Orange County, Calif. transportation agency continued to make highway, bus, and rail transit, and environmental improvements, provided regional leadership, and helped ensure public health
ORANGE, Calif., Dec. 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Throughout 2020, the Orange County Transportation Authority adapted and pushed through the many unprecedented challenges of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic to continue keeping its promises to deliver a balanced and sustainable transportation network for Orange County.
The OCTA Board led the way in directing policy that made necessary adjustments to protect the health and safety of the public and OCTA employees, while continuing to keep Orange County moving.
“As an organization we worked diligently to proactively address the unprecedented challenges of this public health crisis,” said OCTA Chairman Steve Jones, also the Mayor of Garden Grove. “I’m proud of OCTA staff and our Board of Directors for accomplishing so much toward providing essential transportation improvements and services for Orange County.”
Milestones for the year were guided by five overarching Board Initiatives:
- Comprehensive Mobility Solutions
- Regional Leadership and Public Transparency
- Resiliency, Sustainability and Innovation
- Fiscal Accountability
- Organizational Excellence
Accomplishments included advancing projects promised to voters through Measure M, Orange County’s half-cent sales tax for transportation improvements. Among them are important freeway improvements on I-405, I-5 in South County, and completing the I-5 Central County Improvements Project four months early.
Other notable accomplishments included continuing to build the OC Streetcar in Santa Ana and Garden Grove, funding street improvements and enhancing the OC Bus system.
OCTA also took strong steps forward with zero-emission bus efforts, debuting the largest transit-oriented hydrogen fueling station in the nation and approving a separate pilot program for 10 plug-in electric buses. OCTA demonstrated resiliency and regional leadership in dealing with the effects of COVID-19, to help protect employees and the public.
That agency-wide effort included providing consistent communications in multiple languages to keep the public informed about safety measures on the bus system, including temporary rear-door bus boarding, limiting the number of passengers for social distancing and installing hand sanitizer and face-covering dispensers.
“We are proud of the leadership OCTA showed and all of the accomplishments throughout 2020,” OCTA CEO Darrell E. Johnson said. “All of those efforts put us in a strong position to continue providing essential transit services and building an even stronger transportation network for Orange County in 2021 and into the future.”
For a more complete summary of OCTA’s 2020 Accomplishments, visit: http://www.octa.net/2020Accomplishments.
About OCTA: The Orange County Transportation Authority is the county transportation planning commission, responsible for funding and implementing transit and capital projects for a balanced and sustainable transportation system that reflects the diverse travel needs of the county’s 34 cities and 3.2 million residents. With the mission of keeping Orange County moving, this includes freeways and express lanes, bus and rail transit, rideshare, commuter rail, environmental programs, and active transportation.
Image courtesy of The Orange County Transportation Authority i