The Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) sought to alleviate traffic congestion and automobile emissions associated with Anaheim Ducks hockey team home games played at the Honda Center. to that end, OCTA piloted an express shuttle service that served a shortened 2013 National Hockey League season spanning January 25, 2013 through May 8, 2013, including three playoff games.
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The special trains branded as the Ducks Express operated 17 weekday home games and three playoff games by adding one roundtrip from Laguna Niguel Mission Viejo to Anaheim Station on the Orange County Line. The ducks Express shuttles provided a coordinated transit link between existing rail service, which conveniently boarded passengers at the Anaheim Stadium Amtrak/Metrolink Station in time for the weekday evening home games. The free connecting bus shuttles offered an attractive alternative to the automobile by transporting hockey fans from the Anaheim station to the Honda Center and back, both before and after the games, with a valid Metrolink ticket.On time performance was excellent with the shuttles arriving at the station in time for the games, 16 of which began at 7:05 with one game starting at 7:35. At the conclusion of the games, the shuttles held for passengers before departing, even in the event of an overtime. a southbound Metrolink train also waited for overtime games while northbound return trips were accommodated by regularly scheduled Metrolink or Amtrak rail service.
To maximize ridership, OCTA, Metrolink, the Anaheim Ducks, and the Honda Center worked in partnership to promote the service and provide special incentives. These efforts included a discounted $7.00 round trip fare ($6.00 for seniors/disabled; $4.00 for children ages 6-18). Children under five years of age rode free which helped promote the service for families. The service benefited from an aggressive joint marketing campaign targeted at both current OCTA customers and those who were not current or frequent transit users. The campaign generated over 68,500 impressions that included promotions in newspapers, direct mailings, radio, websites and other electronic media, onboard and exterior bus advertisements, as well as other outreach activities supported by OCTA, Metrolink, the Anaheim Ducks, and the Honda Center.
The purpose of this project was to implement express shuttle service for fans accessing the Honda Center for Anaheim Ducks hockey home games. The goal was to eliminate traffic congestion in and around the Honda Center and its associated vehicle exhaust emissions by offering a convenient, cost-effective public transportation option to personal automobile.
The Ducks Express proved a success with over 2,247 boardings, which is a 17% increase over the prior year's service, even though five fewer games were played due to the shortened hockey season. Each bus carried passengers at or near its capacity with an average of 55 boardings per bus. Both the customer surveys and customer engagement representatives estimate that nearly all of the bus passengers arrived and connected by rail. Approximately 52 percent traveled via the MetroLink OC Line 644 which spans the cities of Fullerton to Oceanside, with 42% arriving by Metrolink OC Line 604 which spans the cities of Laguna Niguel/Mission viejo to Fullerton. The service proved beneficial in introducing the attractiveness of rail and bus transit as a viable alternative to traveling by automobile.
The implementation of the Ducks Express service was successful and did not encounter any significant problems or issues. However, feedback and performance monitoring information gained allowed staff to identify several opportunities for future improvements to the service, which range from scheduling enhancements and passenger way finding.
Anaheim Ducks
City of Anaheim