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Politics & Government

One Bus Line Saved, But Others Still on Block

OCTA Route 91 avoids elimination but will be shortened. San Juan Capistrano City Council still unhappy.

At least one area bus line that had been will be saved, a county transit official told the San Juan Capistrano City Council this week.

OCTA Route 91, which travels from the Laguna Hills transportation hub through San Juan Capistrano and eventually to San Clemente, won't be eliminated, but it will be shortened, said Gordon Robinson, a manager in the Orange County Transportation Authority's transit planning department.

The proposal would end the route at Dana Point Harbor, so the changes wouldn’t necessarily impact San Juan Capistrano, he said.

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Robinson said his agency’s plan continues to be in flux. He is scheduled to return to San Juan Capistrano next week to talk to city staffers about concerns they might have.

When he does, he’s likely to get an earful.

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”I’m not sold whatsoever on the elimination of those bus routes,” said Councilwoman Laura Freese. “It seems to me South County is taking the brunt of the eliminations.”

Robinson said that without new revenue sources, OCTA is having a hard time coming up with funds to increase services. “It’s a very difficult time for us.”

The council decided Tuesday to send a strongly worded letter to the OCTA to protest the proposed service changes.

Earlier this year, Capo Beach resident Richard Gardiner spoke out at a public hearing the OCTA held to solicit input into its plans to shuffle funds around by decreasing service in some areas and increasing it in others.

The hearing was packed with physically and mentally challenged adults who depend on the buses as their primary means of transportation.

“It was an unbelievable, tear-jerky situation,” he told council members.

The resulting study calls for cutting routes that are heavily subsidized (up to $15 per passenger) in South Orange County, as well the tourist-based Tri-City Trolley Program. The bus routes that could be affected:

  • Route 191, with service from Dana Point to San Juan Capistrano.
  • Route 193, with service in San Clemente.
  • Route 1, on Coast Highway, which is proposed to terminate at North Beach in San Clemente.

Freese said cutting bus routes is unacceptable. “The times that we’re living through, where everyone is hurting, everyone is hanging on by their fingernails, is not the time to cut back on public services. It’s one thing to cut back. We’re only looking at eliminate and eliminate.”

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