ALARCON PROPOSES CITY PUSH FOR BUSES.

Byline: David Bloom Daily News Staff Writer

With the MTA considering 17 new bus lines in Los Angeles to meet a court settlement, the city should do what it can to help get the lines running, Councilman Richard Alarcon said Tuesday.

``We all recognize the MTA has budget problems,'' Alarcon said during a council Transportation Committee hearing. ``We need to be an active partner. It is incumbent upon our (city) Department of Transportation to implement as many of these lines as we can.''

The new lines were proposed in response to last October's signing of a consent decree with bus rider advocates who had filed a discrimination lawsuit claiming bus service was being ignored at the expense of rail development.

Among many other system improvements, the decree requires the agency to add at least 50 buses for new service.

Earlier this month, to meet the decree, the Bus Riders Union and MTA officials unveiled 18 lines - one of which would run outside the city - ranging from regular long-haul service to local shuttles to express routes.

The lines, requiring 250 buses and costing $25 million, will be considered in November, but the MTA has set aside only $10.4 million for new service.

``We can't implement all 18 lines, so some decisions will have to be made,'' said Dana Woodbury, MTA deputy executive officer for operations planning.

Rather than forgoing some lines, however, Alarcon said the city could provide in-kind services or outright cash to help the MTA, and its own residents.

The city could use some of the $142 million it has committed to pay the MTA over the next decade for rail construction, Alarcon said. The MTA now appears unlikely to meet a series of city deadlines and some of that money could be redirected to buses, he said.

``If the MTA is out of line with the city benchmarks, I'll be seeking some remedies that would include some of these (proposed lines),'' Alarcon said.

Bus Riders Union representatives were enthusiastic about the possible city help, saying all 18 lines should be enacted to beef up a bus system that has not kept pace with the city's needs.

Of the three new lines affecting the San Fernando Valley, a city Department of Transportation report released Tuesday said one - from downtown Los Angeles to Newbury Park - clearly would be successful.

A Laurel Canyon Boulevard line between Studio City and West Hollywood has too few Valley stops and no direct connection to such east-west routes as Wilshire Boulevard, and needs more study, the report said.

The third Valley line, between Panorama City and East Los Angeles Community College, also requires further study, the report said.