In the San Fernando Valley, all of the proposed line cancellations were either withdrawn by sector planning staff after the public hearing or modified at the council meeting to allow the remaining lines to continue operating. While the Metro Board of Directors can override the councils, that would only happen if sector staff was unable to meet budget targets after a council vote and then went to the Board for approval. Otherwise, the second- and third-tier services are directly controlled by the sectors and their councils.

That said, a real point of contention is the San Fernando Rd. Metro Rapid proposal, which the council unanimously opposed but which the Board has the final vote on anyway, because those are first-tier services. It remains to be seen if the Board will approve a badly designed implementation proposal or go along with the sector council and allow it to be done properly.

I have a headache from all this.

They're going to install turnstiles at train stations (for dubious reasons) - which are widely agreed to discourage ridership.

They are cutting bus services - which I assume will reduce ridership.

They recently allocated hundreds of millions to road widenings and highway improvements in their 2007 Call fot Projects.

Why does the MTA blow so much of its money on automobiles? Their focus is so car-oriented, I'd call it a conspiracy - but that would require a degree of secrecy that they obviously aren't concerned with. They just plain love private automobiles.

When gas is $4 to $5 a gallon, and goods aren't making it market, and employees can't afford to commute 25 miles one way to the office in a car - we are going to be screwed. What will it take to get the MTA to start counting the number of PEOPLE being moved (and served) rather than the number and speed of cars?

Sorry folks, you get to be more disenfranchised than you already were.

Justin