MTA PLANS TO REDRAW TRANSIT MAP PROPOSAL AIMS TO QUICKEN TRAVEL, CUT REDUNDANT LINES.

Byline: RACHEL URANGA Staff Writer

Three days a week, Joaquina de Paz tucks her tattered black Bible in her purse and sets off from Bell for her job as a housekeeper in the Encino Hills -- a three-hour commute that takes her on two rail lines and two buses.

It takes at least two hours for Hilda Medina to make the trip from East L.A. to Woodland Hills -- but only if each of the three buses she rides is on time.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has spent $1 billion over the past decade to ensure that people like de Paz and Medina -- poor, immigrant, transit-dependent -- are not stranded for hours waiting for a bus or, once aboard, forced to fight for a seat.

Under a federal consent decree imposed in 1996 and due to expire next month, the MTA has added more than 2,000 buses and implemented other service improvements at a cost it estimates at $1.2 billion.

However, in cobbling together a transit system across its 1,433-square- mile service area, the agency has been unable to make the trips faster for riders like de Paz and Medina.

The $3 billion-a-year agency hopes to change that beginning in December with a long-awaited plan dubbed Metro Connections, which officials predict will save the MTA millions of dollars and create a more efficient system, but critics fear will inconvenience regular riders.

And while officials also predict it will attract more riders by creating a system dictated by people's travel needs rather than the layout of the streets, opponents say it will actually reduce service.

``We are not just trying to save money. We are trying to make a better system,'' said Rod Goldman, the MTA's deputy executive officer of operations. ``We are not trying to just go in and eliminate routes or service frequency. A big part of this is making the system move faster.''

While all of the proposed changes -- which will be rolled out through 2008 -- have not been made public, the MTA has announced it hopes to eliminate several redundant bus routes and shorten those that exceed 20 miles. Officials say shorter routes will make it less likely that buses will get stuck in traffic.

In the San Fernando Valley, for instance, that means that Route 94 -- a 30-mile line down San Fernando Road from Olive View-UCLA Medical Center to downtown -- would be divided into two segments and the route itself shortened.

But critics complain that fewer bus routes and fewer service hours will have a huge, negative impact on those who rely on public transportation.

``This is a big hit,'' said Manuel Criollo, lead organizer for the Bus Riders Union, the advocacy group whose lawsuit spawned the 1996 consent decree.

``We didn't spend 10 years fighting for more service to turn around six months after the consent decree ends ... only to lose what we had fought for.''

Phillip Figatner, who takes the 94 bus from Bob Hope Airport in Burbank to his job at an aircraft parts plant in Sylmar, said the change proposed to start in December would increase his cost and travel time.

His round trip currently takes about 90 minutes and costs $2.50 a day. Under the proposal, he'll have to buy a $3 day pass because he'll have to take two buses on each leg of his commute.

``I get the feeling that these people know how to spell `bus' but I don't think they ride the darn thing,'' Figatner said. ``Whether it's a lot or not, what you are doing is forcing people to pay more.''

Hub and spoke 

Like most transit systems, the MTA operates on a grid, with buses crisscrossing along parallel and perpendicular streets. That means that some routes are jammed, while others run with just one or two passengers.

And whether a bus is full or empty, the overhead costs -- gas, maintenance and salaries -- are the same.

That conundrum is at the heart of Metro Connections.

Agency planners believe that eliminating redundant routes or those with low usage will save money. And adding shorter, more manageable routes that take riders directly to major destinations will also attract customers.

``We are trying to achieve two things at the same time: improve the system for the users and ... achieving efficiencies,'' said Adi Arieli, an MTA consultant.

``The idea was, why don't we take a look and see the paths where the people want to travel even if they are not going to be down the street.''

Among the changes, planners have suggested adding circulator routes, with buses running from transit hubs -- such as the North Hollywood Metro station -- to hospitals and other major destinations. The agency is also looking at a commuter express service like the one the city operates along the freeway.

The MTA hopes to launch the first phase of Metro Connections in December, with most of the changes coming next year.

No decisions can be finalized, however, until public hearings are held. Critics complain that the hearings so far have failed to attract the Spanish-speaking, transit-dependent riders who are the bulk of riders.

Transit advocates fear that officials won't hear from riders who will have to transfer more often.

``I get concerned whether or not asking people to transfer more may discourage them from riding the system,'' said Coby King, a member of the MTA governance council representing the San Fernando Valley.

``They are changing it from just a grid that's easy to understand, but perhaps not as efficient, to a hub-spoke system that is efficient but may be confusing unless we do a good job at public education.''

rachel.uranga(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

(color) Housekeepers Dolly Cortez, who lives in downtown Los Angeles, left, and Hilda Medina, who lives in East Los Angeles, wait at a Woodland Hills bus stop to begin their commutes home. It takes Cortez more than two hours to get home, while Medina travels for two hours, 45 minutes.

Evan Yee/Staff Photographer