Start-Up Funds for Metro Rail Gain in House

A key House subcommittee gave a major boost to Los Angeles’ embattled Metro Rail subway project Thursday, not only approving $130 million in new start-up funds, but also an unprecedented directive that would require the Administration to obligate $427 million for the initial 4.4-mile segment.

The House Appropriations subcommittee on transportation included the Metro Rail financing in an omnibus $10.7-billion spending bill that exceeded Administration requests by $3 billion for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1. Most of the extra money in the bill would go for mass transit projects for which the Administration wants to halt federal funding.

Received $176 Million

Even if the House approves the new Los Angeles funding, stiff opposition is expected in the Senate despite the strong bipartisan support of Sens. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.) and Pete Wilson (R-Calif.). The Urban Mass Transportation Administration is trying to kill the Metro Rail project, which the transportation administration says is exorbitantly expensive.

Los Angeles already has received $176 million of the $603 million it is seeking from Washington for the first segment of an 18.6-mile subway from downtown to the San Fernando Valley. The total cost of the initial 4.4-mile segment is estimated at $1.25 billion.

The bill approved by the House subcommittee Thursday would provide a new appropriation of $130 million. Even more important, the measure would direct the Urban Mass Transportation Administration to issue “letters of intent” and “full-funding contracts” guaranteeing that Los Angeles would get $129 million that the transportation administration has withheld over the last two years, the $130 million approved Thursday plus an additional $168 million yet to be appropriated. That, along with funds already received, would provide the $603 million in federal gas tax money Los Angeles needs to build a 4.4-mile starter line from Union Station to Alvarado Street and Wilshire Boulevard.

‘Would Be Unprecedented’

“It would be unprecedented for us to be directed to do those things,” an Urban Mass Transportation Administration spokeswoman said.

Rep. Lawrence Coughlin (R-Pa.), the top Republican on the subcommittee, said he may move to delete the Los Angeles funds from the bill when it reaches the House floor.

However, Rep. Bobbi Fiedler (R-Northridge), the leading congressional opponent of the proposed subway, indicated that she may not support such an attack.

“I have to assess the political ramifications. . . . I’m very pragmatic,” she said, noting that an amendment she offered two years ago to knock out $117 million lost by 280 to 139. “There are many alternatives to an amendment.”

Fiedler said her uncertainty had “nothing to do” with efforts to line up support for an expected U.S. Senate race next year.

Jubilant Metro Rail Backers

In Los Angeles, some of Metro Rail’s most prominent supporters were jubilant over the committee action and gathered at a City Hall news conference to celebrate the news.

“I’m so happy I could dance,” said Nikolas Patsaouras, president of the Southern California Rapid Transit District, which will build and operate Metro Rail.

Mayor Tom Bradley, who has made the subway proposal a cornerstone of his Administration, called the committee action a significant victory for the beleaguered transit project.

“That’s as strong a direction as one could ask for from the Congress of the United States,” Bradley said.

‘We Feel Great’

“We feel great, to say the least, about what has happened. . . ,” he added.

Joining Bradley and Patsaouras were other local politicians, as well as business and labor leaders who had been lobbying heavily for Metro Rail ever since it appeared that the subway program might be in financial trouble.

“If we don’t get this backbone system, four miles now and 18 miles later, we aren’t going to get a regional (transit) system. It’s that simple,” said Ed Edelman, chairman of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

Patsaouras said the RTD could begin Metro Rail construction 60 days after federal funding is approved and open the subway system in five years.