12/26/00
My employer made a last-minute decision to give us the day after Xmas off.  I couldn't let the opportunity go to waste...had to try as many work-day-only Orange County bus routes as I could squeeze into a day.  To add to the challenge, I tried to take each route over its entire length in one direction or the other.  This worked out well enough, despite the usual OCTA challenges, such as coming up with convenient connections, and determining just what was the first and last stops on any given route.

Amazingly enough, my day started exactly as it does most work-day mornings, catching the #71 that leaves from Placentia Linda Hospital at 7:15am.  It was the same bus as always (covered head-to-toe in Union Bank ads), and the driver was the same guy who always subs on the regular driver's days off.  Just as well, as the normal driver might have been confused by my wanting to get off at a sensible bus-stop, rather at the usual top-of-the-hill stop near my carpool driver's Orange home.  Got off at Orangethorpe for the westbound #30 to west to Valley View Ave.

For the sake of completeness, I let the 8:20 southbound #21 go by, instead catching the northbound which would become the 8:40 southbound.  This made it easier to find the first stop in the midst of the industrial-park loop, plus the 8:20 short-turns at Chapman anyway.  The driver did NOT force me off the bus at the Caballero/Descanso layover, just as well as there was no place to sit, and not much standing room either (one of those grassy berm bus stop areas which would freak out the ADA watchers).  Nobody got on or off in the industrial zone, but between Orangethorpe and Chapman there were a dozen or more riders.  South of Chapman there was just 3 of us most of the way, and only 2 when the #21 terminated at Warner and Pacific Coast Highway.

One Murphy's Law for bus riders...the more choices there are for things to see and do at a bus connection point, the less time one has available.  Lots of places on PCH north of Warner, but I had only 5 minutes.  The turnaround/waiting area is much too small for all the routes which use it...all the curb space was taken by 3 laying-over buses (#21, #70 and #72), so had to keep my eyes open for where the southbound #1 was going to pull in.  Despite this, I had to check in with an obviously confused older couple.  According to the woman, it seems the man had never
taken buses before, but felt it was about time he learned, and needed some schedules.  When the #1 did arrive, I handed her a Bus Book off the rack.

Plenty of time for the #80, so I got off a couple stops early to get a large soda at a gas station, and to explore around the Huntington pier.  The "1st & PCH" layover zone is on the oceanside of Pacific Coast Highway, much closer to Huntington St. than to 1st.  There are 3 bus "zones" here, Zone 1 for the #127, Zone 2 for the #1, and Zone 3 shared by the #25 and #80.  Seemed like a peculiar arrangement, as the #1 only stops here once an hour, sitting only when it's early.  Two buses were squeezed into zone 3, neither with numbers or destination signs so I had to deduce mine from the run numbers. Only a couple #80 riders on the Atlanta Ave. stretch, maybe 7 or 8 more on Hamilton, and just me from Harbor Blvd. to the end on Park, nicely enough across from a small park with a library.

I had picked this as being my lunch-break, as otherwise I had no set plan and lots of options to kill time until I had to be at the south end of the #75.  Alas, none of the lunch spots of interest around Triangle Square were open yet, so I just waited for the next #73 south.  While waiting for what would be a late bus, an OCTA van-bus pulled over nearby.  No route markings, but the schedule matches the #173, good to know as I want to take the entire dinky route some free Saturday.  Eventually the 73 arrived, and I took that to the end down by Balboa pier, making a mental note to eventually get down to the Newport Ave. bridge over PCH to investigate if and how one can transfer safely between the #1 and #73 there.  Walked over to the Balboa Island ferry, which was doing great business for a weekday, and from there to the wide spot along Bayside that was where the #75 laidover.  Plenty of eateries, though all were sit-down and looked pricey...made do with a couple small salads and a juice from the small Pavilions supermarket.

Two other people were waiting for the #75 van-bus when it arrived just before the 12:45 departure time.  The very chatty driver was surprised how MANY riders she had! Both were off by MacArthur, and there was one other passenger for just a couple blocks just after.  Driver had a radio on, blaring KCBS-FM. She was a big classic rock fan, while I find it bores me silly (especially the repetitive radio stations). Mentioned a number of past-prime acts she was planning to see soon, then mentioned hearing some rumor that Thin Lizzy was touring again...don't know why I remembered, but I'd seen their name on the "Coming Attractions" marquee at the Galaxy on Harbor Blvd. during another recent (but less planned-out) bus tour.

No surprise, missed the connection with the #167 to Yale Ave., but I'd already planned on having to walk to Northwood & Yale for the 2:19 southbound run of the #175.  Strange as this route looks on paper, it wiggles even more in person, almost like the driver was improvising as he went along, or just going out of his way to avoid going by any bus stops, :).  This was yet another Laidlaw-contracted van-bus, and only in the last couple miles before UC-Irvine was there any danger of 2 people having to share a seat.  The driver was surprised there was still anyone on after University Center, but hey I was determined to stay on til the bitter end...even with no sidewalks to use on University Drive from the "Mariposa Villa" building and
Campus Drive.

I stayed on University up to the stop for the northbound #79.  Good that I had a few minutes to spare, as I would witness the extreme of another OCTA quirk, the ultra-early bus.  I don't recall this happening much before the "Point-to-Point" changes last September, but now it's fairly common for a bus to run ahead of schedule and then have to sit at the next time-check point, waiting for the clock to catch up to it.  This guy must have LOVED maximum waiting times, as he was barreling along in the LEFT lane, this only a block before needing to make a right turn.  I had to dash a good 5 or 6 bus-lengths from the bus stop to get to where he finally stopped!  I didn't check, but it felt like about a 10-minute wait at University Center, and we also got to Barranca way ahead of schedule.  Only a few got to their stops early enough to catch the bus before UCI, but there was a decent crowd from there on north.

There was no bus stop at all at the northwest corner of Barranca and Culver, and none visible west of there, so again I figured it was best to catch the eastbound #74 for at least part of its loop.  I'd seen "74 Eastbound" on the sign back at Alton, so I walked back there to wait.  Turned out one other woman was doing the same, and both of us surprised the #74 driver...was making a wiiiiiide turn from Alton into the far left lane, then had to angle all the way back to the curb to pick us up.  Just for that, he made us get off for his layover, which turned out to be about 2 blocks west of Culver on Barranca. At least there was a couple benches there.  It was really quiet until 4:17, when a sudden swarm of a dozen or more people descended upon the bus stop, just in time for the doors to re-open.  This was my first, and only, "Nabi" LNG-fueled bus of the day.  Are these really longer than most other OCTA buses, or do they just feel like it?  Had a good crowd on board up to Harbor Blvd., but from there to Euclid we might have had 2 or 3 passengers. Noticed a LOT of ADA non-compliant bus stops on this route, as in nearly all the stops on Barranca.

The rest was routine, been-there/done-that #37/Euclid (busy, but not uncomfortably stuffed), and the #26/#22 combo, back home at 7:20pm, not much later that I often am on a work-day.

A couple other notable recent rides:
Friday 12/29
    I got off work early enough to get to Santa Ana MainPlace early enough to try out the single afternoon northbound run of the #147 to Brea.  Even after perusing the magazine racks at the Barnes & Noble near the stop, I had plenty of time to sit and watch short-turning #53s go by.  To add some excitement to the mix, there was an anxious couple who wanted to catch an eastbound #54 on Chapman, so had to wait for one of the few #53s that went far enough north.  Showed them the schedule, and noted they should watch for the bus marked "53 Orange", and that the "53 Mainplace" does not go far enough north for their purposes. (I would've just walked from LaVeta to Chapman, but hey that's just me...).  Each new "53 Mainplace" tested their faith, but I would keep telling them to hang on, that their bus WILL get arrive at 5:23, more or less.  Soon after, two teenage girls came by, looking for a bus to Mall of Orange. I didn't want to confuse them with a comment like, "You're about 4 months too late", sticking instead to the current situation.  I looked over the connecting schedules (impressing them with my deciphering skills) and figured their best bet was to thake the #53 to the eastbound #46/Taft Rd.  They then also had to be convinced to be patient with each passing "53 Mainplace".  I did check to see if either duo would be helped by the #147, but no they would miss the buses I was connecting them to.
    Got a bit anxious myself when my bus was late, but at about 5:14 a van-bus claiming to be "147" did pull up.  Yowz, this route sure zigs and zags its way north!  We frequently crossed paths with a #47 going (relatively) straight up Haster, Anaheim and Lemon.  While that one seemed crowded, and delayed by many people at a few stops, our little ride had just 2 passengers besides me at the start, picked up no one along the way, and had dropped all but me off long before we got to Fullerton Transportation Center.  This, and the #213, pull into the sort-of-a-turnaround/taxi stand combo at the Amtrak waiting room, rather than in the bus terminal area.  The driver was genuinely baffled to have a rider north of this point, especially one voluntarily riding the rest of the way to Kraemer and Birch.

    Speaking of the #213, while I often take this from Tustin/Lincoln down to near my work in Irvine, I had never taken it north of Chapman and Kraemer, until I finally set aside the time to try it, one evening just before Xmas.  Yipes, this one also slowly meanders, and also I was the only rider beyond Fullerton Transportation Center. The only way this one proved useful to me was for checking out which eateries were open evenings along Brea Blvd. and Birch St.

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