Help Us Stop MTA's Racist Fare Hikes

Here is a letter that Barbara and I at the BRU sent to the MTA last week on October 19th.  We sent this to MTA as part of the formal public comment process on the Westside Subway Extension. Also known as the "subway to the sea," Mayor Villaraigosa's pet boondoggle project could have a $9 billion price tag that could result in massive civil rights violations of bus riders in particular, the potential disparate impact on hundreds of thousands of low income people of color who ride the bus as the sole or primary means of transportation.

The BRU's campaign to defeat MTA's racist fare increase reached a fever pitch on Thursday, May 27, when 150 BRU members and allies shut down the MTA Board.

According the the LA Times, "Demonstrators effectively shut down the meeting and interrupted a hearing involving the 710 before authorities ordered union members to clear the room." Glendale News Press and La Opinion also recognized the BRU. Pasadena Star News and the San Gabriel Valley Tribune ran the same story, which quoted...[Read on for links and more media]

The hunger fasters have been using their facebook page to blog, give live updates, and post pics and videos from each day's actions and happenings. After the first night at the Rosa Parks Tent City, Manuel Criollo, BRU member, testifies, "We greeted the morning with the help of a mexica indigenous saumadora with the sweet and earthy scent of copal. In an act of solidarity, Rosa Miranda, one of the BRU fasters for justice, goes to LA City Council to..."

On the morning of Day 5 of the Hunger Fast for Justice the BRU was joined by guest speaker Dolores Huerta.

On May 19th in front of the MTA Budget Committee, Esperanza Martinez,
lead organizer for the Bus Riders Union, announced the beginning of the
Hunger Fast for Justice. The Bus Riders Union, wanting to graphically
illustrate the true cost of the MTA's fare increase will begin a hunger
fast on May 20th.

The BRU rallies after our Press Conference at MTA Headquarters to demand a stop to MTA's racist fare increase. BRU calls public attention to MTA's staff attempt to silence the public by denying them their rightful opportunity to speak on the impacts that another fare increase will have on the lives of half a million Black, Latino and Asian working class bus riders!