COUNCIL EXAMINES VALLEY TRANSIT ZONE.

Byline: Rick Orlov Staff Writer

After months of delay, a Los Angeles City Council panel will consider today a proposal for the city to join with eight nearby cities to look at creating a special San Fernando Valley Transit Zone independent of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

A report by Chief Legislative Analyst Ron Deaton and Transportation Dept. General Manager Francis Banerjee to be considered by the City Council's Transportation Committee today urges the city to join the interim joint powers authority that has been created to look at creating the zone.

The officials, however, warned against Los Angeles getting stuck with the full tab of financing any new transit zone, which could face potential losses of $70 million in three years.

``The interim JPA would provide only that the Joint Powers Authority would oversee the remaining analysis and establish policy in negotiations with the MTA on closing the funding gap,'' the report said. ``No commitments are being made to enter into the permanent JPA.''

The city was the driving force behind studying an independent transit zone to take over at least eight MTA bus routes, and it provided the estimated $500,000 to $1 million in staffers and funding for studies conducted to date.

Other jurisdictions involved in the interim JPA include the County of Los Angeles and the cities of Burbank, Glendale, La Canada Flintridge, San Fernando, Agoura Hills, Calabasas, Hidden Hills and Westlake Village.

Deaton said the interim panel would have a nine-member board, with Los Angeles having four seats on it. He urged that Valley council members be named to the panel and that the city be required to pay a proportional share - 45 percent - of any future costs.

A decision on whether to create the transit zone should be made after studies are completed and a determination is made on operating costs, he said.

Initially, the MTA said it would reimburse the zone at costs of $103 per hour, but later dropped that to $69 per hour, resulting in the $70 million in losses within three years.

``It is necessary, at present, for zone consultants to conduct a `bottom-up' analysis of the costs to operate the zone and thoroughly review MTA's data to determine whether the funding deficit can be closed,'' Deaton said.