OCTA May Cut San Clemente Bus Routes

A draft plan by the Orange County Transportation Authority would cut all bus routes in San Clemente except the one along Pacific Coast Highway.

OCTA, like most public agencies, is facing shortfalls and looking where it can cut to save money, officials said.

San Clemente traffic engineer Akram Hindiyeh said three bus routes in town are on the chopping block: Route 191, which goes to Mission Viejo and Saddleback College; Route 193, a commuter line within San Clemente, and Route 91, a line from North Beach to Laguna Hills Mall.

The PCH Route 1, the line from Long Beach to San Clemente, would cut off at the North Beach Metrolink platform. It now goes down to Christianitos at the south end of town, so the potential cut would sever the connection to San Diego's North County Transit District's Line.

Loren Wood, who spoke before the council, said she just graduated  from San Clemente High School and would attend Saddleback College in the fall. She said she needs the Mission Viejo line so she can get to her classes.

“Please let the OCTA know that eliminating this will significantly impact my ability to go to college,” Wood told the council.

“I always see a few people here and there taking the bus along Camino de Estrella. That'd be messed up if they took it away,” tweeted @bozobarr, who was following @ClementePatch’s Twitter feed from #sccouncil.

Resident and former council candidate Brenda Miller also spoke at the meeting against cutting the lines. She said that students could ride Metrolink to Irvine and take a manageable two-mile walk or bike ride to Irvine Valley College as an alternative but that train passes were way more expensive than bus passes.

“You also eliminate a key way of climbing the social ladder for people in San Clemente,” Miller said. “It adds an extra $800 to $1,000 per semester for a Metrolink pass.”

Hindiyeh said that the plan was tentative and that OCTA officials said they wouldn’t cut any routes until more efficient alternatives were in place—such as vans or more flexible bus routes.

Still, San Clemente City Council members uniformly decided to draft a letter fighting OCTA on the plan, pointing out all the sales tax that goes to busing from San Clemente retailers, the loss to Saddleback students and the potential isolation of the city.

There will be more about the plan in the coming months.