CITY COUNCIL OKS VALLEY TRANSIT ZONE.Byline: Patrick McGreevy Daily News Staff Writer Dissatisfied with the MTA's bus service in the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. , the Los Angeles City Council  The Los Angeles City Council is the governing body of the City of Los Angeles, California, United States. voted Wednesday to work toward
creation of a regional bus zone.
The plan only affects buses and is far smaller in scale than a legislative proposal by State Sen. Tom Hayden Thomas Emmett "Tom" Hayden (born December 11, 1939) is an American social and political activist and politician, most famous for his involvement in the anti-war and civil rights movements of the 1960s. , D-Los Angeles, to create a Valley transportation authority, fully autonomous from the MTA (1) (Message Transfer Agent or Mail Transfer Agent) The store and forward part of a messaging system. See messaging system. (2) See M Technology Association. 1. (messaging) MTA - Message Transfer Agent. and able to plan all transportation issues in the region. The council approved hiring a consultant to do a feasibility study "A Feasibility Study" is an episode of the original The Outer Limits television show. It first aired on 13 April, 1964, during the first season. It was remade in 1997 as part of the revived The Outer Limits series with a minor title change. and directed the city Transportation Department to begin talks with officials in Glendale, Burbank, Calabasas, San Fernando, Hidden Hills and Agoura Hills about joining a Valley transit zone. Councilman Richard Alarcon, who heads the council's Transportation Committee, said he believes Wednesday's action will produce the documentation and agreements necessary to allow the Valley to take over bus service. ``A transit zone will reduce costs,'' Alarcon said. ``By state law we have to be able to demonstrate the ability to reduce costs by 25 percent and I believe we can do that.'' Based on the success of a similar transit zone in the San Gabriel Valley The San Gabriel Valley is one of the principal valleys of southern California. It lies to the east of the city of Los Angeles, to the north of the Puente Hills, to the south of the San Gabriel Mountains, and to the west of the Inland Empire. , city officials believe a Valley zone could cut the MTA's annual $120 million cost of operating buses in the Valley by $50 million. Alarcon said a Valley zone would be governed by a panel of local residents who would be able to determine where and how buses should operate. Los Angeles transportation officials already have begun talks with their counterparts at the MTA, which must approve the creation of a Valley zone. The council vote comes a week after Hayden and Assemblyman Tony Cardenas, D-Panorama City, announced plans to carry state legislation to smooth the creation of a Valley transit authority, which is different from a zone because it would be autonomous from the MTA. One group that is concerned about the proposal is the union representing MTA bus drivers, who fear a Valley bus agency would use private contractors. ``We believe any form of privatization privatization: see nationalization. privatization Transfer of government services or assets to the private sector. State-owned assets may be sold to private owners, or statutory restrictions on competition between privately and publicly owned is adverse to the interest of our members,'' said Goldy Norton, a spokesman for the United Transportation Union. |
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