For Immediate Release                                                 Contact: Esperanza Martinez, 323-833-6508

June 11, 2009                                                                Bus Riders Union

BRU Helps Halt MTA Approval of Long Range Transportation Plan

Mayor Villaraigosa's Move to Postpone Vote Creates Opportunity for Shift in Priorities

Thursday, June 11-The Bus Riders Union (BRU) was successful in halting a Los Angeles County MTA Board of Directors vote to adopt the 2009 Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP), a $270 billion, 35-year blueprint for regional transportation. This came just 2 days after the MTA notified the public about a scheduled vote at a Special Board meeting, misleadingly titled a LRTP "workshop." And less than 24 hours after MTA staff made this 60-paged document available for the public to review. On behalf of MTA Chair Antonio Villaraigosa, Director Richard Katz asked the Board to hold off on the vote in order to provide the public sufficient time to review the 2009 LRTP. The Board moved to revisit the 2009 LRTP at the July Board meeting.

In a day and a half after receiving notification of this "workshop," the BRU began mobilizing members to this critical meeting and wrote a letter to MTA Chair Antonio Villaraigosa asking him to delay the vote and re-open a public process for input on the 2009 LRTP. Within 24 hours notice, BRU members heeded to the urgency of this issue and showed up at the Board meeting en masse, ready to make their voices heard. The Bus Riders Union (BRU) applauds Director Katz and Mayor Villaraigosa for responding to our concerns about the lack of transparency and potential Brown Act violations of the proposed LRTP review and approval process. Other MTA Board members raised similar concerns.

"In the last year, many conditions that impact the LRTP have shifted, more money is coming in, less money than expected will be generated thus some projects may need to get taken out of this plan," said BRU member Gregory Freeman. BRU members testified before the Board marking objection to an overall framework that includes: 1) billions spent on highway expansion despite the ecological necessity to move away from an auto-centered transportation system; 2) fare increases over the next 30 years aimed at reaching an arbitrary yet draconian 33% fare box recovery ratio; and 3) criticism of the MTA "biting" (building) more than they could "chew" (operate). "If MTA plans to move ahead with its own costly plans despite economic forecasts that predict less money earned from Measure R, we can only assume that MTA may revert to its historic practice of raiding the bus system budget to make up the difference," said BRU Lead Organizer, Esperanza Martinez. A new vision for transportation in Los Angeles is environmentally necessary and fiscally possible and bold leadership is what this will require.

The BRU now asks Mayor Villaraigosa and the Board to establish a process in the next 6 weeks for substantive community input. This new process should: 1) hold a workshop aimed at fostering public understanding of the draft 2009 LRTP; 2) include a set of community meetings to gather input and feedback on the LRTP; 3) conclude with a public hearing at the July Board meeting to review the re-draft of the LRTP based on the input of community members and key stakeholders. We look to Mayor Villaraigosa, Supervisor Ridley-Thomas and Director Huizar to take bold leadership in revising the draft LRTP outlines to create an environmentally sustainable, pro-civil rights plan for regional transportation. Lastly, to adopt the BRU's Clean Air and Economic Justice Plan that calls for 500 expansion buses, the reversal of the 2007 fare increase and $150 million for a bus only lanes network.

Superpasajera, the BRU's superbusrider, will be flying back into town after a 1 ½ year hiatus and will be making appearances in Boyle Heights and South Los Angeles in the next couple of weeks to build broader support for the BRU's Clean Air and Economic Justice plan, don't sleep on the chance to meet her.