Leading the way for 40 years

In 2012, OCTA celebrated the 40th anniversary of bus service in Orange County. Over the course of four decades, OCTA has been inspiring residents to change the way they travel by taking the bus to work, to school or wherever else they needed to go. During fiscal year 2011-2012, bus boardings reached 52.5 million—up 2.4 percent from the previous fiscal year. What’s more, OCTA’s ACCESS paratransit bus service provided 1.3 million trips during the fiscal year. ACCESS service is a program for prequalified senior citizens and persons with disabilities who are not able to use the fixed-route bus service.

This year, OCTA changed the way people traveled to the Orange County Fair in a big way. Funded by a grant from the Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Review Committee (MSRC), OCTA’s OC Fair Express provided nonstop bus service from eight park-and-ride locations to the fair helping to reduce traffic congestion and air pollution. This includes two new bus routes from Laguna Hills and Irvine. A total of 46,365 people used the service—80 percent more than last year. Surveys taken onboard the OC Fair Express indicated that nearly 50 percent of respondents were first-time bus riders and 97 percent were very pleased with the service.