The Orange County Transportation Authority and its 1,100-member bus drivers union approved a new contract Monday, ending the strike that shut down most of the county's public transit system for nine days. The transit agency asked its drivers to return to their scheduled routes at noon Monday and said full service was expected to be restored by midweek. OCTA will continue to let passengers ride free of charge through Thursday as the routes resume normal operation, officials said. Among other things, some observers say, the strike has forced a reexamination of mass transit in Orange County. The OCTA board unanimously approved the new contract after Teamsters Local 952 ratified it 696 to 35.
See "Both sides in O.C. bus strike OK new contract", Tony Barboza, Los Angeles Times, July 16, 2007