MTA Seeks to Void Pact With Bus Riders

Citing a recent civil rights ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, MTA attorneys have asked the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to set aside a consent decree requiring the agency to improve bus service for minority bus riders, it was learned Monday.

In a nine-page letter, attorneys argued that the Supreme Court decision “destroyed the legal foundation” of the civil rights lawsuit filed by the Bus Riders Union against the transit agency.

While the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has sought to reduce the effect of the consent decree in the courts, this is the first time the transit agency has asked a court to vacate the entire decree entered into with the Bus Riders Union.

In the lawsuit, the bus riders alleged that the MTA was discriminating against minority riders by reducing bus service while dramatically expanding light rail and subway service, to benefit a more affluent group of passengers.

The MTA settled the case before trial by entering into the consent decree. The two sides have been at odds over how to interpret it.

The Supreme Court in April placed new limitations on the rights of individuals or organizations like the Bus Riders Union to sue agencies under the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Until the ruling, lawsuits could be filed if a government program had a discriminatory effect on a class, such as bus riders, even if the effect was not intentional. The court said that plaintiffs now must show that the discrimination was intentional, a much harder standard to prove.

Civil rights attorney Connie Rice, one of the lawyers who represented the bus riders, said the consent decree is a legally binding contract, regardless of the subsequent Supreme Court ruling.

“They already settled this case,” she said.

Eric Mann, an organizer with the union, said the latest legal tactic shows that the MTA “signed the consent decree with the express intent of breaking it.”

While the group argues that the MTA is required to bring its fleet up to 2,500 buses at the minimum, the MTA’s new budget provides money for 2,130 buses.

In a statement released Monday, the MTA said it had no choice but to seek relief in the courts because of demands by the bus riders. However the legal fight ends, the MTA said it “remains committed to the basic principle of the consent decree” to improve bus service.

The transit agency said in a statement sent to The Times that since the consent decree was signed, it has improved service, reduced overcrowding and replaced old buses.