Council Backs Merger of RTD, County Commission

The Los Angeles City Council, breaking with Mayor Tom Bradley, Wednesday voted unanimously to support state legislation that would merge the beleaguered Southern California Rapid Transit District and Los Angeles County Transportation Commission into a single body.

Bradley has opposed consolidation, saying it could jeopardize federal funding for the Los Angeles Metro Rail project.

However, Councilman Michael Woo, chairman of the council’s Transportation and Traffic Committee, told the council Wednesday that Bradley’s fear “is not valid.”

Bradley dismissed the council action by simply saying that it isn’t the first time that he and the council have differed on an issue.

The 10-0 vote by the council, which usually supports the mayor, is a sign of the growing political pressure to restructure county transit at the top, spurred by persistent reports of RTD mismanagement and such bus system problems as drug use among drivers.

Wednesday’s council vote came after Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky, a mayoral hopeful, criticized the Bradley Administration for misleading the council on the costs of Metro Rail. Yaroslavsky was referring to recent disclosures that the subway could cost up to $1.2 billion more than the $3.3-billion estimate.

“You will never build a transit system if the people who are in the decision-making role don’t have credibility,” Yaroslavsky said. “When I read that the Administration in this city knew in advance of our signing the contract (for helping fund the first 4.4 miles of Metro Rail) that the figures were faulty, to say that erodes the credibility of the Administration . . . is an understatement.”

Bradley denied that he or anyone in his office had misled the council on Metro Rail’s costs.

“When have I or anybody in my Administration given information to the public about the cost (of Metro Rail)?” Bradley asked at a City Hall news conference. Bradley said the new cost estimate was developed only recently as delays occurred and new routes were proposed.

A transit reorganization bill by state Sen. Alan Robbins (D-Van Nuys) to merge the RTD and Transportation Commission into a single agency will come before the Senate Transportation Committee for a vote March 17. Robbins said in an interview Wednesday that he has lined up enough votes to win passage of his bill in the committee. It is the Legislature and the governor that have the power to discontinue and create public transit authorities.

In a related development Wednesday, Bradley appointed Joseph S. Dunning, 71, a retired McDonnell Douglas Corp. vice president, to serve as one of his two appointees on the 11-member RTD board and said Dunning’s managerial experience could help the troubled transit agency. Dunning replaces Norm Emerson, who resigned because of business commitments. Dunning’s appointment must be confirmed by the council.