Even
after winning the biggest fare increase in more than a decade, the Metropolitan
Transportation Authority still finds itself in a cash crunch that keeps several
projects in limbo.
By Jeffrey L. Rabin and Rong-Gong Lin II,
Times Staff Writers
May 26, 2007
Even after winning the biggest fare increase in more than a
decade, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority still finds itself in a cash
crunch that leaves several rail projects in limbo.
If it survives an expected legal challenge, the boost in fares will help
stabilize the transit agency's deficit-ridden finances. But the increase is
significantly less than what MTA staffers originally sought to close a
projected $1.8-billion deficit over the next decade.
That leaves the MTA with a fundamental challenge that has faced the agency
since its birth 14 years ago: how to operate a vast bus system while
simultaneously building or expanding light-rail and subway lines.
The MTA has dramatically increased its mass-transit network this decade,
finishing the Red Line subway to North Hollywood and opening the Gold Line from
downtown L.A. to Pasadena and the Orange Line, a busway across the San Fernando
Valley. The agency is in the midst of building two more rail lines at a
combined cost of $1.5 billion: a downtown-to-Culver City route known as the
Expo Line and an extension of the Gold Line from downtown to East L.A.
MTA Chief Executive Officer Roger Snoble offered a sober assessment Friday of
what comes next.
Although he believes the agency can afford to complete and operate the Culver
City and East L.A. lines, he said other transit projects now being considered,
including one busway extension, could face significant delays.
"There has been a big expectation that we will get it done sooner than is
financially possible," Snoble said. "This whole experience shows we
need to be realistic about our expectations…. It may delay some projects."
Among them:
• The Expo Line extension from Culver City to Santa Monica, where
officials have already purchased property around the Sears department store
near City Hall and plan to convert the store's auto center building into a
transit center.
• The Gold Line extension that would run from Pasadena to Montclair, in
San Bernardino County, with a possible link ending at LA/Ontario International
Airport. The line has been pushed aggressively by officials in the San Gabriel
Valley, who have long complained that their region has no light rail service.
• The Green Line extension from its Aviation station near El Segundo to
Los Angeles International Airport.
• The Orange Line extension from Woodland Hills to Chatsworth.
• The much-discussed $4.8-billion "Subway to the Sea" under
Wilshire Boulevard that Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa made a top priority when
elected.
Only a dream?
Without a massive infusion of state and federal funds, officials said, the
Wilshire subway remains only a dream. "That's got a long way to go,"
Snoble said.
The stakes are high, because there is general agreement that the MTA's current
73-mile rail network simply doesn't go enough places to lure motorists out of
their cars. The agency's planners hope that pushing rail and busways farther
into the Westside, San Gabriel Valley, South Bay and San Fernando Valley will
create a system in which more people can get to their destinations. With L.A.'s
population rising, officials worry that congestion on major boulevards and
freeways will worsen, slowing bus service further.
The first set of fare hikes, which will hit bus and rail riders July 1, will
generate at least $30 million in new revenue the first year, about 11% more
than current levels, Snoble said. But it's less than the MTA chief had wanted.
A second wave of increases will be implemented in July 2009, possibly followed
by another hike in 2011. That should provide the agency with enough revenue to
operate the East L.A. and Culver City lines now under construction, as well as
the other bus and rail services.
Already, an intense behind-the-scenes fight is underway between politicians
from the Westside and the San Gabriel Valley over what rail project should
follow the two now being built.
Westside forces are pushing for the $800-million Expo Line extension, saying
traffic in their region is worse and that building a rail link to the ocean
would be a huge relief valve. San Gabriel Valley forces say their area is
underserved by rail and are pushing for a $1.4-billion route that would end in
the fast-growing suburbs of San Bernardino County. (Both projects are at least
six to seven years from'It is sobering'
Transit advocates Friday said they are worried that the MTA's financial
problems could cause delays on their projects.
"It is sobering," said Darrell Clarke, a Santa Monica planning
commissioner and co-chairman of Friends 4 Expo Transit. "We need a network
of new rail lines, not just a couple of little new ones."
LaVerne Mayor Jon Blickenstaff said the MTA's problems probably mean that the
competition for funding will heat up.
"There's a critical need for a better transit system, [but] it's all very
expensive to build and operate, and the subsidies are not nearly
adequate," he said.
Members of Congress from L.A. County and transit lobbyists in Washington are
trying to win approval of special provisions that would allow the local money
being spent on the Culver City and East L.A. lines to be used to draw federal
dollars for the extensions.
If successful, this effort would give the Santa Monica and San Gabriel Valley
lines an extra source of funds. But even Snoble is skeptical. "It's really
a hard sell," he said.
The fare increases approved by the MTA board Thursday will significantly
increase what riders pay.
The cost of the monthly pass will gradually rise from $52 to $75 by July 1,
2009. The day pass — the most popular pass — will rise from $3 to $6 over the
same period. The single-ride cash fare will rise the least, from $1.25 to $1.50
over the next two years.
Critics of the increase have already threatened to sue the MTA in federal
court, arguing that the agency is ignoring the needs of working-class bus
riders to build a grand rail system. Bus riders and civil rights groups sued
the MTA on similar grounds in 1994, resulting in the agency's signing off on a
consent decree that kept fares stable and resulted in improved bus service.
Connie Rice, a civil rights attorney who fought the MTA often over the last
decade, said Friday that the increased fares will again hit the poor hard.
"They are going to make poor people's lives even more miserable," she
said. "It looks like they are back to business as usual."
MTA officials have warned that without the fare increases approved Thursday,
they might not be able to operate the Culver City and East L.A. rail lines
after they are built.
Such restrictions would also be bad news for some projects in their early
planning stages. L.A. officials are pushing for a light rail line along
Crenshaw Boulevard and Florence Avenue from the Expo Line to LAX. There are
also studies of a downtown route that would connect the Blue Line and Gold
Line.
MTA board member Pam O'Connor, a Santa Monica councilwoman, said boosting fares
was a difficult decision — but a needed one for the future of mass transit in
L.A.
"You have to have a solid foundation," she said. "And, frankly,
we were on shaky ground."
jeff.rabin@latimes.com
ron.lin@latimes.com
*
At risk
Expo Line extension
Where: From Culver City to Santa Monica
Est. Cost: $800 million or more
Purpose: Would bring rail to the beach and traffic-
clogged Westside.
--
Gold Line extension
Where: From Pasadena to Montclair
Est. Cost: $1.4 billion
Purpose: Would connect L.A. rail system to the fast-growing
Inland Empire.
--
Green Line extension
Where: From near El Segundo to LAX
Est. Cost: $150 million or more
Purpose: The two-mile route would fill infamous "missing
link," connecting rail line to LAX parking lot.
--
Orange Line extension
Where: From Woodland Hills to Chatsworth
Est. Cost: $135 million or more
Purpose: Successful busway would cross the full Valley. Costs
less than rail.
--
Purple Line extension
(Wilshire subway)
Where: From Mid-Wilshire to Santa Monica
Est. Cost: $4.8 billion
Purpose: Would run through heart of city. Expensive but
potentially popular.
Source: Times reports