OC’s Public Transport: Not There Yet

Everyone’s been warning me: Don’t use the public transport in Orange County.  I was taking their word for it, but I had to try it out myself.  Last Friday, I discovered people’s dislike of the public transportation system is justified.  The system is just not good.  If I compare it with the transit systems in Toronto, London, Singapore, and New York, the OC system is quite dismal.  Here’s why:

1. Awkward Schedule
   The OCTA buses only run once in a while.  Near my house, the bus runs every 15 minutes, but only during rush hour.  That means a good time to catch a bus is between 6am to 9am.  Otherwise, it will run every hour, and sometimes not at all, like during weekends.  The same goes with the Metrolink trains.  The train schedule is so sparse, if I miss a train, there’s a good chance I won’t be able to catch the next one for a while.
2. Bus to Nowhere
   Near my neck of the woods, the bus routes are pretty straight forward.  However, when I was in Irvine, the buses ran in circles and overlap each other!   There are bus stops that only goes one way during certain hours.  When I get on the wrong bus, I pretty much have to call someone to come and pick me up.  Trying to back track my route is difficult at best, especially when the bus schedules are not consistent.  There is a thick book dedicated to the bus routes and schedules.
3. Train Ride is Expensive
   In Toronto, I can board the bus in east end (i.e. Scarborough)  and work my way to west end (i.e. Mississauga), and all I’m paying is $2.75 each direction.  That includes the subway train rides.  Here in OC, each route and each direction cost $1.25 (I can get a bus day pass for $3).  However, the Metrolink train ride is $4-$13 each direction, depending where I go!   It’s only more economical if I get the monthly pass and use it at least 15 times in a month.

I give them some credit for trying to make the system work during rush hour times of 6am-9am and 4am-7pm.   But that’s not good enough.  Last Friday, my overall travel time on the bus and train were 3 hours.  It takes me 30 minutes using the car, even during rush hour.   It’s a waste of time.  They could have mitigated this problem if they have free Wi-Fi on board, so I can do some work.   Alas, they do not.

OC really needs a good train system, and build more train stations.  Right now, Metrolink is attempting to alleviate parking issues by building more parking structures, so we can all drive to the train station.  Maybe City planners are considering this an interim solution, in a long term goal to eliminate the need of driving a car.  With California’s obsession with cars, that’s going to take higher gas prices and a long time.

Indeed, one day OC Metro is going to be a great transit system.  Right now, it’s just not there yet.

Tags: bus, cars, public, train, transport