Residents in Los Alamitos can take advantage of a new service providing rides — they are free for seniors — to a variety of popular destinations around town.
In January, Los Alamitos, through a partnership with Circuit, an all-electric micro transit service, launched Los Al Link, an on-demand electric shuttle and transportation service designed to make it easier and greener to get around, said Ron Noda, Los Alamitos assistant city manager.
Los Al Link currently serves the entire city of Los Alamitos, as well as key nearby destinations including Rossmoor Shopping Center and Seal Beach Shopping Center, Noda said.
And the city has eyes on expanding the service to surrounding communities sometime in the future, he said.
“The city hopes to collaborate with the county of Orange, which oversees the community of Rossmoor, and the city of Seal Beach to expand the Los Al Link’s service to include their residents, further enhancing regional connectivity and access to everyday destinations,” Noda said.
The service is available from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays.
Availability will shift from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. from the Tuesday after Memorial Day to the Tuesday after Labor Day.
Rides are free for riders 50 and older and cost $2.50 per trip for all others.
Riders can request a ride by calling the dispatch line at 562-609-4121 or by downloading the “Ride Circuit” app on their phone and scheduling the ride themselves. The app functions similarly to other rideshare apps.
Riders are not required to be residents of Los Alamitos to access this service, but rides are only available within city limits along with the Shops at Rossmoor.
From March 2022 to August 2023, Los Alamitos engaged in community outreach and planning to improve transportation services, particularly for residents age 55 and older, who make up more than 30% of the city’s population, a city report stated.
A survey of 100 older adults revealed that 11% required transportation services, officials said.
In addition to Los Alamitos, Circuit also provides all-electric transit services in Costa Mesa.
The company provided service in parts of Huntington Beach for several years until the city’s grant funding recently ran out.
When Circuit service is positioned as infrastructure, and not a pilot experiment, service tends to be longer term, said Daniel Kramer, Circuit’s vice president of business development in the west region. “It’s less about finding one replacement funding source and more about designing the program to be sustainable from day one.”
Los Al Link is funded for seven years through fiscal year 2030-31 by an Orange County Transportation Authority grant in the amount of $1.9 million, with the city required to match for a combined program funding total of $3.8 million.
The OCTA grant program, Project V, is specifically earmarked for community-based transit services to help OC cities establish local services such as shuttles and bus trolleys that complement regional bus and rail services, meeting the needs in areas not adequately served by regional transit.
In 2024, Laguna Beach received $7.2 million in funds from the Project V program for an off-season weekend trolley service through 2031 and to expand the Laguna Local on-demand program.
Project V funds have also been awarded to transportation programs in Anaheim, Dana Point, Irvine, Mission Viejo, Newport Beach, San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano.
“OCTA is happy to work with cities throughout Orange County to provide funding through the Measure M2 half-cent sales tax to help provide the kind of transit services that they need most,” OCTA spokesman Eric Carpenter said. “A standard 40-foot bus isn’t always the right fit for every public transit need, and these shuttles have proven successful, efficiently getting people where they need to be.”