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Consent
Decree Compliance Campaign - Overview & Demands
 Billions
for Buses, Fight Transit Racism Campaign
In October of 1996, the BRU won a landmark civil rights Consent
Decree, following the class action civil rights lawsuit brought
against the Los Angeles MTA in 1994. The case, Labor/Community
Strategy Center and Bus Riders Union et al. v. Los Angeles County
Metropolitan Transportation Authority, was brought by the BRU
and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund to challenge racial
discrimination in the transportation policies of the MTA. The suit
charged the MTA with violations of Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights
Act by establishing a discriminatory, separate, and unequal transportation
system while using federal funds.The agreement, signed by both the
MTA and the BRU, is a 10-year contract in which MTA is obligated
to improve L.A.'s bus system and make the bus system and the transit
dependent its first priority for funding. The agreement places the
Bus Riders Union in a unique role as the court-appointed class representative
of L.A.'s 400,000 bus riders.
The primary objective of the
Consent Decree is to remedy decades of MTA policies of racial discrimination.
When the BRU first brought this case to court, such policies had
virtually destroyed the bus system—the transit lifeline to
employment, education, public services, extended family, cultural
and recreational sites for 400,000 bus riders who are nearly 90%
people of color, 60% women, and overwhelmingly low-income.
Main
Components of the BRU Civil Rights Consent Decree
* Fare reduction
* Reduction of bus overcrowding
* New Service to major centers of employment, education and healthcare
throughout the county
* Joint Working Group (joint BRU and MTA policy making body that
oversees the implementation of the Consent Decree)
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Requirement |
Deadline |
Action |
Status |
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Fare
Reduction
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October 1996 |
Saved the monthly passes with reductions, introduced a
75 cent off-peak fare and the first-ever weekly pass.
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No fare increases for
eight years. On May 22, 2003 MTA voted to increase fares starting
on January 1, 2004. |
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| Overcrowding Reduction |
3 phases |
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| 135% capacity ceiling |
Dec 31, 1997 |
1) MTA modernized the entire bus fleet by replacing old buses
(most of them diesel) with approximately 2,100 New Clean air
CNG buses)
2) MTA expanded the bus fleet by hundreds of buses.
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Many lines have still not met this standard even with these
actions, but the 135% capacity ceiling has been eclipsed by
the 125% and 120% standards. |
| 125% capacity ceiling |
June 30, 2000 |
See below--125% capacity ceiling eclipsed by 120% capacity
ceiling. |
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| 120% capacity ceiling |
June 30, 2002 |
Per the January 12, 2004 court order, MTA is required
to:
- Add 145 expansion buses and 310,000 in-service hours to
reduce overcrowding during the peak periods.
- Retire buses over 12 years old, starting with 381 buses
- Work with the BRU to determine remedies (added service)
needed for off-peak periods
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MTA has added some buses to the fleet but not all have gone
to the overcrowded bus lines as required (and instead have gone
to the Orange Line, for example). MTA hasalso expanded bus service
hours but not all have been added to the peak periods as required.
In August 2004, the BRU filed a motion for contempt of court
to compel MTA to comply with these and other requirements (still
pending in court). |
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| Countywide New Service Plan |
January 14, 2005 |
BRU proposes 576 new buses and approximately 2.4 million
additional annual hours of bus service for new expansion service
to reach job centers, schools, and hospitals. (Download
BRU New Service Plan)
MTA proposes little expansion. |
April 14, 2005, Special Master Donald Bliss rules that MTA
has not yet met Consent Decree requirements for countywide new
bus service.MTA must develop a New Service Implementation Plan
that meets Consent Decree requirements by July 31st, 2005. Bliss
orders MTA to add a minimum of 134 new buses to its Metro Rapid
Fleet as a first step toward full implementation of a 5-year
New Service Plan.(Download
Order) |
Accomplishments
The BRU has literally saved public transportation in Los Angeles.
At the time of the signing of the Consent Decree, the MTA bus fleet
was less than 2,100 buses, almost all diesel, more than half were
totally dilapidated, many with more than 500,000 miles and ages
of 14 to 20 years. That is, they did not run and those that did
run broke down and polluted. People were chronically late to work,
school and medical services. Through the BRU’s legal and grassroots
organizing and advocacy, the MTA has agreed to dramatic improvements
in the bus system, generating hundreds of millions of dollars in
bus improvements for low-income transit dependent riders. These
victories have included:
* Reducing the monthly bus pass—which the MTA had
tried to eliminate—to $42 a month (from $49), and creating
the first $11 weekly bus pass. Consequently,
bus pass use has increased and low-income riders have saved tens
of millions of dollars each year. Lower cost transit has led to
a significant increases in transit use since 1996!
* 2,100 New clean fuel CNG
buses to replace a mostly diesel fleet.
* Fleet Expansion by more than 300 buses
* Generating the first Rapid Bus lines that dramatically reduce
transit times on major surface streets.
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