Westside Officials Mount Public Campaign for Transit Funds

By Olin Ericksen
Staff Writer

January 27 -- Zero is the number of dollars currently earmarked for mass transit systems within California cities -- including the proposed Light Rail line to Santa Monica -- under Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed $222 billion infrastructure bond.

That fact -- and the reality that Westside traffic is still crawling along at speeds rivaling bicycles -- prompted Los Angeles City Council member Bill Rosendahl and Santa Monica officials Tuesday to urge area residents to complain to the Governor and State officials about the lack of transit funding.

"One of the most pressing challenges facing our neighborhoods, our city and our region is the crushing traffic gridlock we deal with every day,” Rosendahl said. “We have a rare opportunity to make major progress on that issue - if you act now."

"I am asking you to join me in writing Governor Schwarzenegger and our state lawmakers,” Rosendahl wrote in a letter to constituents. “Please urge them to correct this error and dramatically increase the amount of money set aside in the bond proposal."

Under the current proposal, more than $80 billion will help shore up state highways and other roads, while $5 billion will be set aside for transit and rail services, such as Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner.

Yet of that $5 billion, no money would be reserved for mass transit within cities including the proposed Exposition Line into Santa Monica, the Red line subway down Wilshire, the Green Line to LAX and a north-south mass transit project along Lincoln Boulevard.

That would leave Mass Transit Authority (MTA) officials turning to the federal and county governments for help, which could delay the proposed projects by several years, according to Rosendahl and others.

“Just like other parts of California need more roads, Los Angeles needs a better mass transit system," said Santa Monica Council member Pam O'Connor, who is the MTA Board’s vice chair. "There is no more room for roads in Los Angeles, we need something else."

O'Connor said she and other MTA officials are pushing to "close the gap" in state funding.

"We're working both as an organization and as individuals on this," she said. "All of us and our cities can and will be working to influence this… to get Los Angeles, the largest county in the state in terms of population, the funding we need."