MTA Is Playing With Fire if It Fails to Settle Lawsuit

A federal lawsuit by bus riders and civil rights groups has accused the Metropolitan Transportation Authority of neglecting the nation’s most crowded bus system in favor of costly and inefficient rail projects that mainly benefit suburban commuters. It is in the best interests of all parties, particularly the MTA, to resolve this case through mediation or settlement. Too much is at risk.

The coalition is requesting not damages but injunctive relief. It seeks a rollback of bus fares to more affordable levels and massive funding increases to improve the bus system. Significantly, the plaintiffs have included an allegation of intentional discrimination against bus-dependent minorities, and that vastly increases the stakes to the MTA.

What happens if the MTA loses? At the very least, control will shift to a system in which the MTA will be ordered to reallocate monies and be subject to federal monitoring. The judge can order a process by which spending is shifted away from rail and to the bus system. At the extreme end of the possibilities is a permanent injunction, perhaps even a federal receivership or takeover.

Meanwhile, the MTA is getting slammed from different sides on this issue. City Councilman Marvin Braude recently wrote that “MTA bus service has deteriorated while resources were diverted to expensive and less productive rail lines serving only a tiny fraction of the (daily) boardings.” Today, on The Times’ Commentary page, Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan says that the MTA has finally decided to invest in improved bus service “after three years of foot-dragging.”

But where is the beef that could settle this case? The 1997 fiscal-year budget that the MTA board is considering today includes $10.4 million to improve and expand bus service, along with a promise to devote any extra dollars to buses. Riordan admits this is a “modest investment” and “not enough.” More time should be devoted to figuring what might be enough to achieve an end to the legal proceedings. The MTA already has big problems, including a planned U.S. Senate subcommittee investigation into subway construction here, in part at the behest of MTA board member Mike Antonovich.

A mediated agreement or a settlement figures to be far less costly to the MTA in the long run, and better for the bus and rail riders who ought to be the primary focus anyway.