Subway future in doubt as L.A. rethinks transit.

Buses or subways?

After billions of dollars spent in subway construction and years of political infighting, there still is no consensus.

In fact, the future of mass transit in Los Angeles remains as clouded as ever - a point borne out by growing sentiment last week by board members of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority that continued subway construction, at a cost of $300 million a mile, should be reassessed.

This week, MTA officials will be meeting in Washington with Transportation Secretary Federico Pena to consider the future of the subway system.

Behind those discussions is the $64 question: Should L.A.'s mass transit efforts be focused on costly underground subways or on cheaper bus and light rail systems?

"Nobody sees this the same way," said Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, an MTA board member who has been among the fiercest critics of the subway project.

"But," he added, "I think what board members are seeing is that the (subway system) is costing too much...becoming too much of a headache."

Former Mayor Tom Bradley led the campaign to build the Metro Rail subway. But his successor, Mayor Richard Riordan, is now saying that the MTA needs to consider shifting resources from subways to buses.

"People have woken up to the fact that 98 percent of our system is buses," Riordan said during a discussion of the issue last week on radio station KCRW's "Which Way L.A."

Riordan and others believe that the cost of underground tunneling, combined with L.A.'s notorious sprawl, means that subways will never be the kind of workaday transit system to rival the freeways.

But the mayor also acknowledges that shifting gears means risking the loss of federal transit funds dedicated for heavy-rail systems.

"The money from Washington is dedicated for rail," Riordan said. "But, we need to get some more leeway to create a first class transit agency."

That may not be so easy.

Federal Transit Administration officials say any shift toward bus or light-rail alternatives would jeopardize about $3 billion the feds have spent or committed toward completing the Metro Rail subway line to North Hollywood, East L.A. and the mid-City areas.

"These are important investments that have national implications," said Bruce Frame, deputy Federal Transportation Administrator. "Transit plays an important part of the economic vitality of the community, thus it has a national impact."

In a race to save funding dollars already earmarked for L.A.'s transit projects, board chairman Larry Zarian was scheduled to lead a delegation of MTA officials to Washington to meet with Pena and Federal Transit Administrator Gordon Linton.

"This will be a serious discussion of policy issues," Frame said. "We're not foreclosing on the option of revoking this funding" (if the lines are not completed).

The subway project has been plagued with tunneling problems - including a notorious sinkhole along the construction route in Hollywood - that have increased costs and dissipated public and Congressional support for the subway.

Some members of the 13-member MTA board worry that the huge sums being invested will mean that no money will be available for more modest light rail lines serving their communities.

This has sparked a turf war among board members, each protecting their own interests without formulating a clear direction.

"We are trying to do what makes sense for the county," Zarian said. "Right now, we're trying to buy some time to decide if completing this subway plan is worth the money, and if we can sustain it."

But rail supporters argue that if the MTA should change course now, other cities will get the mass transit funds committed for Los Angeles.

"The possibility of losing federal money is a fact, and any delays will jeopardize that money," said Democratic Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard, who represents parts of East Los Angeles.

Roybal-Allard said the MTA "must have an immediate plan to assure us that existing projects will be completed."

But in a new report, the Reason Foundation recommended that the MTA should pour its money into bus service regardless of the consequences.

"I think we're better off without the money," said James Moore, a professor of urban planning at the University of Southem California, who co-authored the Reason report. "It doesn't make sense to throw good money after bad into rail when we could serve the county better with buses."

The county would save money by creating busway lanes, smart streets, and toll roads. Clean burning buses would also satisfy environmental concerns, he said.

Operating bus lines in Los Angeles County is much cheaper, Moore said.

It costs the MTA about $1.79 per bus passenger, compared to $16 to $98 per passenger trip on the 14 rail lines proposed in the agency's 20 Year Plan.

The higher costs stem from the huge expense of underground tunneling, an expense buses don't have since they run on existing streets and freeways, the study said.

But Roybal-Allard said the amount of buses it would take to match rail would increase street congestion - which is exactly why the county is building rail. In addition, some communities simply don't have the room to add special bus lanes, she said.

"The streets in East Los Angeles are too small to fit bus lanes, and that means you have to buy property along the route," she said. "We already did that once to build the freeways in Los Angeles. It's a long, and very expensive process that residents in that part of town have strong opinions about."

Other projects might require a combination of underground and aboveground tracks, she added.

The subway is now 5.3 miles long and runs from Union Station to Wilshire Boulevard at Western Avenue. Construction is underway for an extension from Wilshire and Vermont Avenue through Hollywood to the east San Fernando Valley.

The MTA plans to begin tunneling next year to extend the subway from Union Station to First and Lorena streets on the Eastside and is completing environmental studies for an extension in Mid-City from Wilshire and Western to Pico and San Vicente boulevards.

Not currently funded by federal monies is a plan to extend the subway to the San Diego Freeway on the Westside, to Atlantic and Whittier boulevards on the eastside, and from North Hollywood to Warner Center in the San Fernando Valley.

The federal government has pledged about $2 billion in funds to build Red Line extensions into North Hollywood, East Los Angeles, and into the Mid-City. An estimated $941 million of those funds has already been received by the MTA.

In addition, the money received by the agency to build the first leg of the Red Line - about $700 million -would be placed in jeopardy. Under the federal agreement, the MTA must return all the money, regardless of if it has been spent, if any of the lines are not completed, federal officials say.

However, MTA officials might be able to cut a deal that would save some of those funds, said Thomas Rubin, a former Treasurer-Controller for the Southern California Rapid Transit District, which became the MTA in 1989.

"The chances of the MTA willingly handing back money already spent is remote, and I'm sure that Congress would work with them," he said.

The bus vs. subway question is only one of a series of problems dogging the MTA.

The agency is now faced with the daunting task of hiring another chief executive after the resignation of Joseph Drew earlier this month. Drew - who claimed the board's political wrangling forced him to quit - took the office last year after board members fired Franklin White.

In addition, the agency's inspector general and the U.S. Attorney's Office are investigating the bidding process on an eastside extension of the Red Line. Drew was criticized after he overrode an independent panel's choice for the contract in October, instead recommending the panel's last place choice, Metro East Consultants.

Both issues are expected to be addressed in the meetings with federal officials.

Work In Progress

The following is a status report on L.A. County's Red Line Subway Plan

Completed:

* Downtown to Wilshire/Western,cost of $1.4 billion

Under Construction:

* Downtown to Hollywood, cost of $1.5 billion

Planned and Funded:

* Eastside extension to Loren Street, estimated to cost $980 million.

* Mid-City Extension, estimated to cost $490 million

Planned but not Funded:

* North Hollywood to Warner Center, estimated to cost up to $2.7 billion

* Extension to Westside: no cost estimate

* Eastside to Atlantic Boulevard, no cost estimate.