HIGHLIGHTS

New Bravo! Route 543 In June 2013, OCTA launched the new limited-stop Bravo! Route 543 to decrease travel time on Harbor Boulevard. With approximately 4,000 weekly boardings during the first few weeks, Bravo! continued to exceed projections.

Transportation alternatives for seniors and people with disabilities During fiscal year 2012-13, as part of its successful effort to develop community partnerships, OCTA worked with cities, public agencies, and social service organizations to implement alternative transportation services in the community that deferred up to $15.5 million in ACCESS costs.

ACCESS service ACCESS paratransit service for riders who are not able to use fixed route buses had an on-time performance of 94.2 percent. OCTA provided 1.4 million annual boardings using 247 vehicles.

Contracted service Since 2010, 22 percent of overall bus service has been transitioned from directly operated fixed route bus service to contracted fixed route as a cost-savings strategy.

Measure M2 Under Measure M2, $2.8 million was provided to stabilize bus fares for seniors and people with disabilities. Since the inception of M2, $5.7 million has been provided for this purpose.

Text4Next During the fiscal year, there was a 14 percent increase in unique users and an 8 percent increase in overall usage of Text4Next that allows bus riders to receive scheduled arrival times for specific stops via text messaging.

eBusbooks During fiscal year 2012-2013, 87,822 eBusbooks were created.

Fare increase Following more than two months of community outreach and discussion, a fare increase was implemented in February 2013. The fare increase enabled OCTA to maintain its 20 percent “farebox recovery” requirement and ensured OCTA’s eligibility for the state funds that primarily support the bus system.

New bus passes To mitigate the impact of the fare increase and encourage riders to use passes rather than cash, OCTA introduced the 5 Rides Pass. This discounted pass can be used anytime, anywhere and never expires.

The Employer Pass Program The Employer Pass Program experienced a revenue increase of 8.7 percent over last year and boardings rose by 9.7 percent.