Montebello Transit and MTA Strike a Deal

A new agreement between the MTA and Montebello Transit will make it easier to travel between the two bus lines beginning Sunday, MTA officials said.

Under the new agreement, MTA monthly bus passes will be honored on any Montebello bus.

“We saw the need to have more collaboration with the MTA. We know that 25% of [Montebello] riders transfer to the MTA, so there is a lot of interface with our passengers,” said Jack Gabig, transportation director for Montebello.

Passengers currently must pay a 25-cent transfer fee to go from one line to the other. A regular adult monthly MTA bus pass is $42.

The agreement is the first local effort to offer a fare with regional appeal, MTA officials said.

If all goes well with the Montebello agreement during the next 18 months, the plan is to entice as many as 16 other major bus lines and 25 smaller ones to adopt a regional pass, said MTA Chief Executive Roger Snoble.

The agreement will be a move toward MTA’s goal of a universal fare system and, eventually, a smart card, Snoble said.

The smart card of the future will be an electronic pass allowing riders to board all buses and trains throughout California.

Montebello moved on the idea after the MTA bus strike in the fall of 2000.

Montebello ridership skyrocketed by more than 65% after the 32-day strike that had the smaller agency rerouting lines, scrambling for extra buses and accommodating about 310,000 additional passengers, Gabig said.

He said most of the extra passengers were riding Montebello buses because the system was honoring the MTA pass. Montebello ridership, now 8 million passengers annually, is slightly higher than before the strike.