Item 19 - City Council Work Study Session Regarding the First Street Multimodal Boulevard Study

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City of Santa Ana | First Street Multimodal Corridor Technical Memorandum 10 Transit OCTA Route 64 runs east-west along First Street, connecting Larwin Square in the City of Tustin to the Westminster Mall in the City of Huntington Beach. Route 64 has local and express stops along First Street. In addition, OCTA provides multiple north-south bus routes that intersect First Street and provide connectivity across Orange County (OCTA Routes 57, 150/151, 55, 53, 553, 59, 83, and 71). Key transfer points along the corridor include Bristol Street, Flower Street, Main Street, Grand Avenue, and Tustin Avenue. The Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center is less than half a mile north of the project corridor and serves regional transit services , including Amtrak, Metrolink, OCTA, and Greyhound. The station sits west of the railroad tracks at the intersection of Santa Ana Boulevard and Santiago Street. From First Street, several north-south roadways —such as Main Street—provide direct access to Santa Ana Boulevard. Riders can reach the station by taking OCTA Route 64 westbound and transferring to Route 59 northbound at Tustin Avenue. Ridership Daily boarding information for Route 64 was provided by OCTA for October 2024, April 2025, and May 2025. Ridership was analyzed for each stop along the project corridor in the eastbound and westbound direction (see Table 1). The highest average boarding across the three time periods occurs at Bristol Street eastbound and Main Street westbound. The busiest stops are on the west side from Bristol Street to Downtown Plaza and at Grand Avenue. Ridership is lower at local stops between Downtown Plaza and Standard Avenue and at Cabrillo Park Drive and Golden Circle Drive. Bus Stop Amenities A field check was completed to document the existing amenities at local and express bus stops between Bristol Street and Tustin Avenue. While the amenities at each stop varied, all stops included seating and signage. The provision of bus shelters aligns the busiest stops and is constructed and maintained by the City. Photo 1 shows the bus stop near Bristol Street. All stops lack dedicated shelter lighting, wayfinding signage, and real-time arrival displays. Each bus stop has basic route information from OCTA. Most bus stops have a concrete bus pad for boarding, and buses usually stop in the outside travel lane. The only exception is the westbound stop on Flower Street, which includes a dedicated bus turnout, shown in Photo 2. Individuals experiencing homelessness were observed occupying seats at some locations, leaving other riders to stand.