A Proven Entity to Run Transit : Supervisors Could Bring Accountability to System

For years, public transportation in Los Angeles County has been plagued by initials. The MTA was replaced by the SCRTD which was supplemented by the LACTC which, but for the governor’s veto, would have been supplanted this year by a new super-MTA. These changes have been great for sign painters. They have been lousy for bus riders. Through it all, patrons of public transportation have had to put up with overcrowded buses, mechanical failures, drug abuse among bus operators, crime, high accident rates and repeated delays in the development of rapid transit.

Instead of creating another initialed but ineffective new agency, we should turn to a proven public entity to solve these serious problems: the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

The board is the one elected body that is already responsible for a number of important regional issues. It oversees such area-wide public services as flood control, tax collection, court administration, health services, jails and welfare. Transportation would be a logical addition.

The root cause of our transit ills has been lack of accountability. Currently, the Southern California Rapid Transit District (RTD) is run by 11 appointed directors; the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission (LACTC) is primarily managed by 11 appointed commissioners. I suspect that there are few people in the county who could name one, let alone all, of these 22 individuals. Yet they are the men and women who make decisions that affect 1.5 million daily bus riders and who are shaping our transportation future.

By transferring transportation management to the five members of the Board of Supervisors, citizens would know whom to praise if the system worked well and whom to blame if there were problems. Elected officials, not appointed commissioners, embody the basis of American democracy. We elect representatives for everything from planning the education of our children to formulating the foreign policy of our nation. Surely, the ballot box is also an appropriate means for meeting the transportation needs of our community.

Of course, we county supervisors are not transportation experts. This is why it is vitally important to get the best minds in the field of public transportation to manage day-to-day transit operations. No single individual can do it all. The current job of RTD general manager should be divided, with one director in charge of bus operations and another for rapid-transit development.

The director of bus operations would be responsible for the fleet of 2,500 buses, making sure that they are properly maintained and operated and that they run on time. I believe that the man for this job would be Alan Kiepper, the general manager of the Houston Metropolitan Transit Authority, whom I first met when he was general manager of the transit agency in Atlanta. He impressed me as a hands-on manager; he rides buses every day and visits bus yards at least once a week. In Houston, he has turned the bus system around, bringing it from an on-time record of 39% in 1981 to its exceptional present rate of 98%.

The individual who is best qualified to be director of rapid-transit development is John Dyer. Although there were indeed problems during his watch as RTD general manager, these were with bus operations and not Metro Rail. He has skillfully taken this huge project past numerous political hurdles and now has it under construction, on-time and on-budget. We should take full advantage of his expertise in this field by keeping him in charge of all rail development, including the Long Beach and Century Freeway light rail lines that are now being managed by the LACTC.

Seven years ago, I authored, and county voters passed, Proposition A, the half-percent sales tax for public transportation. The $300 million that this measure generates each year has not been used optimally. The 84 cities in Los Angeles County are currently holding onto $105 million in accumulated Proposition A reserves. One of the first jobs for the Board of Supervisors once it was entrusted with transportation responsibilities would be to get this money spent immediately for more and better bus service throughout the county.

Now, I know that there are those who will object to this proposal as some sort of “power grab” to enhance the authority of the board. Nothing could be further from the truth. My colleagues and I already find plenty of challenges in our present duties. However, I understand this concern, and so I would ask the State Legislature to authorize the board to take over transit matters for a two-year trial period. If there is no progress at the end of two years, then the Legislature should consider another public body. If there is measurable improvement, then the board should be allowed to push on.

Ours is the fastest-growing county in America. If it is to continue to thrive, its public transportation system must be reinvigorated, not with the gloss of new initials but with the substance of new ideas. Reflecting the will of the people, the Board of Supervisors can do the job.