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Mayor Villaraigosa speaking with members of the Bus Riders Union

The MTA Board of Directors decided this afternoon to postpone the approval of their Long Range Transportation Plan because community groups (and, as it turns out, the Directors themselves), had less than 24 hours before the meeting to review the 63 page document.  Despite the short notice, the Bus Riders Union was able to distribute this press release, and many groups were able to make it to speak at the meeting.

Many politicians from the San Gabriel Valley advocated the Gold Line Foothill extension, and it was honestly a bit disheartening to hear so many people emphasizing “shovel-readiness” for a long range planning document that is supposed to broadly guide transportation investment for the next thirty-five years.

Damien Goodmon spoke on behalf of Fix Expo, highlighting the environmental injustices of the Expo Line (currently under construction in South LA) included in the LRTP.  Damien Newton, who tweeted the meeting for Streetsblog LA,  asked the Board where funding for bicycle and pedestrian projects in the 2008 Draft LRTP had gone.  He was not the only advocate of complete streets.  The LA County Bike Coalition and the Bus Riders Union stressed the importance of funding walkability and bikeability enhancements that help increase transit ridership.  The BRU also spoke against the billions of dollars in the proposed LRTP going to ineffective (see induced demand) and environmentally unsustainable highway expansions.  Instead, BRU speakers urged the Board to consider their Clean Air and Environmental Justice Plan, which would prioritize improved bus service and reduced fares.

After the meeting, BRU members spoke briefly with Mayor Villaraigosa.  He tried to assure them that communities of color would be protected from fare increases, either through temporary freezes or the implementation of zonal fares.  These assurances, however, seem a bit hollow when the LRTP is mandating a 33% fare recovery ratio.  If the MTA expects riders to cover one third of the systemwide operating cost, the agency’s long history of transportation racism makes it pretty clear who will pay the most: the bus riders who can afford it the least.

[Read the Proposed LRTP here (PDF, 30 MB)]