Planned RTD Fare Hikes Blasted by Angry Riders

Angry bus riders, faced with an across-the-board fare increase, barraged Southern California Rapid Transit District directors on Saturday with stinging complaints about bus service and warned of severe hardships if the planned increases are implemented.

College students, suburban commuters, the elderly and handicapped, low-income riders and elected officials took turns criticizing the sweeping fare-hike proposal--and the accompanying cuts in bus service--that are scheduled to take effect July 1.

The RTD board, which is expected to vote on the fares on Feb. 13, remained noncommittal at the daylong public hearing as they heard a litany of complaints about overcrowded buses, slipshod service and strenuous arguments against raising fares.

Dorothy Cate, legislative chair of the Los Angeles Chapter of the National Council of Senior Citizens, said that elderly women who rely on fixed incomes and who would be forced to pay an additional $60 a year for bus passes, would be particularly hard hit.

“For these women, it’s a question of whether they are going to eat tomorrow or not eat,” said Cate, 71, of Echo Park.

The elderly, who now have discount rates, would be among the most directly affected of the riders who make 1.6 million bus trips daily.

The district, which is projecting a loss of $43 million in tax subsidy funds this year, is proposing to raise the basic bus fare from 50 cents to 75 cents and monthly passes from $20 to $34.

Under the district’s plan, discounts for the elderly and the handicapped would be modified. Their cash fares would go from 20 cents to 35 cents and their monthly pass would increase from $4 to $9.

Students who now pay 20 cents would pay 75 cents and their $4 monthly passes would also escalate. Elementary and high school students, for example, would pay $18 next July and college and vocational students would pay $24 under the proposal.

Those changes, plus the scheduled elimination of some bus lines and cutbacks in service routes, produced an overflow crowd of several hundred Saturday at the district’s downtown headquarters. Speaker after speaker had a similar message.

“I’m mad,” said Gloria Ambrosia, an East Los Angeles College student. She said bus service was poor and noted that it has been crippled by labor strikes and other problems. “If those fare increases and cuts go through, we (riders) are going to go on strike,” she warned.

Jesus Hernandez, a part-time bus driver, brought hundreds of signatures from his Boyle Heights neighborhood asking the district to freeze fares for those making under $12,500. “Those are the ones who can least afford it,” he said.

Board members, however, were not reassuring and said even higher fares soon may be in the offing. RTD President Nikolas Patsaouras said fares could go even higher--to $1.10 or $1.25--if President Reagan is successful in his proposal to eliminate federal funds for transit operating subsidies. Such a move would mean the loss of $48 million more in annual RTD revenues, Patsaouras added.

“Realistically, I think it’s very clear we are looking at some sort of fare hike and service reduction in July,” he said. “The question is just how much.”

What gives rise to the proposal to increase fares is the scheduled reduction of subsidies from Proposition A, a countywide half-cent sales tax that benefits transit.

Critics of higher fares seized on a proposal by Los Angeles County Supervisor Kenneth Hahn that they claimed could avert the need for a fare increase. Hahn, who outlined the idea at a Friday news conference and then appeared Saturday before the board, said the fare increase was unnecessary because the county and its 84 cities, which also receive a portion of Proposition A money, have not been spending most of an estimated $58.3 million available for transit.

Hahn said that money could be tapped to keep the fare at 50 cents if the cities and the county were willing to commit the money to bus subsidies.

However, Los Angeles city officials say the $26 million or so annually that the city has collected over the last three years has been set aside for local transit projects, and about $3 million is expected to help subsidize elderly and handicapped residents.

The remaining funds--about $50 million--has been banked for the Metro Rail subway and light-rail projects, city officials said.

Los Angeles City Council President Pat Russell told reporters that Hahn’s suggestion was “shortsighted and irresponsible.”

Patsaouras also said the proposal was “a Band-Aid approach” and unrealistic because it was doubtful cities would give up their share of transit funds.