Leave RTD in Driver’s Seat

The Los Angeles County Transportation Commission’s decision to grab for the controls of Metro Rail was so dopey that it may yet prove disastrous. The commission is probably right that it should have more to say about the subway project that will be the core of rapid transit for Los Angeles. But that just makes the clumsy way it went about making its point even more outrageous.

Even if the commission backs off immediately, as it should, its written request that Washington put further subway funding on hold until the commission can take over the project from the Southern California Rapid Transit District has already done some damage. The longer the commission waits to confess that it did not think this thing through, the longer Los Angeles must wait for rapid transit.

Both the commission and the transit district have roles to play in creating a modern mass-transit system for Los Angeles. The RTD is better known because it runs the massive bus fleet that is currently the area’s principal mass-transit system and because it is building the first leg of the subway, from downtown Los Angeles to MacArthur Park. The transportation commission is important, too. It collects and distributes local sales-tax money to RTD and other transit agencies, and it is building a light-rail line between Los Angeles and Long Beach.

Commission members argue for a greater say in Metro Rail, partly because the local tax contribution will increase with the second phase of subway construction. They also argue, with merit, that a closer working relationship with RTD is necessary because the subway and light-rail lines must be coordinated with a much broader, 123-mile regional system. RTD officials agree in general.

Unfortunately the two agencies have been unable to agree on the specifics of a joint-powers agreement. Last week the commission, apparently feeling the matter had been discussed too long, acted on its own. It asked the Urban Mass Transit Administration, which doles out the all-important federal money for massive projects like Metro Rail, to delay consideration of the RTD request for phase two of the subway until a letter arrives in Washington asking that the commission be designated the subway’s lead agency. There is serious doubt, for openers, that it would be legal to transfer control; if it could be done, there is enough red tape to block funding for months.

The commission’s impatience at taking a back seat when it is asked to put up $508 million for phase two may be understandable, but the timing is dreadful. After years of difficult battles with the Reagan Administration over federal money, the subway is finally under way and, to everyone’s pleasant surprise, is moving along on schedule and under budget. The political momentum that is needed if the subway line is to extend into the San Fernando Valley is starting to build. Now is not the time to change a funding, planning and construction scheme that is working. The transportation commission should withdraw its request to UMTA, allow the second phase of Metro Rail to proceed as planned and get back to discussions with RTD officials about the role the two agencies play in Los Angeles’ transit scheme after Metro Rail is finished.