EDITORIAL : SEIZE THE MTA?; A FEDERAL JUDGE MAY DO A BETTER JOB AT MAKING TRANSIT POLICY.AFTER months of insisting 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. was in full compliance with a federal court order to improve bus service and ease overcrowding overcrowding overcrowding of animal accommodation. Many countries now publish codes of practice which define what the appropriate volumetric allowances should be for each species of animal when they are housed indoors. Breaches of these codes is overcrowding. , the agency admitted it was wrong. That must come as a tremendous shock to the million or so bus riders who daily endure the indignity in·dig·ni·ty n. pl. in·dig·ni·ties 1. Humiliating, degrading, or abusive treatment. 2. A source of offense, as to a person's pride or sense of dignity; an affront. 3. of being joined at the hip to complete strangers. Now the key question is, So what? Can the same people who built the biggest public works public works pl.n. Construction projects, such as highways or dams, financed by public funds and constructed by a government for the benefit or use of the general public. Noun 1. boondoogle in the history of the country fix this problem? It's going to take more than lip service lip service n. Verbal expression of agreement or allegiance, unsupported by real conviction or action; hypocritical respect: from an agency that's raided and robbed from state, local and federal taxpayers to pay for gold-plated holes in the ground to downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, located close to the geographic center of the metropolitan area. The sprawling, multi-centered megacity is such that its downtown core is often considered just another district like Hollywood or . The Bus Riders Union, part of the coalition of groups that successfully sued the agency to force better bus service, is demanding that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority buy 1,600 more buses over the next two years to alleviate chronic overcrowding and delays. That would mean an additional $1 billion to buy buses, in addition to the 1,300 buses the agency plans to buy over the next five years. The demand is not a plan. Even if the MTA could find an extra $1 billion or so just for buses, it wouldn't answer the serious and tough questions of how to put the Humpty Dumpty Humpty Dumpty arbitrarily gives his own meanings to words, and tolerates no objections. [Br. Lit.: Lewis Carroll Through the Looking-Glass] See : Arrogance Humpty Dumpty transit agency back together again. Where's the plan? It's going to take more than just throwing buses on streets to rebuild the backbone of the agency's business. And where's the money to pay drivers salaries up to $100,000-a-year? High salaries and work rules that inflate costs were the price the union extracted for staying quiet and letting the system be ripped off in favor of a one-way ticket to a dead-end subway. The consent decree A settlement of a lawsuit or criminal case in which a person or company agrees to take specific actions without admitting fault or guilt for the situation that led to the lawsuit. A consent decree is a settlement that is contained in a court order. does not outline how the MTA should reduce overcrowding, but special master Donald Bliss and District Court Judge Terry Hatter could order the MTA to buy more new buses to replace its aging fleet of 1,800 buses. They also go as far as putting the MTA into receivership. The time for public posturing and private acquiescing by brain-dead, elected leaders is over. Where's the plan to restore the transit agency and provide service to the million-plus riders who depend it and the million more who would use if it served them better? Where's the plan that prevents future raids on money for buses to help politicians get work for their well-connected friends? Where's the plan that looks at all of Los Angeles, projects the needs of riders into the next century and maps out a system that moves people in a realistic, cost-effective fashion? The truth is, there is no plan. The MTA finally admitted as much. Which means Hatter could end up taking control of this hopeless mess. As scary and ridiculous as that sounds, having a judge manage the nation's second largest public transportation agency may be better than what we've got right now. If the MTA board continues to dither dith·er n. A state of indecisive agitation. intr.v. dith·ered, dith·er·ing, dith·ers To be nervously irresolute in acting or doing. and sign off on more scandal-tainted deals that don't serve the people of Los Angeles County, Hatter should seize control. It may be the only way Los Angeles gets the transit system its residents have been paying for all these years. |
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