BRU Wins Federal Court Order for At Least
134 Metro Rapid Expansion Buses
Strikes Blow at MTA Policies of Transit Racial Segregation
Los Angeles--On Tuesday, April 19, 2005, the Bus Riders Union (BRU) will host
a press conference celebrating the April 14, 2005 ruling by Consent Decree
Special Master Donald Bliss on the next big ticket item in the federal Consent
Decreethe requirement that MTA implement a New Bus Service Plan to increase
the transit dependents access to schools, jobs, health care, and countywide
mobility. The ruling is a significant victory for the BRU and the NAACP Legal
Defense and Educational Fund and is a key component to improving civil rights
enforcement, mass transit, and air quality for the entire region.
Court Rules MTA Has Not Complied with Requirements for New Countywide Bus
Service. While MTA argued to the court that it has already met its New Bus
Service requirements under the Consent Decree, the Special Master ruled that
MTA must develop a New Service Implementation Plan by July 31, 2005 that meets
the Consent Decree requirements to improve the transit dependents countywide
mobility and access to jobs, schools, and health care, using the criteria
laid out by his Order.
Court Orders MTA to Expand its Metro Rapid Bus fleet by at least 134 buses,
and Rejects MTAs Add-One, Cut-One Metro Rapid Bus Plan. The Special Master
rejected MTAs policy of implementing Metro Rapid Bus lines mainly by cutting
pre-existing Limited/Local service and by failing to operate evening and weekend
service, thereby forcing thousands of riders to wait longer and walk further
for buses that continue to be overcrowded. The Order requires MTA to add at
least 134 buses to its fleet in order to restore previously reduced Local
service and/or to add essential Metro Rapid service on weekdays, evenings
and weekends. The Order also requires MTA to protect resources for 11 existing
pilot project bus lines and to develop a plan that seriously considers BRUs
proposals for improved Freeway Bus and Community Shuttle services.
Court Orders MTA to Reallocate Funds from non-bus projects (such as rail)
to pay for New Bus Service. Despite MTA threats to make low-income bus riders
pay for court-ordered service additions with fare increases and further service
cuts, the Order requires MTA to pay for new bus service with funds from non-bus
programs such as rail projects.
BRU calls on MTA Board and LA Mayoral Candidates to Implement New Bus Service
Court Order. The BRU urges the MTA board to implement the Order immediatelyto
ensure civil rights enforcement and improve the mobility of Black, Latino,
Asian and working class bus riders. The BRU urges the mayoral candidates (current
Mayor James Hahn and Councilperson Antonio Villaraigosa) to commit to prioritize
the funding for the New Bus Service Court Order and other Consent Decree obligations
by committing to implement a Consent Decree action plan in their first 60
days in office.
Bus Riders Union Press Conference
Tuesday, April 19, 2005 at 10 AM
At Rapid Bus Station on NE Corner of Western and Wilshire
LA Times Article on the Ruling
MTA Ordered to Expand Its Fleet of Rapid Buses
By Sharon Bernstein, Times Staff Writer
April 15, 2005, The Metropolitan Transportation Authority must
put 134 new buses into its Metro Rapid fleet under a legal order issued Thursday.
The agency's ability to pay for the vehicles by eliminating regular local
buses on the routes the new Rapid lines serve is limited by the order.
The court action by Special Master Donald Bliss is a victory for the Bus Riders
Union. Earlier this year, the transit advocacy group accused the MTA of flouting
a consent decree requiring the agency to improve bus service for Los Angeles
County residents.
The MTA said Thursday that it was in compliance with the decree.
"Since the consent decree was signed in 1996, we have added more than
1.6 million annual bus-service hours, which have not resulted in a corresponding
increase in demand," the agency said in a statement. "To date, the
additional capital and operating costs associated with this service expansion
has cost taxpayers more than $1 billion."
The decree was part of the settlement of a lawsuit that several
community groups filed against the MTA in 1994.
Bliss was appointed in 1996 to oversee implementation of the agreement.
Part of the agency's response to the decree was the Rapid Bus service, which
features bright red vehicles that make fewer stops than ordinary buses.
"The MTA had implemented the Rapid Buses by reducing local services,"
said Manuel Criollo, a Bus Riders Union organizer.
Under Bliss' order, the MTA must pay for the new buses mostly with funds currently
designated for services such as light rail and the subway that are unrelated
to the agreement. The MTA is allowed to recoup only a third of the costs by
reducing local service along the Rapid routes.
Steven Carnevale, the county attorney who represents the MTA, said it would
cost about $20 million to operate the new buses at a time when the agency
is strapped for funds.
It would be illegal, he said, to use rail money to expand bus service, because
most of those funds come from earmarked federal and state grants.
The MTA has until July 31 to develop a plan to implement the new order.