Court Upholds Creation of Foothill Transit District

In another round of the battle of bus routes in the San Gabriel Valley, the state Court of Appeal has upheld the creation of the Foothill Transit District.

In practical terms, the ruling will allow the Foothill, based in West Covina, to take over seven lines from the Southern California Rapid Transit District, Foothill officials said Thursday. Even before the Wednesday ruling, the Foothill had been operating seven other RTD lines as part of an experimental bus program started in 1987 by 20 San Gabriel Valley cities.

Officials of two RTD unions, which had opposed the Foothill because of fears it would take jobs away from union members, said they plan to appeal. In its decision, the three-judge panel said: “This litigation is but a skirmish in a much larger conflict . . . over control of public mass transit systems in Southern California.”