MTA Won’t Fight Valley Bus Agency Bill

A Metropolitan Transportation Authority panel voted not to fight state legislation that would force the transit agency to give up control of its San Fernando Valley bus lines to a semi-autonomous agency.

Rejecting its own lobbyist’s recommendation to oppose the bill, the MTA’s executive management committee decided to remain neutral while consultants study the financial and legal impact of starting a so-called “transit zone” agency in the Valley.

The new agency could privatize the management and operation of the Valley’s publicly-run bus lines.

“It’s fortunate that they didn’t oppose it,” said the bill’s sponsor, Assemblyman Tony Cardenas (D-Sylmar). “But at the same time, we haven’t heard any indications that the MTA will satisfy the needs of the San Fernando Valley.”

Mayor Richard Riordan, the panel’s chairman, said he was open to the idea, but was weighing questions about how it would affect transit in the rest of the county, and whether it would ultimately pit the Valley’s elected representatives against the rest of the region’s in funding decisions in Washington.

“This is not an easy decision,” the mayor said. Taking sides before the agency’s consultants examine the idea would mean “we’d have to make a judgment on inadequate information.”

Julian Burke, the agency’s CEO, said he expects the consultants to finish examining the costs and benefits of a Valley bus agency next month.

Even without the MTA’s lobbyists working against the bill in Sacramento, however, it faces an uncertain future.

The bill, which would force the MTA to turn over its bus lines to a new agency, was approved by the Assembly Transportation Committee.

But it now is frozen in the appropriations process. MTA officials have estimated it would cost the state $1 million to implement the bill, and lawmakers have delayed consideration of it until at least next week.

Keeping the bill alive as long as possible is a key component of the political strategy devised by local supporters of such an agency. While the chances of the bill ultimately becoming law are in doubt, proponents say it puts pressure on the MTA to create a Valley zone on its own.

Los Angeles’ city transportation department is in the early stages of preparing an application to the MTA to create the agency.

A consultant for the city found it could save at least 21% of what it costs the MTA to provide bus service there, or more depending on whether the agency continues to use drivers and mechanics from the MTA’s transit unions.

The unions have mounted a vigorous opposition to the bill in Sacramento, and have threatened legal action if such a new agency tried to privatize the bus service.

Foothill Transit, an agency similar to the one envisioned by Cardenas, operates in the San Gabriel Valley with driver salaries about half of those paid by the MTA.