OC Bus

OC Bus

OC Bus in Orange, California
Parent	Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA)
Founded	August 1972 (1972-08)
Headquarters	550 S. Main St Orange, California, USA
Service area	Orange County
Routes	58[1]
Stops	5,483
Fleet	508 buses
Annual ridership	19,800,000 (2019)[2]
Fuel type	CNG
Operator	OCTA First Transit MV Transportation
Website	octa.net/bus

OC Bus is the transit bus service operated by the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA), serving every city in Orange County. Some of the lines serve the Los Angeles County border communities of Lakewood, La Mirada, Cerritos, Hawaiian Gardens and Long Beach along with express service to Downtown Los Angeles, and Riverside County. As of September 2021, there are 58 routes in the system. OCTA employs the drivers that operate most routes, but some are contracted out to First Transit.

The agency is the second-largest public transportation provider in the metropolitan area after the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Its predecessor agencies include not only the prior Orange County Transit District but also such diverse entities as the Pacific Electric Railway and the South Coast Transit Corporation. In 2005, OCTA was judged America's Best Public Transportation System by the American Public Transportation Association, for its record gains in bus and Metrolink commuter trains ridership that it operates or funds.

The Authority's administrative offices are located in the city of Orange and it maintains bus operations bases in the cities of Garden Grove, and Santa Ana. First Transit operates about 40% of OCTA's Fixed Routes out of the Anaheim and Irvine bases, while MV Transportation operates OCTA's paratransit base for the authority's ACCESS service, also in Irvine.

All OCTA buses are equipped with bike racks and can carry between two and three bicycles at any given time.

South Coast Plaza is the most served location on the OC Bus routes, served by 6 routes (55, 57, 86, 150, 463, 794). The longest is route 1 (Long Beach–San Clemente) which utilizes Pacific Coast Highway for the vast majority of its 40-mile (64 km) route. Trips take an average of 2 to 2.5 hours.

Routes[]

1-99 (Local Routes)[]

Routes with numbers less than 100 are fixed routes that cover almost every city in Orange County. Buses operate on most major arterial streets. Route 1 is the only single-digit route, acquiring the number from California State Route 1. Routes 53, 57, and 64 also feature Xpress bus service with limited stop service between 6am and 6pm on weekdays. These buses are differentiated by adding an X to the end of each respective route.

100s (Shuttle Routes)[]

Routes with numbers in the 100s descended from the old RunAbout service that formerly served residential neighborhoods, or provide service to portions of 1-99 routes which have reduced demand. Three routes (129, 143, 153) are routes that were truncated from routes 29, 43, 47, 53 and 59 as a result of the March 2010 service change

200s (OC Express)[]

Routes with numbers in the 200s are "OC Express," intra-county express routes which travel solely within Orange County and utilize the county's freeways. These routes run from park-and-rides and transit terminals to the business districts and back. These routes operate only during weekday rush hours.

400s (StationLink/iShuttle)[]

Irvine Shuttle (iShuttle), operated by the OCTA at the Irvine Transportation Center in Irvine, California

Routes with numbers in the 400s are "StationLink" and Irvine Shuttle (iShuttle) routes which travel between Metrolink stations and business districts. These routes operate only during weekday rush hours and do not operate reverse peak services.

500s (Bravo!)[]

OC Bus on Bravo! Route 543 at Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California

Routes with numbers in the 500s are "Bravo!" routes that operate on heavily used routes making limited stops and at transfer points to other routes. It is named according to the parent route it accompanies, by just adding a 5 to the beginning of the route indicating express. Bravo! routes use a dedicated fleet of buses and have different color schemes from regular route buses.

700s (Intercounty Express)[]

Routes with numbers in the 700s are intercounty express bus services. Lines 701 and 721 go between Huntington Beach and Fullerton, respectively, and Downtown Los Angeles using the Harbor Transitway, while Line 794 connects Costa Mesa and Riverside. All three routes charge an additional fare in addition to the base fare. These routes operate only during weekday rush hours and route 721 is the only route that operates reverse peak services.

800s (City Shuttle)[]

Routes with numbers in the 800s are City Shuttle routes. Route 862, the first and only 800 series route, serves as a circulator route in Downtown Santa Ana and was introduced in October 2019.

Fleet[]

See also[]

• Bus stations in Orange County, California
• Bus transportation in California
• Public transportation in Orange County, California topics

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to OC Bus.

Official website