MTA Makes Headway on 2 Fronts for Subway Funds

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority appeared to have put one battle behind it Tuesday by ending a dispute with the city of Los Angeles, and then gained ground in another fight when a key congressional panel recommended a $76-million federal appropriation for the Metro Rail subway project.

At City Hall, the council unanimously approved a settlement that frees up $200 million in frozen civic funds for the MTA in return for the agency’s promise to start construction of a San Fernando Valley rail line by 2007 instead of 2011.

An aide to Mayor Richard Riordan, who helped broker the compromise during a weekend meeting of city and MTA officials at his Brentwood home, said the mayor is confident that it also will be approved by the MTA board today.

“The mayor believes that the agreement will send a powerful message that the region now has its local funding commitments in place,” said Riordan’s chief transit aide, Jaime de la Vega.

But a Federal Transit Administration spokesman in Washington said the agreement incorporates conditions that “might raise some problems.” As an example, he cited the settlement’s assumption that federal funds will be available to put more buses on the street.

The compromise was rushed together to satisfy federal officials, who have demanded that the MTA prepare a “recovery plan” that shows how the agency intends to pay for court-ordered bus improvements and the various rail projects it has started.

The Federal Transit Administration spokesman said the agency had not seen the details of the agreement between the city and the MTA, and will need to study it.

Under the plan, the city will transfer $200 million in transit funds to the MTA. But if the agency fails to meet the construction deadline for the line across the Valley, the city can withdraw $50 million of the payments.

Even so, several council members said they supported the settlement reluctantly, remarking that the MTA’s track record demonstrates its inability to live up to its promises.

Valley Councilman Hal Bernson said he was “supporting this while holding my nose. I don’t have any confidence that the 2007 deadline will be met, but we have to give it a shot,” he said.

Councilman Nate Holden agreed. “What you are doing today is not worth the paper it’s written on.”

Holden, nonetheless, voted to support the agreement.

The settlement almost was derailed when several council members questioned whether the plan would improve bus services for low-income riders.

But those concerns were apparently quelled by approval of a motion by Councilwomen Laura Chick and Jackie Goldberg, which requires the MTA to buy 223 natural-gas-powered buses by Nov. 1, and 100 more by Nov. 1, 1998.

The MTA’s new budget includes funds for the purchase of 223 buses, and Riordan has pushed for buying an additional 200. But the Chick-Goldberg motion moves the purchase date seven months ahead of the transit agency’s schedule.

“I feel much better with the amended motion,” said Councilman Richard Alarcon, who had threatened to oppose the settlement plan because he said it did not provide enough bus services.

The major funding dispute was sparked when the beginning of construction for the line across the Valley was moved back to 2011 under the recovery plan. Outraged Valley council members convinced their colleagues to freeze the $200 million in city payments unless their area line’s construction start was moved up to 2007.

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Under the settlement’s key provisions:

* The city will pay the $200 million in increments over eight years.

* If any of several construction, planning or purchase deadlines are not met during those eight years, the city can halt its payments.

* The MTA must purchase 323 natural-gas-powered buses by Nov. 1, 1998.

* The city can withdraw the last $50 million in payments if the MTA does not begin construction of a Valley rail line by 2007. The so-called East-West Valley line would run parallel to Burbank and Chandler boulevards, extending from the North Hollywood subway station to the San Diego Freeway.

* The city must form an oversight task force of city officials and citizens to study ways to reduce the cost of the Valley line, either by redesigning it or by teaming up with private firms to help defray construction costs.

* The city and the MTA must work cooperatively to pay for extending the Valley line to Woodland Hills.

The council’s action, meanwhile, was critical to deliberations occurring simultaneously in Washington.

Late Tuesday, the influential House transportation appropriations subcommittee recommended that $76 million in federal money be provided next year for subway extensions to the Eastside and North Hollywood. But before that occurred, an MTA lobbyist in Washington relayed word of the City Council vote to the panel. Moreover, the committee’s recommendation is contingent on Federal Transit Administration approval of the recovery plan, which counts on the $200 million city contribution to the MTA. The federal agency is reviewing the plan.

But Noelia Rodriguez, Riordan’s press spokeswoman, said any lingering anxieties should be alleviated when the mayor assumes the MTA board’s chairmanship next week. “The mayor plans to revisit the recovery plan’s fundamental assumptions,” she said. “We no longer can tolerate a situation of ‘garbage in, garbage out,’ which seems to be the case with the financial assumptions in the current recovery plan. If federal officials are skeptical about any part of the plan, the mayor’s leadership in resolving the confrontation between MTA and the city demonstrates his willingness to correct any problem Washington sees.”

Tuesday, Congress appeared ready to solve at least one problem on its own. For the first time, the subcommittee directed that a portion of the funds be earmarked for extending the subway to Boyle Heights--apparently in response to lobbying from Eastside congressional members. Previously, Congress has let the MTA decide its own spending priorities.

The MTA also must wait for a Senate subcommittee to make its recommendation on the appropriation. In previous years, the Senate has recommended less money for the MTA than the House, and House-Senate conferees have split the difference.

The $76 million would be less than the $100 million requested by the MTA. But agency officials said it would be enough to keep the subway project on track. Congress last year provided the MTA with $70 million--the lowest amount in three years--forcing transit officials to delay completion of the subway extensions to the Eastside until 2004 and to the Mid-City until 2008.

The federal government is paying for about half of the $6.1-billion subway project.

“With all the political infighting in Los Angeles, the MTA should be very pleased with this level of funding coming out of Washington,” said Arthur Sohikian, a former MTA lobbyist who is now a transportation industry consultant.

MTA board Chairman Larry Zarian, however, said, “You can’t jump for joy when you ask for $100 million and you get $76 million.”

Acting MTA chief Linda Bohlinger said the committee vote shows that “our credibility is seeping back” on Capitol Hill. She said the agency’s team of lobbyists in Washington would still push for $100 million.