Bus Riders Union and Allies Call on MTA Board to Reject Fare Increase Policyand No Increase in Senior Age!

As the country celebrates Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday, we urge MTA Board members to
 honor his legacy by supporting civil rights and rejecting the escalating attacks on bus riders

Tuesday, January 22, 2008— The Bus Riders Union and allies will be holding a press conference calling on the MTA Board to reject MTA staff’s proposed Fare Policy and Increase in Senior Age at Thursday’s, January 24th, 2008 MTA Board meeting. This proposal should be rejected for the following reasons:

Codifies ongoing fare increases for all bus riders as a major principle of MTA, which will limit the ability of the public or MTA Board members to oppose future fare increases. ·      

Civil Rights: Given that almost 90% of bus riders are Black, Latino and Asian, reducing their subsidies will create significant racial and civil rights harms. This proposal comes at a time when the agency is increasing subsidies for more affluent rail riders, through projects such as the Exposition Light Rail (recently awarded an additional $145 million for Phase One), and as bus riders face a potential reduction of over 400,000 annual service hours by June of 2008. ·        

Subsidy reductions for elderly, disabled, and students: One of the goals of the Fare Policy is to reduce subsidies such that seniors and the disabled would pay 50% of the regular pass, K-12 students 60%, and college students 70%.  If implemented with current prices, the senior/disabled pass would increase from $14 to $31, and increase as the regular pass increases. 

Bad environmental policy: A proven way to increase ridership is to reduce fares. Likewise, fare increases decrease ridership. MTA has seen this in its own history when ridership peaked in 1985 (because of the 50-cent fare), a level that has still not been recovered. With 7 million cars and the worst air pollution in the country, it is inconceivable that MTA staff is now proposing this policy.

Additional tax on the poor: Through the Prop A and C sales tax, Los Angeles riders are already paying for transit; therefore, fare increases represent additional taxes on the poor.

Increasing the senior age from 62 to 65, as well as decreasing subsidies, will place undue burden on an already vulnerable population.      

At minimum, this proposal should be subject to comprehensive public review and a public hearing.

The proposed subsidy reductions for students, seniors and the disabled reflect the same figures proposed by MTA CEO Roger Snoble in March of 2007, which were characterized by many Board members as draconian.  We hope the Board sees this for what it is--in essence, MTA staff is now trying to sneak in the same figures that were met with an outpouring of public outcry and rejected by every Board member in May. 

We call on MTA Board members of conscious to end the attacks on the transit dependent

As of now, no MTA Board member has publicly opposed the proposed Fare Policy or the massive service cuts.  With the presidential primaries approaching, many of the Democratic leaders who sit on the MTA Board are urging Black and Latino voters to participate and be a part of change. We believe it is a contradiction for our local leaders to tell our people to participate and hope for change when often we cannot count on them for the most critical votes needed to protect our communities and implement concrete changes that will improve their lives.  We call on Mayor Villaraigosa, Councilmember Bernard Parks, Supervisors Yvonne Burke and Gloria Molina, Councilmember Bonnie Lowenthal, and all MTA Board members to reject the proposed Fare Increase Policy and Increase in Senior Age and work with the Bus Riders Union to stop additional fare hikes and service cuts.