LOS ANGELES COUNTY : Auditors Suggest Ways to Close MTA Budget Gap

To close a massive budget shortfall next year, the county transit authority must consider reducing bus service, cutting some superfluous administrative positions and slashing salaries and benefits of thousands of employees, a team of independent auditors said Wednesday.

A report presented to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority recommended that the agency eliminate bus routes that run parallel with trolley and subway services and cut back service on weekends.

Management should also endeavor to bring down labor costs as it enters into negotiations with the authority’s biggest unions.

“There are no harmless or painless means of reducing the MTA’s expenses,” the report said.

”. . . Many require changes either in fundamental policies and philosophies, or in the collective bargaining agreements that bear on the bus operations.”

The audit, compiled after a five-week study, comes as the MTA begins to grapple with the specter of a $126-million operating deficit in the coming fiscal year--about 20% of the entire operating budget.

The audit did not address fare increases, but MTA officials are studying the possibility.