Fair Way to Hike the Bus Fare

The directors of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority are supposed to approve their operating budget for the next fiscal year when they meet today. But don’t expect that to happen, because a $126-million operating deficit looms for the super- agency that must run the nation’s biggest municipal bus fleet while also building the country’s biggest public works project--the ambitious regional system of subways and trolleys designed to give Los Angeles a 21st-Century mass transit system.

Something has got to give if the MTA--created two years ago in a merger of the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission and the Southern California Rapid Transit District--is going to keep everything on its busy transit agenda rolling. The MTA’s capable chief executive officer, Franklin E. White, has asked the board to combine a modest fare increase with cutbacks in service, while also slowing some of the MTA’s construction projects.

White’s case for a fare increase is persuasive. The proposed hike would be the first for the MTA in six years. It is also modest--ranging from 10 to 25 cents per ride in most cases. It should definitely be approved--but not right away. White’s budget balancing act will work only if the necessary steps are taken in the right order. He is making a mistake putting a fare hike at the top of the agenda when it is really the last thing the board should consider. MTA directors must postpone that painful step until they deal with an even bigger challenge: a labor contract that is far too costly and prevents the MTA from operating as efficiently as it can.

That contract expires this week, and changing it could be every bit as difficult as getting a fare increase in the face of some angry public opposition. The unions that represent MTA drivers and mechanics have called bus strikes before and may do it again. That’s one reason MTA employees are among the best-paid transit workers in the nation. But they must understand that economic conditions have changed since their last contract was signed, in 1991. A long California recession has lowered the MTA’s sales tax and fare-box revenues. And the construction money flowing into the MTA was earmarked by Congress, the Legislature and the voters for specific new rail projects; it would be irresponsible to use those funds for operating expenses, although it would be legal in some instances.

In fairness to White, this difficult budget matter is really beyond his control. He has laid out a reasonable plan, one that is doable with modifications. It is up to the MTA board, 13 elected officials including Mayor Richard Riordan and the five county supervisors, to make it work by showing some creativity and no small amount of political courage. That means raising fares--but only after persuading MTA employees to share the pain along with their riders.