MTA Is Urged to Add 117 Buses

Los Angeles County’s transit agency was asked on Friday to add at least 117 new buses to its fleet to meet a key requirement of a federal consent decree.

Donald Bliss, a court-appointed special master with powers similar to that of a judge, released a 79-page proposed order, detailing the current status of the decree and calling for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to put the new buses in service with a target date of December 2004.

The MTA operates under a 10-year consent decree, signed in 1996 and monitored by Bliss, a Washington lawyer.

The decree, which the MTA signed instead of going to court over a lawsuit by the nonprofit Bus Riders Union, called for the MTA to reduce passenger overcrowding by meeting certain benchmarks by 2002. The MTA has never been able to achieve the crowding standard and lately has insisted it could meet the goal through more efficient management of its 2,000-bus fleet.

In March, Bliss called for extra service -- the equivalent of 125 new buses -- to be on the street as soon as possible. That order led to another clash in what has been a drawn-out, bitter dispute between the MTA and the Bus Riders Union.

The MTA said it could meet the service standards by using spare buses, shifting service from little-used routes and improving management. The Bus Riders Union said the MTA should purchase more than 125 buses.

In Friday’s proposal, which is still open to negotiation by the two parties, Bliss acknowledged the MTA’s efforts to improve its service. But he said that the result remained inadequate and that more than 70 bus routes remain overcrowded.

Bliss now wants the MTA to purchase 100 new 40-foot buses and place them into service by the end of next year. Another 17 buses should be acquired as spares, Bliss wrote.

Until those buses are in service and no later than June, he said, the MTA should lease or use old buses to provide the equivalent of 100 extra buses. Extra mechanics, drivers and service attendants would also be needed to operate them.

Marc Littman, a spokesman for the MTA, said the agency had not seen Friday’s proposed order and would not comment. The Bus Riders Union could not be reached for comment.

Both sides will have until Oct. 20 to comment on Bliss’ proposed order or to request a hearing with him on the issue.