BRU Takes to the Streets

On Wednesday, March 17th, the Bus Riders Union took our Stop MTA's Racist Fare 

Increase campaign directly to the MTA and in the process took an important step that helped move the campaign forward. Over 30 BRU members gathered outside at MTA's Headquarters yesterday afternoon for a tri-lingual press conference and rally, with 9 media outlets showing up to cover the event. From our central chant of the day, our message and our demand were clear to TV cameras and those coming in and out of MTA: "Let the People Speak! Public Hearing Now!" 

After the press conference and rally, 30 BRU members marched into the MTA Board room where

the Budget and Finance committee were presented with a "receive and file" report asserting that the second phase of the fare increase plan approved in 2007 would be implemented on July 1st of this year without any public hearing or public debate on the Board.

Click here for slideshow of members in action

1 - Let us Speak, 2 - No Fare Increase, 3 - Public Hearing NOW!

The BRU directed its appeal to the members of the MTA Board's Budget & Finance Committee -- especially

Supervisors Mark Ridley-Thomas and Gloria Molina. BRU members offered testimonies of bus riders already being forced to choose between basic necessities and money for bus fares. Bus riders shared testimonies of those already struggling to cover basic expenses in the midst of an economic crisis unmatched in their lifetimes - whether the speaker was Channing Martinez, a Black college student from South LA, Rosa Miranda, a Latina immigrant mother of three living in Westlake, or Tae Soon Jeon, a Korean grandmother in Koreatown. Grandma Jeon took the MTA for task for manufacturing an operating deficit and then using it to justify fare increases when she quipped, "your deficit is not an operating deficit, its a construction deficit."

Lead organizer Esperanza Martinez made it clear on record at the Board meeting and to the media that implementing a fare increase while aggressively pursuing a multi-billion dollar rail and highway construction agenda effectively puts the burden of that agenda on the backs of bus riders, who, with an average annual income of $12,000 are among the poorest people in the County. "MTA is claiming deficit, but when you look at the numbers their annual budget has grown about $1 billion meanwhile bus riders have seen a steady increase in the cost of living and steady decrease in their own budgets." Given that 90% of bus riders are people of color, this potentially constitutes a violation of civil rights.

Public Hearing Champion?

While MTA's Budget & Finance Committee ultimately ushered through the staff recommendation to raise the fares -- it now will be included in the 2011 budget proposal considered by the Board later this spring -- Board member and South LA Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas indicated to us that he's interested in working with us to create a public hearing process around the fare increase proposal. A significant step in the campaign to stop the fare increase!

The BRU looks forward to working with him and other key MTA board members -- especially Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, LA City Councilmember Jose Huizar and Board Chair Ara Najarian of Glendale -- to make this happen. As of today, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Councilmember Jose Huizar have remained silent on the issue which we hope to change in the coming week. Wednesday's action made a splash, with the media and the presence of 30 BRU members at a normally quiet subcommittee meeting which put MTA on notice that the BRU means business in our campaign to STOP the MTA's Racist Fare Increase. The spirit rally also got BRU members old and new motivated to escalate the campaign in the coming weeks and months, with an eye toward the next major battle at the next MTA Board meeting next Thursday, March 25. We hope to see you there at 9am!