LAURANN COOK -- Community Commentary

There is nothing more enjoyable than the good laughs provided by

cartoons contained in newspapers poking fun at various organizations

throughout the region. However, your recent cartoon depicting an Orange

County Transportation Authority bus with a surgeon general’s warning

needs clarification.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District recently adopted

sweeping air quality regulations that we hope will yield environmental

improvements for everyone. Our concern with the cartoon is that it does

not convey the fact that OCTA has already moved in this direction -- not

because we were forced to, but because we believe it to be the right

thing to do.

In October 1998, the OCTA Board of Directors voted to stop purchasing

diesel buses and commit to using liquefied natural gas engines, making

OCTA the first transit district in the state to pursue 100% natural gas for its standard 40-foot bus fleet.

This summer, OCTA will receive the first shipment of 232 liquefied

natural gas-fueled buses. When the final shipment is received in summer

2001, OCTA will have replaced half of its diesel-burning bus fleet with

the low-emission liquefied natural gas buses that burn approximately 60%

less oxides of nitrogen.

As one of the fastest-growing transit systems in the nation, OCTA

needs to operate efficiently and be as environmentally sensitive as

possible. The decision to phase out diesel in favor of liquefied natural

gas puts us much closer to both goals.

*

* LAURANN COOK, a Fountain Valley councilwoman, is the chairwoman of

the Orange County Transportation Authority.