Interoffice Memo October 21, 2003 To: Judge Frederick P. Horn / Orange County Grand Jury From: Jennifer Emi Subject:*

Light rail is a component of the public transportation system for the future growth of Orange County. OCTA agrees. Light rail is a vital component of Orange County's future public transportation system for the future growth of Orange County. It offers a higher person carrying capacity and faster speeds than bus, as well as economic development opportunities around stations.

There is currently no single bus line traveling the proposed CenterLine route. OCTA agrees. While there is no single OCTA bus line traveling the CenterLine route, there are bus routes that overlap the CenterLine route. Within the corridor there are nine routes that follow segments of the proposed rail alignment. Two services, Routes 57 and 76 provide connections between Santa Ana and John Wayne Airport over the major portion of the CenterLine alignment while Route 62 provides a direct connection to the CenterLine terminus at The Depot (Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center) in Santa Ana from Route 57. Depending on points of origin, other trip combinations are available involving the other six routes. The three routes mentioned above operate in mixed traffic and make local, curb-side stops.

A link to Santa Ana College will increase the projected ridership. OCTA agrees. The Santa Ana College link increases projected ridership, and will provide commuters with additional access and increased frequency through the Santa Ana loop of CenterLine. Santa Ana College has more than 25,000 enrolled students, more than 3,000 faculty and a severe parking shortage with only 3,100 parking spots. Enrollment in Santa Ana College is expected to Orange County Grand Jury September 29, 2003 continue to increase. The CenterLine provides a solution to the commuting and parking needs of its students, faculty, and staff.

The location of the stations is a key element to the success of a light rail system. OCTA agrees. Convenient access to stations and the populations they serve increase ridership. In December 2002, a peer review panel comprised of light- rail operating professionals was convened. They noted that The CenterLine's proposed alignment was connecting at appropriate locations. CenterLine stations will serve key activity areas such as the Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center, Santa Ana Civic Center, Mater Dei High School, Bristol Street businesses, South Coast Plaza, cultural venues on Avenue of the Arts, the Irvine Business Complex, and John Wayne Airport. Thousands of residents, workers, and customers access these locations daily. OCTA has worked with stakeholders in these communities where stations will be located to ensure that their current and future needs are addressed. In order to promote ridership, The CenterLine design criteria requires that stations be positioned to provide convenient and safe access to the system for pedestrians, bike-riders, drop-off passengers, bus passengers transferring to the train, and park-and-ride users. In addition, OCTA, corridor cities, local communities, and private businesses are working together to identify opportunities for transit oriented development (TOD) around station locations. TOD centered around light rail systems in other cities has enhanced the success of both the light rail system and business development.

An open dialogue between OCTA and the residents along the route is important to the planning and implementation of the CenterLine. The CenterLine outreach and technical teams have been OCTA agrees. actively meeting with city staff, local elected officials, individual community members, community groups, neighborhood associations, chambers of commerce, etc. OCTA has encouraged a balanced public dialogue about the project by hosting a public debate on CenterLine that featured leading rail opponents, and currently facilitates a CenterLine Ad Hoc Advisory Committee through the OCTA Citizens Advisory Committee. Orange County Grand Jury September 29, 2003 Since the beginning of Preliminary Engineering (Spring 2002) OCTA has sent project newsletters to nearly 100,000 addresses, conducted four Open Houses and met with dozens of neighborhood groups. This level of effort typifies that which occurred in prior study phases since 1991. Over the next six months, OCTA will continue to do extensive mailings, host a county-wide Open House, conduct outreach meetings, distribute the Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement/Report (SDEIS/R) to libraries, post it on the internet, and make it available in CD format, and operate a 24 hour/day Telephone Hotline for comments and inquiries.

An accurate forecast of the ridership, the construction schedule and the cost is essential to the success of the CenterLine Project. OCTA agrees. We have taken an extremely conservative and forthright approach to projecting ridership, the construction schedule, and cost for The CenterLine. These numbers are consistently updated and reevaluated as the project changes and develops. At the April 28 OCTA Board of Directors meeting, CEO Art Leahy announced that during Preliminary Engineering an updated schedule was created that accelerates the opening of The CenterLine by two years. The new schedule also results in a total project cost savings of approximately $102 million. OCTA will submit its revised schedule and cost estimates to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), which will use the data to help determine which projects receive federal funding. As it relates to the cost forecast, when Orange County voters passed Measure M, the ½ cent transportation sales tax in 1990, they designated that a portion of the funds raised would help create a mass transit system separate from the fixed route bus system. Through Measure M, approximately $340 million (1988 dollars) was secured for the development of a high capacity advanced rail transit project. The $340 million set-aside included funds for the development of a capital fund of up to $190 million (YOE dollars) for the construction of a future rail system. The balance will be set aside in an interest-bearing Rail Operations Fund that will be used for The CenterLine rail operations. The Rail Operations Fund will maintain a principal balance and generate interest sufficient to supplement LRT farebox revenues through and beyond 2025. By 2025, OCTA will have an available balance of $243.7 million in the Rail Operations Fund for use in supporting the continued operation of the CenterLine. Orange County Grand Jury September 29, 2003 Measure M combined with other identified sources such as the FHWA/FTA Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Program (CMAQ) funds, Proposition 116 State Rail Bond funds, and State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) funds provide a 50-percent match to FTA Section 5309 New Start funding for The CenterLine. To assure that its funds are used for viable projects, the FTA plays a vital role in verifying the reasonableness of ridership forecasts. Ridership forecasts provide the FTA with an overall measure of cost-effectiveness to compare light rail projects across the nation. The Orange County Transportation Analysis Model (OCTAM) is a state-of-the- art practice tool that allows OCTA to forecast ridership activity. To ensure CenterLine ridership forecasts are reasonable, we have also implemented the FTA software package, Summit, which is used by other agencies to generate forecast ridership statistics. These statistics reveal that the OCTAM ridership forecast for the CenterLine system compares favorably to other projects across the nation.

Enhancements added to a light rail system after the completion of Preliminary Engineering are a principal cause of budget overruns. OCTA agrees. Our close partnership with The CenterLine corridor cities enables us to work together toward the shared goal of delivering a quality Workshops have been held throughout project at a reasonable cost. preliminary engineering with the Cities, local businesses, private utilities, and other stakeholders to identify their expectations, inform them of the technical, programmatic, and financial constraints, and involve them in the planning Special studies have been and will continue to be performed to process. analyze options, including possible enhancements to the system, and evaluate potential impacts to the system and budget. A peer review of project cost estimates is being performed by experienced light rail professionals from other system who will provide cost reduction