Rosa Miranda as Superpasajera defeats the Bus Slasher (Reggie Streeter), Raildracula (Manuel Criollo), and Highway Devil (Gabriel Strachota) in one blow.

We have just finished with our teatro / rally / action at the MTA headquarters, but we are repeating our performance on Wednesday 10/21/2009 at 3:30pm at the corner of Wilshire / Western.  Don't miss our performance!  The Bus Riders Union, bus riders and their allies will be urging the public to call on MTA Board of Directors to reject the 2009 Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) draft that calls for permanent fare increases and bus service reduction.

Cast features: Manuel Criollo as Rail-Dracula, Reggie Streeter as The Bus Slasher, Gabe Strachota as The Highway Devil, and Rosa Miranda as La Superpasajera, backed by a soundtrack of Korean drummers! 

Press release is below: Superpasajera vs. The LRTP Legion of Doom

---

BRU Urges MTA Board members to reject 35-year MTA Transportation Plan that Calls for Permanent Fare Increases and/or Bus Service Cuts, while Expanding Highway, Rail and Subway

Who:	Dozens of Bus Riders Union members, cultural workers, Korean drummers and allies
What:	Rally and Street Theatre to bring awareness to Thursday's MTA Board of Directors vote on the 2009 Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP), a 35 year regional plan that calls for permanent fare increases and bus service reductions. Theatre Skit: BRU Super Pasajera (Bus Riders Wonder Woman-type Super Hero) and other bus riders take on the MTA's LRTP Legion of Doom composed of MTA's Bus Slasher, Rail-Dracula, and the Highway Devil.
When:	Tuesday, October 20th at 4 P.M.
Where:	MTA Headquarters, on the corner of Cesar Chavez and Vignes at the northeast MTA entrance

"Don't Get Haunted by Permanent Fare Increases - Stop MTA's Racist Long Range Transportation Plan!"

Tuesday, October 20 (Los Angeles, CA) at 4 P.M. - The Bus Riders Union, bus riders and their allies will be urging the public to call on MTA Board of Directors to reject the 2009 Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) draft that calls for permanent fare increases and bus service reduction. While MTA's budget has grown by $1 billion over the past two years, MTA still claim a "structural operation deficit" and move towards creating a fare policy that would impose never-ending fare increases and service cuts on bus riders, all the while moving towards aggressive highway and rail expansion.

The MTA 2009 LRTP Draft is a Civil Rights and Environmental Disaster: The 2009 Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP), a $270 billion, 35-year blueprint for regional transportation will cause significant racial harms and violate the civil rights of ½ million bus riders of color by prioritizing highway, subway and rail construction, over the needs of bus riders. The Long Range Transit Plan calls for 14 fare increases over 35 years, a reduction of the overall bus fleet, a draconian "33% fare recovery ratio" that cuts public subsidies for bus riders of color. The LRTP will also undermine the environmental sustainability of the region, as car use in the region cannot significantly be reduced with it recommendations to: 1) significantly expand highways in the region, 2) expand subway and rails: LA's failed rail experiment has meant that the region has the same amount of transit riders since the early 1980's, and 3) provoke reduce transit riders rider ship, as service deteriorates and increased transit fares will drive more people out of public transit and into autos (as shown by the 2007 fare increase). If the 2009 LRTP if not significantly amended, with specific bus expansion and new policies toward reduced and equitable fares, we can only interpret that that MTA Board of Directors is moving intentionally toward a racially discriminatory policy that undermines the serious impacts on riders and the environment.

Urge Mayor Villaraigosa - REJECT 30 year Fare Increase and Bus Service Cut Plan!

BRU Urge the MTA Board of Directors who Care about the Environment and the Transit Dependent to Stand for Civil Rights and Environmental Justice: We urge Mayor Villaraigosa and his three appointees (specifically Councilmember Jose Huizar), LA County Board of Supervisors Mark Ridley Thomas, Gloria Molina and Zev Yaroslavsky who have high transit dependent residents in their districts to reject a) the draconian "33% fare recovery rate", b) reduction in bus service hours and resources. In addition, bus riders need a champion to move the adoption of the Bus Riders Union's Clean Air and Economic Justice Plan that calls for 1) 500 expansion buses, 2) reversal of the 2007 fare increase, 3) $150 million for a Bus Only Lanes countywide program that will increase the mobility of the transit dependent and create a concrete alternative to auto-use and generate thousands of unionized and green jobs.

---

Bus Riders Union
Street Theatre and Rally

Press Advisory
Contact: Esperanza Martinez, (213) 387-2800 

October 20, 2009