IT COULD BE THE END OF THE LINES MTA PROPOSES CUTTING 3 DOZEN BUS ROUTES.Byline: SUE DOYLE Staff Writer Seeking to improve overall service and shrink a $104 million deficit, 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. proposes cutting about three dozen underused bus lines -- including eight 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. -- while studying a way for local commuters to get to jobs at the region's studios. The changes would be implemented by June 24 if adopted this spring by the San Fernando Valley Service Sector, a community-based governance arm of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Valley residents dependent on the lines for work and school are not happy. ``That's no good,'' said Leslie Panduro of Pacoima as she got off the 239 bus, which could drop midday and weekend service. ``My schooling would be affected.'' The 48-year-old Panduro is taking classes to become a teacher's assistant and completely relies on the line to get to school. Commuter Alicia Plaistowe welcomed a possible change to the 90/91 bus line, which may be shortened and the remainder of the route moved to a new line. Today the bus travels 30 miles from 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 to Olive View Medical Center and is notorious for being late. ``I have to get up two hours early to get to job interviews on time,'' the 22-year-old Sylmar resident said of the bus line. ``A new line would work out well.'' The long list of proposed changes was triggered by the MTA's twice-yearly evaluation designed to ensure maximum use of its 2,500-bus fleet, officials said. Decisions are based on the previous six months of reports on passenger loads and on-time service. ``If people aren't riding the bus, we'd rather invest that money somewhere else,'' said Richard Hunt There have been a number of people named Richard Hunt:
Link to Gold Line One new express line to be studied by MTA officials could cart passengers between the Orange and Red Line hub in North Hollywood and the Pasadena Gold Line and make a few stops along the way. The MTA wants feedback from the community to learn if there's interest in the line, said Carol Silvers, transportation planning Transportation planning is the field involved with the siting of transportation facilities (generally streets, highways, sidewalks, bike lanes and public transport lines). manager for the Valley Service Sector. The MTA has proposed cutting down on operating service on three bus lines that have low ridership rid·er·ship n. The number of passengers who ride a public transport system. during the early afternoon, at night and on weekends. It also wants to shorten other lines, dividing 30-mile routes into shorter distances to improve on-time service since longer trips are more likely to get bogged down by traffic. The changes come as the MTA looks for ways to shrink its 2007-08 budget deficit, estimated at about $104 million. This month its board will have a workshop to consider rate increases. More importantly, the board is lobbying Sacramento to change Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposal to divert $1.1 billion from a sales tax sales tax, levy on the sale of goods or services, generally calculated as a percentage of the selling price, and sometimes called a purchase tax. It is usually collected in the form of an extra charge by the retailer, who remits the tax to the government. on gas from public transit to other parts of the state's 2007-08 budget. Of that money, the MTA could gain $100 million, which would essentially wipe out its deficit. MTA commended Daniel Blake, director of the San Fernando Valley Economic Research Center at California State University Enrollment  Northridge, commended the MTA for
changing its bus lines to make the system run efficiently.
``You want them to watch those schedules and make changes in order to use their resources more effectively to serve the people,'' Blake said. Waiting more than 10 minutes past the scheduled arrival time for his bus on Wednesday, Brian Blanchard of Encino wondered if low ridership stems from late buses. Frustrated frus·trate tr.v. frus·trat·ed, frus·trat·ing, frus·trates 1. a. To prevent from accomplishing a purpose or fulfilling a desire; thwart: with the bus frequently showing up as much as a half-hour late each afternoon, the band teacher may return to driving after using the bus system for less than two months. ``It was kind of nice to sit and relax on the bus, but it takes too long to get home,'' Blanchard said of the sometimes two-hour trip from Van Nuys. Sharp criticism The proposed changes have drawn sharp criticism from Manuel Criollo Criollo native Spanish-American light horse or riding pony. Includes a number of ethnic varieties, e.g. Argentine Criollo. Any color, 13.3 to 15 hands high. Originated from a mixture of Arab, Barb and Andalusian. , organizer for the Bus Riders Union, an advocacy group that filed a civil rights lawsuit against the MTA in 1994. The suit triggered a 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. that forced the MTA to invest $1.3 billion in bus service for the urban poor. In October, a judge ruled that the MTA had improved service sufficiently to allow the consent decree to lapse. The Bus Riders Union has filed an appeal. Criollo said the proposed changes would cancel many of the gains achieved under the consent decree. ``It's not about cuts, it's about adding to the system,'' Criollo said. ``And the system is too small.'' Criollo and others say the proposed changes will create problems for the working poor, who rely on public transportation for every aspect of their lives. Marianne Haver haver Verb 1. Scot & N English dialect to talk nonsense 2. to be unsure and hesitant; dither [origin unknown] Hill, the longtime head of the poverty-assistance agency MEND, said clients often arrive at her agency two hours before it opens because that's when the buses run. ``People who are poor have to spend a lot more time than the rest of us dealing with life and spend a lot more time getting the basic things done,'' said Hill, whose Meet Each Need with Dignity organization serves about 40,000 people a month. sue.doyle(at)dailynews.com (818) 713-3746 If you go A public hearing on proposed changes to MTA bus routes will be held at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Marvin Braude Marvin Braude (August 11, 1920—December 7, 2005)served as Los Angeles City Councilman for the 11th district from 1965 to 1997. At various times Mr. Braude (pronounced BROW-dee) served as chair of the Finance and Revenue Committee, the Environmental Quality and Waste Constituent Service Center, 6262 Van Nuys Blvd., Van Nuys. MTA SERVICE CHANGES The MTA is considering the following changes to bus routes in the San Fernando Valley: Line 90/91 -- Shorten to end Foothill Boulevard The following streets are named Foothill Boulevard:
Line 92 -- Shorten to end Glenoaks Boulevard route at Burbank Station. New Route 292 would serve remainder. Line 154 -- Cancel midday and Saturday service on whole route. Line 155 -- Cancel late-night and weekend service on entire route. Line 168 -- Cancel service on Lassen/Paxton streets. Line 183 -- Shorten to end at Aladema Avenue and San Fernando Road San Fernando Road is a major street in the city and county of Los Angeles. It starts off in Castaic as The Old Road, passing through Santa Clarita and the Newhall Pass, where upon its intersection with Sierra Highway near the junction of the Golden State (I-5) and the in Glendale. Reroute via San Fernando Road and Verdugo Avenue to Burbank. Line 239 -- Cancel midday and weekend service on whole route. Line 290 -- New route operating between Olive View Medical Center and Mount Gleason Avenue loop in Sunland. Line 292 -- New line operating between Olive View and downtown Burbank station. Line 656 -- Shorten at Santa Monica Santa Monica (săn`tə mŏn`ĭkə), city (1990 pop. 86,905), Los Angeles co., S Calif., on Santa Monica Bay; inc. 1886. Tourism and retailing are important, and the city has motion-picture, biotechnology, and software industries. Boulevard and Highland Avenue. Tri-City Express -- The MTA will study the feasibility of an express line between the North Hollywood Red and Orange Line Station hubs and the Pasadena Gold Line. Source: MTA CAPTION(S): photo, 2 boxes Photo: Jose Valenzuela waits for the 154 bus with his girlfriend Cielo Ibarra, left, and her sister Jazmin Ibarra, who holds 21-month-old daughter, Emily Ramos, Wednesday in Van Nuys. The 154 bus route may be cut to help the MTA save money. Michael Owen
Box: (1) IF YOU GO (see text) (2) MTA SERVICE CHANGES (see text) |
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