Bus-riders advocates filed documents Monday
seeking a six-year extension of a federal consent decree forcing the MTA to
improve passenger service a court order already costing taxpayers $100 million
annually.
With
two years remaining on the 10-year consent decree, plaintiffs say the
Metropolitan Transportation Authority has failed to sufficiently improve
service for its poor and minority riders.
"The
system is not viable enough for those who use it, those who want to use
it," said Cynthia Rojas, an organizer with the Bus Riders Union, whose
parent organization is among the plaintiffs. "It'll be enough when
transit-dependent people can actually have transit mobility in this city.
"Right
now, it's not enough." But the MTA said it already is devoting nearly half
of its $2.8 billion budget to the bus system, and anticipates spending $1
billion on equipment and enhanced service by the time the consent decree
expires in 2006. Extending the court order would come at the expense of roads,
highways and other transportation projects throughout the region.
"There's
no telling if it's extended what it would be," agency spokesman Marc Littman said. "The same taxpayers that are stuck in
gridlock on the streets and highways are going to be caught holding the
bag."
The
13-member MTA board will have to meet and determine whether it will oppose the
proposed extension. The special master appointed by the U.S. District Court to
oversee compliance with the consent decree will determine the next step.
The
two sides have bitterly disputed nearly every provision of the consent decree,
which resulted from a 1994 suit claiming that overcrowded buses violated the
civil rights of the system's half-million passengers.
The
MTA is already appealing the latest order from the special master to add 145
new buses and 380 replacement buses, saying it can
reach the court's goal of improving service without spending $100 million on
the new vehicles.
The
MTA lost an appeal filed in 1999 that sought to lower the number of buses it
had to buy from 248 to 160.
Plaintiffs
say the MTA has failed on three main aspects of the consent decree: reducing
bus overcrowding to no more than eight standing passengers; implementing a five-year
improvement plan; and maintaining low fares.
Plaintiffs'
counsel Richard Larson said the MTA had 1,000 violations of overcrowding in
2003, when buses were cited with more than 15 people standing. The current goal
is to have no more than eight passengers standing.
But
the MTA says it has put more than 400 buses on the streets during rush hour but
still cannot reach 100 percent compliance on overcrowding because of the flow
of traffic.
"It's
an impossible standard," Littman said.
While
the plaintiffs said the agency had failed to produce a five-year improvement
plan, the MTA said it had simply moved ahead with improvements without going
through the process of approving a formal proposal.
The
plaintiffs are also seeking a rollback of new fares, which took effect in
January, until the goals are reached.
A
spokesman for Los Angeles City Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa,
one of four city representatives on the MTA board, said he was disappointed the
plaintiffs decided to seek an extension.
