Streetsblog Los Angeles

June 26 Metro will be implementing what are in some cases rather substantial service changes.

The Recommendations of the Blue Ribbon panel and remarks made late last year by Metro’s Deputy Executive Officer for Service Planning and Scheduling Conan Cheung signaled substantial trims in revenue service hours were in the offing. Also an evaluation of Metro Rapid service prepared last year outlined criteria for the “adjustments” of the Rapids network subsequentky undertaken last Dec. and this month.

In the face of public consternation Metro management have mostly defended the need to reduce service, with CEO Art Leahy issuing A message to our customers and taxpayers and authoring an op-ed in the Daily News, both of them justifying these actions.

The best extended critique deconstructing and deflating Metro’s assertions has been put forward by Thomas Rubin, Controller-Treasurer of the Southern California Rapid Transit District from 1989 until 1993 with an extensive background as a consultant on transportation finance to the public and private sectors and author of numerous papers on transportation issues. In a piece titled Los Angeles: the MTA’s Bus Stop Strategy Rubin provides a history lesson and some analysis. This includes thoroughly debunking Metro management’s claim that their buses operating at an average of 42% capacity means something is wrong: Read more…

Originally Stephen Villavaso of the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition was scheduled to be the guest speaker at the Southern California Transit Advocates May 14th meeting, only to have a conflict force him to request to be rescheduled to our June meeting. As I scrambled to seek a replacement Nick Matonak who handles the Facebook page for SO.CA.TA suggested we have Stephen Box as a speaker. And upon being contacted Box with great enthusiasm said yes.

Given the tight timing Box has carte blanche to talk on whatever topic he wants. And of course afterward we’ll have a period for q&a with the audience.

The meeting is held at Angelus Plaza in downtown Los Angeles, 255 S. Hill Street, on the fourth floor. The location is served by numerous transit lines including the Pershing Square Red/Purple Line station. Box’s presentation begins at 2:15 p.m. The business portion of the meeting starts at 1 p.m., with a break from 2 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. The meeting is free and open to the public. I’m looking forward to it.

(Note: As we did in 2008, Streetsblog encourages the submission of op/eds about the ballot propositions on the November ballot.  Have something transportation related to say?  Feel free to email me at damien at streetsblog dot org.  None of these op/eds should be considered an endorsement by Streetsblog.)

Proposition 22 is the latest salvo in an ongoing war between key stakeholders who have a stake (and straw) in the state’s budget over who gets how much of it locked up for them. Its purpose is to declare an end to the funding raids the legislature and Governor have engaged in repeatedly during this decade to balance the budget at the expense of transit.

Some find the aspect of 22 that benefits redevelopment agencies as a reason to recoil. This was a realpolitik decision the folks working to get 22 on the ballot made as the transit industry needed at least one other major stakeholder supporting the measure to be sure it would have the necessary financial clout behind it to get on the ballot and provide at least a modest campaign on its behalf.

Regardless of the smell factor and any worries about 22 being yet another budget by ballot measure “locking in” funding that help foster a dysfunctional fiscal structure for the state, if you support transit you should vote for 22 for one salient reason: to end transit’s image among insiders and elected officials as being a weakling and therefore able to be robbed with impunity. Read more…

Saturday two transit events will be occurring that may be of interest, and by coincidence both commence at 9:30 a.m.

The Bus Riders Union will have its monthly meeting at Immanuel Presbyterian Church (on Wilshire two blocks west of Vermont) with a light breakfast served at 9:30 a.m. followed by the meeting at 10 a.m. The agenda to no surprise indicates the main topic will be their campaign against Metro's impending fare increase: "what we need to do is have a deeper strategy conversation about what we are willing to do from here on out".

If you attend as a newbie you'll initially participate in an separate new member orientation session in which BRU organizers provide the basics of their positions and ways of doing business. My understanding from friends who have attended BRU meetings is after the orientation session is finished the new members join the main meeting in progress, which usually draws about 90 to 100 people.

The other transit activism activity on Saturday is Southern California Transit Advocates' first study tour of the year, exploring Torrance Transit.

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This Saturday, May 15th, the Bus Riders Union will hold its monthly meeting at Immanuel Presbyterian Church (3300 Wilshire Blvd. #1200 -- two blocks west of Vermont) starting at 10 A.M.

While the BRU has their meeting on the 3rd Saturday of the month, Southern California Transit Advocates normally holds its meeting on the 2nd Saturday. But to accommodate our participation in National Train Day we moved the meeting for this month only to the 3rd Saturday.

This means those so inclined can spend the morning attending the meeting of the Bus Riders Union, then once it breaks up walk over to the Wilshire/Vermont Red & Purple Line station and ride the subway to Pershing Square station -- the SO.CA.TA meeting is in Angelus Plaza, one block north of the station's 4th Street exit (255 S. Hill St., Room 422). There may even be enough time between meetings to duck into Grand Central Market (catty-corner from Angelus Plaza) and grab a quick lunch. The guest speaker this month is Shiraz Tangri of Los Angeles Streetcar at 1 p.m.. The regular business meeting will start circa 2:15 p.m.

So if you don't mind doing some schlepping and investing a few hours, Saturday offers a rare chance in a single day to see up close the differing dynamics and viewpoints of two of the leading transit advocacy groups in our region. Think of it as a intellectual smorgasbord for transit activists--if you have the stamina!

(Everyone knows that Dana is one of the Board members for the Southern California Transit Advocates, right?  Good. - DN)

May 24, 2007 the Metro Board held a public hearing to consider what the agency termed euphemistically "fare restructuring". Tumultuous is word that best captures what the six hours of public hearing held in the Metro Board room that day were like. At the end I was exhausted and gladly took up a friend's offer that we decompress by having dinner together (at the then still open Old Spaghetti Factory outlet in Hollywood ).

The best overview of the lead up to the hearing and its outcome is Hank Fung's article "MTA Fares Increase" from the June 2007 issue of The Transit Advocate.

In the same issue you can read in my monthly Public and Legislative Affairs column the germ of the beginnings of a thought process that has shaped Southern California Transit Advocate's approach to the Metro Special Board Meeting being held this Saturday whose ostensible purpose is "to receive public comments and for MTA to update the public on the implementation of the scheduled July 1, 2010 fare increase." This impending fare increase was actually part of the deal the Board approved back in 2007, albeit originally to be implemented in 2009 then delayed a year when Measure R was passed in the interim (R's provisions included a one year fare freeze).

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In perhaps the strongest sign yet of just how politically potent the statewide high speed rail project has become, a bid by a Republican Assemblywoman to squelch the project has fallen flat (Assembly Bill 2121) and as a face-saving move the bill has been amended to merely mandate the California High Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) submit funding reports as it goes forward with the project.

As I noted in a prior commentary, the buzz this project now generates floors me. For the longest time it received scant attention or respect.

Now if anything is it suffering from "too many cooks" as jurisdictions and interest groups clamor to offer their two cents. The most prominent example of this is the recent request of local transportation agency heads Art Leahy (of Metro) and Will Kempton (of OCTA) for CHSRA to reconsider shared use options for the Los Angeles to Anaheim segment of the project.

Leslie Pollock at the recent American Planning Association conference outlined why many high speed rail supporters look askance at share use being compatible with true high speed service.

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There seems real buzz for the 30 in 10 concept, even in policy circles back in D.C.

Saturday the architect of Measure R and the mind behind "30 in 10", Move LA  Executive Director Denny Zane, will be the featured speaker at the monthly meeting of Southern California Transit Advocates. This is a chance to hear Zane speak and after his presentation offer any questions you have. The event is free and open to the public.

It is held at Angelus Plaza, 255 S. Hill St., in downtown Los Angeles (room 422) starting at  1:00 p.m. There are numerous transit options to the meeting site. I'm certainly curious to hear what Zane has to say, especially with federal reauthorization seemingly in limbo.

As the Los Angeles Department of Transportation prepares for five public hearings next month and in early March, activists are responding to their proposed series of cuts and fare hikes that will close the city's budget hole...at least when it comes to it's transit services.  Unlike the reaction we saw two years ago when Metro outlined a series of major cuts to its bus service, transit advocacy groups are not nearly as unified in opposing these cuts as they were two years ago.  For more information on LADOT's public outreach and other options to submit testimony, read the LADOT press release, available on Streetsblog here.

Each of the three major groups in Los Angeles, Southern California Transit Advocates, the Transit Coalition and the Bus Rider's Union each take a different approach.

Kymberleigh Richards' statement on behalf of the Southern California Transit Advocates crystallizes the difference in how advocates view the LADOT's bus service as compared to Metro.  Remember that two years ago, Richards was one of the leaders opposing Metro's proposed cuts, even threatening the Metro Board with retaliation if they went through with their plans:

So.CA.TA is okay with a lot of this.  The three Commuter Express lines proposed for cancellation have very low ridership and displaced passengers still have options.  On the lines proposed for modifications, we believe 422 and 423 should continue to Thousand Oaks Transit Center (a hub location) and that late night service on 142 should continue at less frequency...

...We're also okay with the proposed fare increases. although we think DASH fares should go directly to 50 cents (no interim step) as it has been unrealistically low as a quarter for far too long.  We do think the interagency transfer (IAT) should be part of DASH's fare structure, though, especially to facilitate transferring to Metro where a DASH line has been canceled or realigned to avoid route duplication.  It may well be that adding the IAT will be a condition of LADOT becoming an "eligible operator" for county sales tax subsidies anyway, so we think they should just go ahead and do it.

Fellow So.CA.TA. executive Dana Gabbard also pointed to the need to cut waste in the DASH system.

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Sick of transit funding being stolen by the state and want to do something about it? You can help gather signatures for placing on the November ballot the Local Taxpayer, Public Safety and Transportation Act. A packet of petitions can be requested via this online form. They will come in the snail mail with detailed instructions. The deadline to get petitions in for validation is mid-April. I have some and will in the coming weeks be gathering signatures on buses, trains and at transit nodes like Union Station.

MeanerMina in a previous post issued a call to arms for advocates:

This ballot initiative Dana describes above is a great step! I'm all for it! Look for me at your local market talking to voters! Better yet, dear readers, come join me educating voters all over LA!

For more on the Governor's plan to rob transit to fill the funding void in the state budget, check out these two articles from last week:

• Schwarzenegger's Folly: Rumored Budget Would Slash Transit Funds and Gas Tax
• Statewide/Local Advocates Slam Schwarzenegger's Rumored End-Around Cut on Transit Funding