The MTA is making a huge mistake in increasing fares to a whopping $120 for a monthly pass. Public transportation is enjoying an upswing in popularity. At $120, depending on the gas mileage of your car, there may be little incentive to switch to public transit. At a time when our public transportation system is not complete like those in Chicago and New York, it's financially and morally irresponsible to charge folks 40% or 50% than the costs in those cities particularly for the so many riders who just don't have the money. The MTA needs to revise its decision, pronto.

Let's get real,their is no free ride,the bus riders union got there way with that concent decree,I understand the needs of the poor and elderly,but the bus riders union want's it both ways.They demand new buses and better service,and at the same time they would like it for free,there is an old saying that the bus riders union should remember,YOURE GOING TO HAVE TO PAY THE PIPER SOMETIME.I think the bus rider union needs a good dose of reality.

My mother-in-law takes the bus to her minimum wage job. If the bus company made an increase that was on par percentage-wise with the recent increase in minimum wage, I would be a little frustrated for her, but understanding that that is how the world works. However, to nearly double the cost on the part of our population which can least afford it is sick. To those in their high positions who are about to make decisions on this matter: imagine if I were to DOUBLE one of your more significant expenses right now. How would you handle it (i.e. your 10-year old mortgage of $1,200 per month for a currently valued $700,000 home)? Come on, you've had big breaks; take it a bit easier on the ones on the bottom. This is bad policy. In light of an increase in expenses, increase the fares a bit to address some of these costs, but do it in a much more gradual manner.

The reason the MTA must raise fares is because bus drivers on the job for 3 years average $88,000 per year in pay (reported in the LA Times). This figure is nearly 3-times the average pay of a bus driver working for a private company in Los Angeles County. The mechanics earn more than double the average pay for mechanics in LA County. Their health insurance and pension benefits for both Unions are unbelievably rich. Remember the mechanic’s union strike two years ago – it was about having the mechanics contribute $15 per month towards their health insurance. They shut down public transit in the city and “won.” Now they continue to have 100% of the healthcare costs for them and their family covered by the taxpayer and riders of the MTA.

The reason why the drivers and mechanics are paid so much more than their labor market rate is that the public has given them a virtual monopoly on providing mass transit service in Los Angeles, and also has given them the right to strike – which effectively means they are negotiating against the public. Compounding the problem is that the unions donate heavily to local politicians who they then negotiate “against” for wage increases. When the politician who claims, “we must give in to the union’s demands to get LA moving again,” check to see how much money the union has contributed to his or her campaign funds. In the end, the only way to pay for the increases demanded by the union is to raise taxes or fares. Since the MTA cannot raise taxes, fares will increase.

What needs to happen is for the people to say enough. Privatize the MTA – or declare bus union workers “essential” and limit their ability to strike and hold the city hostage.

The Mta has done a wonderful job handling the transportation needs of Los Angeleinos, however I think the rate hike is a little bit to high. 50cents to a dollar should help them maintain their quality of service and still pay their employees well!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks to RC above for an insightful response. I totally agree. $88K per year for a bus driver? That is obscene insanity!! I often post here about the damage that public employee unions have done to government and politics.

I personally think all government jobs should be "de-unionized" as essential and in the taxpayer-citizens' interest.

Until government, and its many public services, is run like a private business, taxpayers and users will continue to be ripped off and the political process will continue to be corrupt.

How about some cost cutting, MTA? Government's response to problems can NOT continue to simply be to raise taxes, create new taxes, and raise fees!!!

Public Transportation. What does that really mean any more? When politics and unions get involved, and they are always involved in LA, all since of fairness goes out the door. So once again the tax payer gets raped.

Privatize the MTA and let the market determine what is or is not a "fair" price. With two or three bus lines competing for a fare, the price would fall to what people are willing to pay. And the taxpayers would be spared paying for another bloated bureaucracy.

we owes everything to the unions and politicians.Cut expenses at the MTA/waste,otherwise people should get their way around and let the MTA go broke.Lousy service.
Thank you.

After about 15 years of doing so, about a year ago, I stopped buying MTA monthly passes. This was, in large part, due to their introduction of the Transit TV screens on their buses. If I am going to have to spend a lot of time on a bus, I want to do it productively, like quietly reading a book. But I can't do that happily, being bombarded by constant noise in English and Spanish from the annoying Transit TVs. I've just cut my travel down as much as possible and walk whenever feasible. The nominal amount of money, $100,000, that the Transit TV brings in, could be saved by cutting one more unnecessary bureaucratic job and/or their perks, let alone the bloated bus driver's salaries. With the fares possibly ballooning to astronomical rates in the coming months and years, I'm sure that I won't be the only one to stop riding the bus.

Once again, the problem is that they keep comparing us to Chicago and New York. The day passes in those cities are optional and riders still have the option of obtaining a transfer. In Los Angeles they eliminated transfers three years ago. Los Angeles's peer cities are not Chicago and New York. Like it or not, our bus system and geography is closer to the Phoenixes, Las Vegases, and Dallases of the world than it ever was with New York or Chicago.

Proposed MTA Rate Hikes are Discriminatory

The head of the Los Angeles County bus and rail system has proposed substantial increases in the fares that riders must pay. MTA Chief Executive Roger Snoble proposes increasing the base fare from $1.25 to $2.00, the Day Pass from $3 to $8, the monthly pass from $52 to $120, and several other increases.

The proposed monthly pass increase would make MTA just about the most expensive public transit system in the country. The proposed $8 Day Pass would result in no savings for most riders.

48% of bus riders have a household income of less than $15,000.

90% of the students who ride the bus are minorities.

The proposed rate hikes undeniably aer discriminatory against the poor and minorities.

It's bad enough that minority students are disadvantaged by the huge loss of time that riding the bus to and from school causes. The proposed rate hikes will further disadvantage them by placing an unfair financial burden on their families.

The MTA's Executive Board has told Director Snoble that his job performance review would be based on his ability to quickly reduce the deficit under which the MTA is operating. In essence, Mr. Snoble has been told to recommend a rate hike or lose his job. This is an irresponsible tactic by those responsible for running the MTA.

There are better solutions to the MTA's financial problems -- such as increasing the county sales tax or the state gas tax. The Executive Board asked Mr. Snoble to propose a solution while limiting the possible solutions to cutting service or raising rates.

The burden of solving the MTA's financial problems should reside with the city, county, and state governments. Mr. Snoble should retract his rate hike recommendations as having been made as a result of the coercive environment of his job performance review process.

Jeff B. Mamet
Culver City
jbmamet@yahoo.com