HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. - (June 12, 2007) - Orange County’s PBS station, KOCE-TV, announces an upcoming live television special, “Challenge of the 91 Freeway,” dedicated to exploring and explaining the cross-county plans to upgrade the routinely congested 91 Freeway (Riverside Freeway). The program airs Thursday, June 28 at 7 pm, both on KOCE-TV and on the Inland Empire’s KVCR-TV. It will rebroadcast on KOCE-TV Sunday, July 1 at 10:30 am, Monday, July 2 at 7 pm and Sunday, July 8 at 10:30 am; and on KVCR-TV Tuesday, July 3 at 10 pm.

The live one-hour panel discussion, “Challenge of the 91 Freeway,” gathers experts from the Orange County Transportation Authority, Riverside County Transportation Commission, as well as city government and engineers to explain changing traffic demands on the two counties’ clogged main artery, and discuss upgrades on the horizon.

Viewers can submit questions in advance to 91@koce.org, then see and hear from the people making the decisions to fix the 91.

Traffic Congestion in OC / Inland Empire
Everyday, thousands of motorists from Orange and Riverside Counties rely on the 91 Freeway. However, as both counties have grown, the 91 has remained stagnant – without expansion or revision since the express lanes opened in 1995. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Riverside / San Bernardino County commuters spend the longest time in the entire nation commuting to work at 31.2 minutes. Average commute time in Orange County is 21.9 minutes – fourth longest in the nation. Traffic congestion is also considered by 23% of OC business leaders to be a chief negative factor in the business environment of the county, according to a 2006 Orange County Executive Survey.

A two-county process to fix the 91 Freeway is now underway. Transportation experts from both counties are currently involved in planning, designing and improving the habitually clogged 91 Freeway. Experts expect these efforts to increase the capacity of the 91 while upgrading the quality of life for thousands of Inland Empire and Orange County residents.

 About the Panelists and Host
Host and producer Pat Haslam, best known in Orange County as "Dr. Drive," has been a fixture on the traffic pulse of Southern California for more than a decade, recently as traffic anchor and currently as news anchor of radio station KNX 1070. He hosts Transportation Tuesdays on KOCE-TV.
Among the five panelists who will answer questions about the 91 Freeway are:

• Anne Mayer from the Riverside County Transportation Commission (RCTC). Mayer is currently the deputy executive director for the RCTC. Prior to joining the RCTC, Mayer was District 8 Director for Cal Trans. Mayer holds a degree in civil engineering from Michigan State University and has more than 23 years experience.
• Mike Perovich is the District 8 Director of Cal Trans. Perovich holds a civil engineering degree from UC Davis and possesses more than 36 years of experience in the public works and engineering fields. Perovich was one of the resident engineers responsible for the design and construction of the elevated carpool lanes on the Harbor 110 Freeway.
• Jeff Miller is the Mayor Pro Tem and a former mayor of the city of Corona. First elected to the Corona city council in 2000, Miller represents the city on the Riverside County Transportation Commission and serves on the Transportation and Legislative Committee. He is also Chairman of the 91 Freeway Toll Road Advisory Committee. Miller has owned his own insurance business for the past 22 years, and is a graduate of California State University Fullerton with a degree in criminal justice.
• Carolyn Cavecche is Chairman of the OCTA. She is also the mayor of the city of Orange. A native of Orange County, with a degree in microbiology from Long Beach State University, Cavecche was first elected to the city council in Orange in 2001, and was recently elected mayor of the city of Orange last November. She serves on the State Route Advisory committee as well as the Regional Planning and Highways and Transportation 2020 committees.
• Paul Taylor is deputy CEO of the Orange County Transportation Authority. He is responsible for planning, engineering and constructing all transportation programs and projects in Orange County, including highways, commuter rail, and multimodal corridor improvements. Taylor holds a master’s and bachelor’s degrees in civil engineering from MIT and has lectured at universities throughout Southern California.

About KOCE-TV
KOCE-TV, located in Huntington Beach, is the sixth most watched PBS station in America with an estimated 5.8 million viewers* monthly. KOCE’s award-winning programming offers the fifth-largest county in the nation a long-standing community hub for local news, culture and features, and broadcasts the best available national PBS programs to the entire Southern California five-county region. Known for its outstanding dedication to education, KOCE Classroom serves more than a half million K-12 students. A national Roper poll recently ranked PBS as number one in public trust for the fourth consecutive year.** The winner of hundreds of awards including Emmys and Community Service Awards, KOCE continues to be a vital community resource and connector for Southern California. For more information, please visit www.koce.org.

* Nielsen Station Index 2007
** Reported by the GfKRoper Public Affairs & Media poll (2007)

For more information please contact Leslie Licano at (714) 573-0899 Ext. 23 or via e-mail at
leslie@echomediapr.com