RIOT BRIEFS : Free Taxi Rides in Riot Zone Will Continue

The Los Angeles County Transportation Commission is extending a free taxi ride program for people unable to do basic shopping in their neighborhoods because of the riots.

Operation Food Basket offers residents in the riot zone rides to child-care centers, markets, doctors’ offices, pharmacies and other locations, 24 hours a day.

“Several months after the civil unrest, many stores have yet to reopen,” Mayor Tom Bradley said in announcing the $130,000 extension. “While efforts to rebuild the structures and services lost continue, we must find ways of assisting residents with transportation.”

Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich, chairman of the LACTC, said the program--funded by Proposition A sales tax dollars--will pay for about 13,000 taxi rides over two months. About 200 families use the service daily.

The program began a few days after the riots, underwritten by private and public sector money. Those funds ran out July 1.

Passengers may use the $7 coupons to carry as many as five passengers on trips of up to four miles. Residents of areas affected by the rioting are eligible for $28 in coupons each month.