Bus Riders Face Fare Increase, Possible Strike : Transportation: MTA board may hike prices to combat deficit. Union workers threaten to walk out this week.

On the eve of a potentially devastating double whammy from the bus system--a threatened drivers’ strike and a pending fare increase--those in the San Fernando Valley dependent on public transit grudgingly waited Tuesday to see what would happen.

“I’d be happy if they didn’t raise the fare,” said Lucretia Sowards, waiting at San Fernando Road and Laurel Canyon Boulevard in Pacoima for a bus to take her home to El Monte. “But they will. And if they’re thinking about going on strike, they will.”

Asked how she would get around if bus drivers go on strike, she said, “I won’t.”

Sowards’ sentiments were echoed by others Tuesday as they waited for Metropolitan Transportation Authority buses in the Valley.

Most riders interviewed said they were aware that the MTA in May proposed increasing fares from $1.10 to $1.35, but many did not know that a potential strike could keep buses garaged as early as Thursday.

“Really?” asked Nancy Martinez, 18, of Pacoima, when told of the potential strike. “I guess I’ll have to walk.”

Martinez, who takes two buses for a 45-minute ride to her job in Van Nuys, paused a moment, then realized that her plan was not feasible. “It would probably take me about two hours to walk to work,” she said. “I can’t walk.”

The MTA board had been scheduled to meet Tuesday to review the status of labor negotiations but the meeting was rescheduled for today at 4 p.m. The session will be closed to the public, but the board will convene for a public hearing immediately afterward to consider a fare policy in the event of a strike.

The meeting is to be held in the Board of Supervisors Hearing Room in the Hall of Administration.

Goldy Norton, a spokesman for the United Transportation Union, which represents bus and train drivers, said Tuesday that the MTA and the union remain “very far apart.” Norton said that union workers--seeking a 3% raise on top of their current cost-of-living increase--could walk off the job as early as today.

MTA officials, who are considering the fare increase to help offset a $126-million annual operating deficit, oppose both demands. The MTA board is scheduled to consider the increase at its July 13 meeting.

Meanwhile, people who depend on buses to get to school or work or to run errands complained that the poorest of them are being asked to pay more.

“I’m on a fixed income and can’t afford to pay more,” said Mary Lou Lavis, 74, of Panorama City, as she left the MTA’s customer service and ticket office in Van Nuys.

Candy Broussard, 20, of Van Nuys, also had visited the MTA center to pick up bus schedules. Her response to the proposed fare increase was a litany of complaints.

“They should have more buses, they should have better routes and they should have more respectful drivers,” she said. “If they raise the fares and go on strike they’re going to lose a lot of customers.”

Charles Atherley, 17, of Lake View Terrace, said that if the increase goes into effect, it may be cheaper for him to buy a car.

“Maybe a dime would be OK, but a quarter makes a big difference,” said Atherley as he waited for a bus on Laurel Canyon Boulevard in Pacoima, the second bus he must take to get home from San Fernando High School. “A lot of kids take the bus to school, and if they raise the fare I think you’re going to see a lot of kids without licenses driving.”

Roy Hough, 40, of Van Nuys, was waiting for a bus on Van Nuys Boulevard near Sherman Way. He suggested that the MTA could solve its problems the way the Los Angeles Police Department did: “Where’s (Chief) Willie Williams from? Philadelphia? Maybe the MTA can hire someone from the East Coast too.”