Bus riders, students, and union leaders protest OCTA cuts

Serena Maria Daniels wrote in this Monday's OC Register that union leaders and students protested a cut in mass transit. My take: The ones who hold the purse-strings — namely, local government officials — should also receive this feedback from bus drivers, students, and riders.

I wish I could organize a coordinated student response; unfortunately, studying for the licensing exam through end of May is taking about 15 hours out of my day. I'll post as frequently as I can with any new news about this issue.

Protesters mourn 'death' of public transit

Protesters continue opposition to bus cuts, officials look to fare evasion as a problem.

"Some three dozen bus drivers, union leaders and students marched Monday to protest cuts in mass transit.

The protesters staged a mock funeral procession in front of Orange County Transportation Authority headquarters, displaying their opposition to the recent elimination of 400 jobs.

Activists carried a blue and orange coffin of about 5 feet long that read "RIP Last Stop 2009" on the sidewalk of Main Street in Orange. Some of the protesters spoke to the agency's board members, suggesting that officials at the top take pay cuts in order to lessen the impact on bus service.

I found this snippet interesting (emphasis mine):

OCTA [is dealing] with a $272 million revenue shortfall projected over the next five years. ... OCTA staff members released a study at Monday's meeting that dealt with fare evasion -- bus riders who refuse to pay fares, misuse passes or pay only a portion of the fee. The study found that transit agencies lost an average of 1-2 percent of revenue due to fare evading. Based on those numbers, OCTA could recover up to $1 million.

My take: I have a feeling that this isn't just about the transit revenue shortfall. (1) A transit advocate says this may be OCTA's way of getting back at unions for their three-year contract after their crippling 7-day transit strike, when 220,000 bus riders were stranded each day. I have a funny feeling this may be the case since OCTA has a whole site dedicated to delivering  (nicely-designed) bad news to their employees; plus, this transit reduction doesn't seem to be affecting Orange County's Metrolink services. (2) Preventing fare evasion is a red herring that is just a drop in the bucket (see my graph to the right) — although I'm basing my numbers and the relevance of this meeting item off of the OC Register.

Does anyone have any more insight on this?