OCTD No-Fare Deal Sounds Like Fair Deal
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A popular radio station is offering free trips to exotic places such as Hawaii and Quebec.
Not to be outdone, this Friday the Orange County Transit District will take you to the white sands of Laguna Beach. To fun-packed amusement parks. To your job. Or anywhere OCTD buses regularly travel. For free.
The standard 75-cent bus fare on OCTD’s regular, fixed routes will be waived Friday, for one day.
Approved last month by transit agency directors, “free fare day” is intended to help the district recover from a 10% loss in ridership since December’s bus drivers’ strike.
OCTD spokeswoman Claudia Keith said the district is losing about 10% of its regular fare box revenues of $40,000 to $50,000 per day in the aftermath of the 14-day walkout.
However, district officials said they have been able to absorb the losses because they were mostly offset by reduced operating costs during the strike.
The “free fare day” is coupled with a neighborhood-by-neighborhood advertising campaign to familiarize residential areas with specific bus routes that could be used to reach major employment centers.
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