MTA Seeks Busway Instead of Rail to Westside

County transportation officials are floating plans to turn a planned light rail line between downtown Los Angeles and Santa Monica into a bus route, angering train boosters.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chief Executive Roger Snoble told a packed community meeting Tuesday evening that there may not be enough money to build the proposed Expo Line railway. Planners have promised to build the first leg of the route, connecting downtown to Culver City and running near USC, by around 2010. Snoble’s pronouncement comes as his agency unveiled its proposed 2003-04 budget, a $2.7-billion plan that slightly reduces overall bus service while raising some transit fares.

Though MTA officials continue to pursue funding for the rail line, budget problems at the state and federal levels have forced planners to start reconsidering their options, Snoble said.

To see that some sort of new mass transit comes to dense South Los Angeles and the Westside, he said his staff would consider building a landscaped, dedicated busway, nearly identical to the busway now being built across the San Fernando Valley.

The MTA board had considered a similar plan for the Expo Line, which uses a dormant train right of way, before calling in 2000 for light rail to be built. Busways are growing in popularity nationally, because with the buses kept out of traffic they run nearly as fast as rail lines. However, buses hold fewer riders and the costs of operating them after construction are higher than rail lines, most experts say.

Snoble called the Expo busway idea an “interim solution, to get something going earlier rather than later.” He said that for about $250 million, the MTA could build a busway going to Santa Monica all at once, rather than having to construct one segment and take years more to extend it to Santa Monica.

If a busway is not built, officials at the MTA have said it may now take until 2020 for light rail to reach Santa Monica.

Snoble contended that a dedicated route could be built that would easily convert to a light rail line simply by laying down tracks and building an overhead power line.

He also said the line could connect with a similar bus system proposed for Crenshaw Boulevard, and he suggested the possibility of using buses powered by overhead electric wires, which would be quieter than normal MTA buses.

The busway idea was criticized immediately by proponents of the Expo Line, who said they doubted that a busway would ever be turned into a rail line.

State Sen. Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica), who recently proposed creating an Expo Line building authority that she says would be more efficient than the MTA, also was critical.

“The whole point is to get people out of their cars, off the 10 [Freeway] and alleviate the growing congestion,” Kuehl said. “Light rail does that; I’m not sure the bus does.”

In its proposed budget, the MTA would increase the cost of most monthly passes by $10. The agency also would cut bus service by about 3%, shutting down or reducing runs on low-ridership lines while moving some service to more popular routes. The budget is about 6% larger than the current spending plan.

The fare hikes and bus service cutbacks promise to be extremely contentious issues. The agency, operating under the terms of a federal agreement to improve bus service, has failed to meet goals for relieving crowding on scores of its routes.

The MTA will hold a public hearing on the budget May 15, and its board expects to vote on a final budget May 22.