Head of Breakaway Group Defects to MTA

The head of a group of officials studying ways for the western San Gabriel Valley to split from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority defected Wednesday, announcing that he is leaving to take a top position with the massive county transit agency.

Jack Gabig, for 12 years the head of Montebello Bus Lines, has been a proponent of the breakaway, known as “zoning”: an effort to improve bus service by cutting ties with the MTA. Now, he will leave to serve as a general manager for the giant agency.

“There’s clearly a new approach at the MTA” since new Chief Executive Roger Snoble came aboard in October, Gabig said. “There’s an understanding now about getting closer to the customer, a focus on the customers’ needs alone.” By summer, the MTA plans to streamline its bureaucracy by dividing bus service into four sectors covering large swaths of Los Angeles County.

Gabig said he will serve as head of the sector planned for the San Gabriel Valley.

The hiring of Gabig was hailed by the union representing bus drivers as a sign that the zoning proposal, which is also being considered in the San Fernando Valley, is foundering.

Unions have long opposed the breakaway movement, fearing that newly created bus companies could undercut jobs.

Harry Baldwin, a member of the zoning board in the San Gabriel Valley, said breakaway fervor has ground nearly to a halt since recently released financial figures showed that splitting with the MTA would save little, if any, money.