Transit Board Approves Overhaul of Bus Routes

ORANGE COUNTY —  A massive overhaul of bus routes in Orange County was unanimously approved Monday by transit board members and is set to go into effect in September.

The “straight-lining” of nearly all the county’s 72 routes has been controversial with regular bus riders, hundreds of whom packed a February public hearing to protest the plans.

On Monday, most of the 20 or so speakers opposed the changes, saying they are worried that the board’s action would make their commutes more difficult.

“I attribute some of that to the unknown,” said Fountain Valley Councilwoman Laurann Cook, who chairs the board.

But Cook said the transit board is “committed and determined to do tremendous outreach to the public.”

To that end, some workers will be hired to do community outreach. In addition, information about the changes will be available through a telephone help center and on the Internet.

Transit officials say the county, which has one of the fastest-growing bus systems in the nation, needs to go to a “one street, one route” approach in order to expand.

Critics charge that the transit board hasn’t made detailed routes or schedules available, making it difficult to judge how individual riders will be affected. And, as in the past, the fact that none of the transit board members rely on public transportation was cited as a cause for concern.