EDITORIAL DECADE OF IMPROVEMENT THE END OF THE MTA CONSENT DECREE SHOULD BE GOOD NEWS - FOR EVERYONE.THE court-appointed overseer of 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. negotiated between the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Bus Riders Union has found that the transit agency has made a good-faith effort to fulfill the requirements it agreed to a decade ago. 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. has spent more than $1.3 billion buying buses and increasing the frequency of buses on popular routes, and has increased the portion of its budget spent on buses from 25 percent to 40 percent. And the agency will continue to buy even more metro Rapid Metro Rapid is a bus rapid transit system in Los Angeles County, California, operated by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The Rapid program attempts to speed up commuter travel time on Los Angeles' county streets. Buses on 28 routes through 2008. The implication is that the MTA could be released from its constricting con·strict v. con·strict·ed, con·strict·ing, con·stricts v.tr. 1. To make smaller or narrower by binding or squeezing. 2. To squeeze or compress. 3. consent decree as soon as next year. That would be good news for the MTA and the public. And one might think that would be good news for the Bus Riders Union, the self-appointed advocate for poor and minority bus riders. The BRU sued the transit agency, saying it ignored the crowded and deteriorating de·te·ri·o·rate v. de·te·ri·o·rat·ed, de·te·ri·o·rat·ing, de·te·ri·o·rates v.tr. To diminish or impair in quality, character, or value: buses that were used in the inner-city routes in favor of sinking resources into suburban rail for fewer but more affluent riders. Rather than defend themselves and their actions in court, MTA officials agreed to the consent decree. ``Substantial progress'' means the group's effort to improve bus service for poor and minority riders - and therefore improve it for everyone - was a success. However, the BRU doesn't share the view of the consent decree's special master and wants the court's oversight through consent decree extended by at least four more years. This would be mystifying mys·ti·fy tr.v. mys·ti·fied, mys·ti·fy·ing, mys·ti·fies 1. To confuse or puzzle mentally. See Synonyms at puzzle. 2. To make obscure or mysterious. unless one considers that when the consent decree ends, so does the BRU's platform and power over the transportation agency. It's unfortunate that the BRU can't look beyond its own existence and celebrate the improvement of the bus service in the Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. metropolitan area, in which it no doubt played a part. Consent decrees as a rule aren't good public policy because they take what should be a political issue into the courts. And while we can never truly know whether that improvement would have happened without the consent decree, we do know it did happen and that the MTA should be free, finally, from the court's oversight. And that's something to celebrate. |
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