MTA Asks Judge for More Time to Add Buses

Arguing that it is impossible to comply, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority asked U.S. District Judge Terry J. Hatter Jr. on Monday to stay his own order requiring the agency to immediately put 248 temporary buses into service.

Last month, Hatter gave the MTA until Oct. 23 to put the extra buses on the streets in Los Angeles County. He concluded that the transit agency had violated a landmark consent decree that requires reductions in overcrowding on its bus system.

MTA attorneys said there is no way the agency can increase its bus fleet or hire and train the necessary drivers or mechanics in such a short time. The agency also said it has “not yet succeeded in securing” the funding needed to operate the additional buses. Unless a stay is issued, the attorneys said, the agency risks being found in contempt of court.

Richard Larson, attorney for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, which sued the MTA on behalf of bus riders, said he will file legal papers today opposing the MTA’s request.

While approving the filing of an appeal and a request to stay the judge’s order, the MTA board last week also directed that immediate steps be taken to buy 297 new buses.

The board said 195 of the new natural-gas-powered vehicles should be delivered as soon as possible, with 102 buses to be delivered no later than June 30, 2002. The consent decree requires that by that date, no more than an average of nine passengers must stand on board MTA buses during any 20-minute peak period.

A $3-billion appropriations bill passed by the U.S. Senate and sent to President Clinton on Monday includes $3 million to help the MTA comply with the consent decree.

The spending bill also provides $4 million to the MTA for preliminary engineering, design and environmental work on future transit projects to serve the Eastside and Mid-City areas of Los Angeles, where subway extensions were halted.