating devices, the earpiece of that device or a headphone/headset is required to be used. The volume levels of any device shall be kept at a level that is not heard by other riders.
• Conversations between passengers or on cell phones shall be kept at a reasonable volume to avoid disturbing other riders.
• Smoking, including e-cigarettes and vaporizers, drinking, and eating is prohibited on OCTA transit vehicles.
• Possession or consumption of illegal drugs or open alcohol containers is prohibited on all OCTA transit vehicles and facilities.
• Seats that are designated as priority seating must be made available for disabled and elderly passengers, including seats located in wheelchair areas.
• Passengers must occupy only one seat. Strollers, walkers, skateboards, and shopping carts are not allowed unless they can be folded to a size or stored in such a way that does not block the aisles and doorways.
• Riders must wear appropriate clothing. Those wearing clothing with offensive or obscene pictures or sayings will be asked to cover or remove them or will be required to leave the vehicle.
• Riders must maintain good personal hygiene to avoid offending other riders. An individual whose bodily hygiene is so offensive as to create a nuisance to other riders may be denied passage.

The Orange County Transportation Authority reserves the right to modify and amend the OCTA Customer Code of Conduct at any time. Please contact OCTA customer service at 714-636-7433 to report any incident on an OCTA transit vehicle or transit facility or report it online at customers@octa.net.

In case of emergency, dial 911.

* OCTA’s Customer Code of Conduct rules are enforced through Federal and California State laws, including, but not limited, to the following Civil, Government, Penal, Public Utility and Vehicle Codes: 49 CFR 37.3 and 37.123; 28 CFR 36.104; Title II, Section 35.104; B&P Code 25662; Civil Codes 54.1 – 54.2, 54.25 and 3479; Government Code 7597(a); H&S Codes 11350-11351 and 11357; Penal Codes 19.8, 171.7, 241.3(a), 243.3, 243.35, 245.2, 247(b), 369i(b)(1), 374.4(a), 625c, 640(b)(1). 640(b)(2), 640(b)(3), 640(b)(4), 640(b)(5), 640(c)(1), 640(c)(2), 640(c)(3), 640(d)(1), 640(d)(2), 640(d)(3), 640(d)(4), 640(d)(5), 640.5-640.8, 647(a), 647(b), 647(e), 647(f), 647(h) and 16590; PUC Code 99170; Vehicle Codes 406, 21203, 21701, 21712 and 22500(i).