Villain of the Buses

Los Angeles County Supervisor Pete Schabarum is waging an aggressive campaign to get himself appointed secretary of transportation by President-elect George Bush. But he’s not helping his cause any by volunteering as lead villain in a bureaucratic battle that threatens to disrupt bus service throughout Los Angeles.

Just how much frustration is building over the impending bus crisis became clear this week when dozens of angry bus riders showed up at meetings of the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission, which Schabarum chairs, and the Southern California Rapid Transit District board of directors. Both bodies were berated by speakers representing the elderly, disabled and poor who use public transportation and whose lives will be disrupted if the dispute between the two agencies is not settled by Jan. 1.

The RTD operates the biggest bus system in the county, while the commission controls most local transportation financing. Because of a series of turf battles between the two agencies, including a dispute over which agency will control construction of the new Metro Rail subway between downtown Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley, the Transportation Commission is withholding $50 million that the RTD needs to keep its buses rolling. Unless that money is received by the end of the year, RTD officials say, bus service will have to be cut back 50%. That would mean eliminating all RTD bus service at night and on weekends and holidays. Even service on work days would be limited.

Schabarum is not the only public official involved in the fight between the RTD and the LACTC, but he has only himself to blame for becoming the focus of public anger. While fellow Supervisor Deane Dana and Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley urged compromise between the two agencies, Schabarum dug in his heels. The supervisor fancies himself a transit expert, and he uses his temporary chairmanship of the Transportation Commission to try to redesign public transit in Los Angeles to suit his personal views, bullying anyone who gets in his way--including the RTD. The RTD is certainly not without flaws, but one can understand why the bus agency chose to fight back by filing lawsuits against the commission.

The RTD’s defensive campaign may be paying off. At their meeting, Transportation Commission members voted to offer the RTD a settlement plan similar to one drafted by Dana and Bradley. There is still negotiating to be done, but if Schabarum and everyone else involved in Los Angeles’ transit feud keep pushing toward a compromise, they can end their battles without hurting the public.