Judge Blocks Bus Fare Hike

Supervisor Mike Antonovich’s denunciation of U.S. District Judge Terry Hatter’s Sept. 1 ruling temporarily restraining the MTA from raising bus fares displays the same irresponsibility and insensitivity to human needs that have characterized both Antonovich’s general stand on public transportation and his entire political career (Sept. 2). Judge Hatter was absolutely right in finding “serious questions” as to whether the MTA has consistently shortchanged bus passengers--who are largely poor, racially and ethnically diverse, transit-dependent and politically powerless--in favor of the affluent and middle-class whites, who make up Antonovich’s constituency.

In my experience as a regular bus rider, I find that the level of service I can expect from the MTA is directly related to the number of white people among my fellow passengers. The express bus I ride between my home in the Valley and my office near Vermont and Wilshire is always well-maintained, clean, timely and full but not overcrowded.

However, when I ride downtown from Vermont and Wilshire in the middle of the day, the bus is invariably overloaded and dirty, the rear exit and air conditioning seldom function, and if any efforts are made to run enough buses to meet the needs of the community, or to adhere to any kind of a schedule, I cannot detect them.

In granting the temporary restraining order, Judge Hatter has merely acknowledged as a possibility what every bus rider knows to be a fact. It is not Hatter but Antonovich and his ilk who have demonstrated their “unfitness to serve” by permitting the MTA to run down the poor of Los Angeles.

KATHERINE C. SHEEHAN, Associate Professor, Southwestern University School of Law, Los Angeles

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It’s great news that the court may prevent MTA from increasing fares. However, I disagree with those who complain that MTA budget problems are caused by the construction of rail lines.

Los Angeles desperately needs a transit network of connecting rail, bus and trolley service. It’s the waste, delays, bureaucratic overload and poor planning that are to blame--not the trains.

PHYLLIS ELLIOTT, Los Angeles

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In order to function properly, our rail systems absolutely depend on abundant, efficient, affordable bus systems. Months ago, thousands of new rail riders, eager to bypass earthquake-damaged freeways, finally threw their hands up and got back into their cars because the bus system was so inadequate to the task of getting these commuters from the train stations to their final destinations.

The reality is that bus lines are an integral part of the rail system and funding and planning for the two should not be separated, if we are ever to have an integrated transit system that can efficiently serve any rider, inner city or suburban.

KENT STRUMPELL, Los Angeles