Bus Firm Passes New Inspection by CHP, Wins Dial-a-Ride Pact

The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday approved a contract with a local bus company to provide rides for the elderly and disabled after learning that the California Highway Patrol, which had ordered some of the firm’s vehicles off the road for safety violations, had reported the defects corrected.

The council awarded a nine-month, $653,000 contract to Pacific Busing Inc. to supply vans and drivers for a dial-a-ride service on the Eastside. Last month, the council had rescinded its approval of the Pacific Busing contract after it was learned that the company had lost its certificate for charter bus service because the CHP found vehicles that were defective.

Certificate Suspended

The state Public Utilities Commission suspended the company’s charter bus certificate after nine of the firm’s 29 buses were pulled from service by the CHP because of violations ranging from defective steering and bad brakes to fuel leaks and suspension problems.

However, council members voted unanimously Tuesday to restore the contract to Pacific Busing after they were told that the CHP had reinspected the company’s Los Angeles facilities and had given its operating fleet a satisfactory rating.

“I feel that it’s a sound decision,” said Councilman Michael Woo, chairman of the Transportation and Traffic Committee who said none of the citations issued against company vehicles involved the 12-passenger vans that will be used in the city’s Eastside Community Transit Program.

Woo added that the city Department of Transportation had not been aware of the earlier problems encountered by Pacific Busing’s chartered bus division, in part, because of a lack of city personnel to investigate the company’s performance records.

Added Inspectors Sought

The department is seeking to add two inspectors, Woo said, and bidders for future transportation contracts will be required to inform the city about the results of any CHP inspections as well as state whether they face violations in other cities.

If approved by Mayor Tom Bradley, the contract will call for Pacific Busing to provide service for the elderly and handicapped on the Eastside, including the communities of Eagle Rock, Highland Park and El Sereno. The contract, which would begin Jan. 1, is renewable yearly.