Many bus riders in the LA area are frustrated with the MTA (update, 2/9/07: MTA now goes by Metro; thanks to Zach for pointing this out) — our major bus system. I think a lot of my own frustration has to do with not knowing how exactly things work. Thus, I have no idea how or where I can direct my frustrations and recommendations for changes for improvement, or who I can hold responsible.
So — What IS the MTA? The Structure of a City Government book‘s really helped me figure this out –
The MTA‘s the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. This means that the city and the county of LA are jointly responsible for the MTA.
* The mayor — Villaraigosa at the moment — serves ex officio.
* 1 LA city council member is selected by the LA mayor. This member is currently Bernard Parks. [Update, 2/22/07: MetroRiderLA wants the mayor to replace Bernard.]
* 2 public members are selected by the LA mayor. The members are currently David W. Fleming, a lawyer at Latham & Watkins, and Richard Katz, past member of the California State Assembly.
* 5 members are from the LA county board of supervisors (updated 2/9/07, thanks to Kymberleigh). Currently, these members are Gloria Molina (First Supervisorial District), Yvonne B. Burke (Second Supervisorial District), Zev Yaroslavsky (Third Supervisorial District), Don Knabe, (Fourth Supervisorial District), and Michael D. Antonovich (Fifth Supervisorial District).
* 4 mayors or city council members from cities other than LA are chosen by the LA County City Selection Committee. At the moment, this includes Bonnie Lowenthal, City Council Member of Long Beach; John Fasana, City Council Member of Duarte; Ara Najarian, Council Member, City of Glendale; and Pam O’Connor, City Council Member, Santa Monica.
* 1 non-voting member is appointed by the California governor — Schwarzenegger at the moment. This member is currently Doug Failing.
I’m not quite sure exactly how I can use this info, because I still need to determine what sort of power the board has in determining what the MTA actually does. After all, the MTA also has an executive staff –
But this at least helps me visualize who’s involved in the decisionmaking at the MTA a little bit better — and also makes me wonder how much each of these members are actually using MTA’s services –
Update, 2/15/07: Wad argues that the Metro is really more of a state agency than a county or city agency,; Matt and Kymberleigh basically argue that what we really need to look at are the revenue sources for the Metro. All 3 seem to agree that a solid knowledge of the financial resources and (lack of) financial authority the Metro has are more important in gauging the role of the Metro than the composition of its board of directors.
A while back the MTA divided itself into various regions that have local officials who are, apparently, in charge of meeting with the folks who use that service, and interfacing the local users — ostensibly to have more responsive, localized service.
We have seen some localisation and improved interface with our local transit, but the MTA still seems to be run by people who do not use or depend on the service they run.
(I think all MTA officials should be required to ride transit daily, and certainly to attend to any MTA business. You’d see some changes then, by golly!)
Roger
(Former Chair) Transportation Commission,
City of Pasadena
Comment by Roger, Gone Green — February 8, 2007 @ 7:09 pm
I (politely) take personal offense at that, Roger.
I have served on the governance council of the San Fernando Valley service sector since it was formed in 2003, and I am presently serving as its Chair.
I also do not own a car, have used public transportation exclusively since 1991, and have no intention of giving up on public transit.
And I am a dyed-in-the-wool public transportation advocate, also serving on the executive board of Southern California Transit Advocates.
Please (!) don’t lump me in with those who do not have a commitment to this, but also please don’t blame me if I have to vote to make some service cuts because of the budget crisis Metro finds itself in after ten years of being forced to add service by a federal judge while not being allowed to raise fares to cover the cost of it. (I do promise to support only reductions of the lowest ridership service, which costs the most to operate while serving the least number of people.)
(Oh, and Siel: The book is wrong on one point. Mayor Villaraigosa does not serve ex officio on the Metro Board, he is a full voting member.)
Comment by Kymberleigh Richards — February 8, 2007 @ 9:53 pm
Oh, I forgot to point out another error in the book. The County Supes don’t appoint themselves, they are mandated by law to serve on the Metro Board, just like the Mayor of Los Angeles.
You can read the California Public Utilities Code on the subject (section 130051) at:
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=puc&group=130001-131000&file=130050-130059
Comment by Kymberleigh Richards — February 8, 2007 @ 10:03 pm
That’s what ex officio means: by virtue of office or official position.
Comment by Michael — February 8, 2007 @ 10:15 pm
Here’s the def. of ex officio, courtesy of Wikipedia:
ex officio: “from the office.” By virtue of office or position; “by right of office”. Often used when someone holds one position by virtue of holding another. A common misconception is that ex officio members of a committee/congress may not vote, but this is not guaranteed by that title.
Kymberleigh — I thought Roger’s comment referred NOT to the local officials — which he spoke pretty well of — but to the 14 members of the board that I listed. It’s not that clear, but that was sort of what I took from his comment….
In any case, your detail about the County Supes makes more sense — After I verify the deets, I’ll update the post –
Comment by Siel — February 9, 2007 @ 1:13 am
Just an FYI, it is no longer called MTA:
“Metro is the proper name in referring to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority of Los Angeles County. For the past three years Metro has been changing all its signage and other materials to reflect the name change.”
Comment by Zach Behrens — February 9, 2007 @ 6:30 pm
Good point :) I’d actually read that a while back, then totally forgot about it. It may take me a few more months to start referring to the MTA as the Metro on a regular basis –
Comment by Siel — February 9, 2007 @ 10:56 pm
Metro’s not easy to explain. But I will.
Yet the eplanation does not make things easier.
First of all, Metro is a state agency. Kind of. It was state legislation that created Metro, which was constituted in its present form in 1993. Before then, there was a policy-making board known as the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission. The actual operator of service was the Southern California Rapid Transit District, which at one time did serve most of Southern California, not just L.A. County.
Metro, as constituted, performs many functions under the same agency:
1. It operates the RTD-legacy bus and rail operations.
2. It makes transportation policy and planning, the former province of the LACTC.
3. It is also responsible for carrying out highway projects for Caltrans. Yes, Metro does freeways, too.
4. It serves as the funding bursar for county, state and federal transportation money.
5. It also carries out bicycle and other alternative transportation projects.
These functions are delinated by state legislature, not Metro. So Metro cannot raid one of its functions, such as alternative transportation, to shore up a deficit in another, such as bus and rail operations.
Also, Metro cannot do anything to transit service it does not operate. It cannot tell munis what to do. On the contrary, munis can push Metro around, such as kick any duplicate service that’s covered by a smaller operator.
The MTA’s the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. This means that the city and the county of LA are jointly responsible for the MTA.
The city and county are represented, but are not responsible for Metro. Los Angeles’ official transit agency is the Los Angeles Department of Transportstion, better known as DASH or Commuter Express. Los Angeles County receives local return funds for bus services in unincorporated areas, and the county maintains its own bus services separate from Metro. Visit lagobus.info to see the services available.
For the most part, the legislature defines Metro’s purpose. The various board members oversee the system but have no real stake in the viability of Metro.
Comment by Wad — February 10, 2007 @ 6:53 pm
I stand corrected, but would then clarify that all five of the Supes also serve ex officio. (I think I may have been half asleep when I wrote my original response.)
It is also correct, BTW, that Doug Failing (who is the District Director for CalTrans) is a non-voting gubernatorial appointee.
Siel: I read Roger’s response differently than you do. In context, I interpret him as saying that even with the sector governance councils being in existence, the decisions delegated to the sector councils are still being made by appointees who do not necessarily use the service they govern. (I’d rather like to have Roger pop in and clarify his intent, to be honest.)
Comment by Kymberleigh Richards — February 11, 2007 @ 2:54 pm
More than understanding just the composition of the Board and LACMTA’s legislative mandates, understanding what its revenue sources are and what they can be used for is key “getting” what the agency does. All of the above posts are useful, there is no short answer to the original question when dealing with the legacy of merged government agencies. The SCRTD District Law survives in the Public Utilities Code untouched and in force. It was modifed once since the merger to allow charter services during the Democratic Convention. The LACTC Commission Law was modified in 1993 to affect the merger of the two former agencies. And to make matters more complicated, the SCRTD’s inception was legally implemented as a merger with the former Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority (1951-1964). For more on where the funding comes from and what it can be used for, see http://www.metro.net/about_us/finance/propositions.htm for a basic answer, another good place to get the funding basics is from the introductory pages to the Annual Budget document. The complete answer is contained in the “Funding Source Guide”: http://www.metro.net/projects_programs/funding.htm
Comment by Matt — February 12, 2007 @ 9:47 pm
And when you read that PDF file, do look carefully at the chart on page 8 (PDF page 10), which shows how painfully little of the funding sources are legally available for Metro to use for operating bus service, and how many of those sources have to be shared with the municipal operators or other agencies.
Anyone who believed the BRU’s rhetoric about “if MTA would stop all its construction they could spend that money on bus service” should be required to read that document.
Comment by Kymberleigh Richards — February 14, 2007 @ 11:36 pm
Thanks Wad, Matt, and Kymberleigh (did you already all know each other before commenting here? I’m sorta wondering how big the transit-obsessed community is — cuz I’m now a member, more or less). I’ve updated the post with an update; do let me know if you feel I didn’t clearly summarize your contributions –
Comment by Siel — February 16, 2007 @ 12:56 am
I have known Wad for close to a decade, and Matt for almost as long. I think of them both as good friends who know of what they speak. :)
Comment by Kymberleigh Richards — February 16, 2007 @ 7:26 pm
I work at Metro as the librarian. I’ve worked for Metro and it predecessors in analytical capacities in Finance, Bus Operations, Legal Counsel, Administration, and the CEO’s Office. I went UCLA’s School of Information Studies to get my Master’s of Information and Library Science thinking it would be my ticket out of the big bad LACMTA, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to stay on and run its library. It is the largest among all transit operator libraries and among the top 10 transportation library collections in the U.S. right behind U.C. Berkeley, Northwestern University, and the U.S. Dept. of Transportation. It’s one of L.A.’s cultural gems, having existed in one form or another since 1890. I enjoy working with employees and students of urban planning with research on the past, present and future of L.A. transportation issues, but I have the best days when people who truly care, like Kymberleigh and Wad, use the library resources and voluntarily work to make things better from the ground up.
Comment by Matt — February 27, 2007 @ 10:49 pm