DRIVE ON FOR EASIER BUS PASSES.

Byline: Helen Gao Staff Writer

Denouncing the student bus pass application process as a major obstacle to accessing public transportation, the Bus Riders Union, a mass transit advocate, is urging the MTA to drop the application requirement and make the passes available on campuses.

Chatsworth parent Diana Dixon-Davis applied last year for her son's discount pass and had to submit a photo and two documents signed by an official at his school.

When she sent in the wrong size photo, the application was kicked back after two months. Her son had a new picture taken, and it took another three months for the Metropolitan Transportation Agency to send him the card.

``We have parents, students and teachers coming to us saying, hypothetically, we can get a student pass at a discount rate, but realistically, the application process is so cumbersome, I can't get it,'' said Bus Riders Union organizer Deborah Orosz.

Today and Friday, the Bus Riders Union will be at Cleveland High in Reseda to help students complete applications. Of more than a million students in Los Angeles County, only about 25,000 students use the discounted passes, according to MTA statistics from 2000-01.

The Bus Riders Union is asking the MTA not only to eliminate the application process and sell passes on campus with same-day delivery, it's also seeking to lower the price of passes to $10 for students in kindergarten through college.

Now, elementary, middle and high school students can get discounted monthly passes for $20 and college students for $30, compared with the standard price of $42.

As part of the application process, Orosz said students are also asked to submit a copy of their student ID, state ID, birth certificate or a report card. College students are required to submit transcripts or class schedules and must reapply every six months. Younger students must apply every year.

It takes the MTA at least 20 business days to process an application.

Ed Scannell, spokesman for the MTA, said his agency is working to streamline the process, but said an application process is needed in order to ``minimize abuse.''

``This is taxpayer money we are talking about. For us not to have some proof so that a bus operator can verify that someone is a bona fide student, we cannot in good conscience hand out passes,'' said Scannell.

Scannell said in the past, the MTA had tried to streamline the distribution of discount passes by inviting schools to handle the sale, but there were no takers.

Helen Gao, [phone]

helen.gao(at)dailynews.com