RIDERS GRUMBLE, BUT STAY ABOARD.

Byline: TONY CASTRO

Staff Writer

What can you say about a $2 bus fare increase when you can't buy a gallon of gas for that much or park downtown anywhere near City Hall -- and that's assuming you can afford to own a car?

No riders aboard the Metro buses and trains on the first workday of the new fare hike said they were happy about it, but they weren't boycotting either.

"I don't know what the big deal is," said North Hollywood writer Jordan Halverson, waiting for an Orange Line bus to take him to Sherman Oaks for a story meeting after a ride back from downtown on the Red Line. "I think they've done amazing things with the bus system, and the quality of service is good."

Halverson, 40, a regular bus and train rider, paid $5 for his daily pass Monday, a couple of dollars more than he had last week, and he was counting himself lucky as he talked about friends who complain constantly about the high gas prices and the exorbitant cost of maintaining their SUVs.

Typical of most bus and train riders in Los Angeles, Halverson doesn't own a car.

On Monday, of almost three dozen bus and train riders interviewed in North Hollywood and along the Red Line into downtown, only two said they owned cars, one of which was out of service indefinitely.

It meant that for most, the fare increase amounts to a fait accompli for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which also raised the monthly passes from $52 to $62. The cost of an EZ Pass, a monthly pass allowing commuters to ride all Metro and municipal bus and rail lines, rose from $58 to $70. The $1.25 regular cash fare will not change until July 2009, when it will increase to $1.50.

But that doesn't mean there wasn't grumbling.

A rider who calls himself Eagle I -- a commuter also known as Peter Hansen of Los Angeles -- wondered why there had not been a period of free service as a goodwill gesture before the fare increase.

"Even if only for a day, a dollar's a dollar," he said. "It hurts."

Robert Mendoza, 50, of North Hills was on his way home from a two-week stay at a private home where he works as a caregiver and complained that the increases are stiff.

"It's a (67) percent increase, you realize that, don't you?" he said to a fellow commuter on the Orange Line heading toward the western Valley. "I think it's a little bit expensive and a little bit irrational. I only have to ride the bus a few times a month. At this fare, I don't know if I could afford to do it every day."

Don Cason, 65, of Van Nuys said he wouldn't know what he would do if fares got any higher.

Told that seniors can take advantage of a 25-cent off-peak fare, valid between 9 a.m and 3 p.m. and after 7 p.m., Cason looked unmoved.

"Why did they have to raise the fares?" he asked.

According to Metro officials, fares were increased to deal with a projected $10-year, $1.8 billion budget deficit, which they said will be paid off in eight years through the rate hike.

Several groups, including the Bus Riders Union, filed a lawsuit against Metro last week, alleging the agency intended to use some of the proceeds from the hikes for capital projects, including construction of more light- rail lines. On Thursday, a judge rejected a request for a restraining order.

Bus Riders Union officials, who had called for a boycott of buses and trains Monday, did not immediately return calls seeking comment on the fare increase.

Metro spokesman Marc Littman said that through midafternoon Monday there had not been any disruption of service. Because of the July Fourth midweek holiday, an accurate picture of the increase's impact on ridership would not be known for several weeks.

"It's still too much," said Frank Slevin on an Orange Line bus headed from his home in Reseda to the North Hollywood station. From there he would connect with a train downtown and then take a bus to South Los Angeles, where he works as a telemarketer.

"It takes me two hours each way. I guess $2 a day (increase) isn't going to kill me."

Across from him, Jeff Pope, a 48-year-old insurance claims manager from Tarzana in a business suit and tie, listened with interest. He had passed up using his personal car to save money -- even at the increased fare.

"I only ride the bus to get downtown once or twice a month," he said. "It's convenient, and it saves me $20 on parking."

"It costs $20 to park downtown?" Slevin asked. "Just to park? I'm glad I don't own a car. I'll just keep buying my bus tokens."

tony.castro(at)dailynews.com

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CAPTION(S):

photo, box

Photo:

Fabricio Juarez rides an Orange Line bus near Van Nuys on Monday on the second day of increased Metro fares.

Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer

Box:

Fare hikes

SOURCE: Metro

Gregg Miller/Staff Artist