Passengers’ Group Urges MTA to Buy More Buses

Four years after a federal judge blocked the MTA from eliminating monthly passes, bus rider advocates Tuesday handed out “No Seat, No Fare” cards and renewed their demands that the transit agency place a massive order for new buses.

To finance acquisition of more buses, the Bus Riders Union demanded that construction of the Metro Rail subway to North Hollywood be slowed, and that agency funding of the Alameda Corridor rail project and a light rail line to Pasadena be halted.

The group’s organizers called on Mayor Richard Riordan, chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board, to take the lead in committing to buy 1,600 buses powered by natural gas within two years.

Rita Burgos said that the board must make the bus system the agency’s top priority, and that means placing it above other rail projects.

But a spokeswoman for the mayor said transferring money from the Alameda Corridor project to bus purchases would be “robbing Peter to pay Paul.”

Noelia Rodriguez said the rail link between the county’s ports and freight yards east of downtown will benefit the Los Angeles region. The mayor also is determined to see the subway to North Hollywood finished.

She said Riordan will support “realistic plans that will make bus transportation more available and accessible to people in Los Angeles County.”

Rodriguez said the mayor will favor the purchase of more buses but added that it is unrealistic to expect that it can be done overnight. “You can’t wave a magic wand,” she said.

The MTA plans to put 1,313 new or reconditioned buses on the street over the next six years. The agency is receiving new natural gas-powered buses each week and is soliciting bids from manufacturers for 215 new vehicles.

MTA chief executive Julian Burke said the agency is preparing a response to a special judge’s decision last week setting a strict standard for measuring if the agency has complied with a federal court order to reduce overcrowding on its buses.

“In the meantime,” Burke said, “I have commenced discussions with the Bus Riders Union concerning our commitment to improve our Metro bus system for the benefit of our customers.”

Compromise was not in the air at the Bus Riders Union headquarters. Burgos told reporters that low-income and minority bus riders are still waiting for the agency to comply with a federal court order to reduce overcrowding and improve service on the bus system used by 91% of the MTA’s passengers.

She said the group is pressing on legal and political fronts to force the MTA to buy more buses, including continuing its campaign of urging riders who can’t find seats to withhold fares.

Several Bus Riders Union members objected to plans by the MTA to have undercover police officers ride bus lines where passengers are refusing to pay the $1.35 fare. “The biggest lawbreaker here is the MTA,” Burgos said.

An MTA spokesman said the officers will issue citations if bus riders refuse to pay their fares.