Bus riders protest MTA hikes
Ariel Edwards Levy | 5-26-2010 | Comments |
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Click here to hear from some of the protesters:To the Metropolitan Transit Authority, the bus fare hikes proposed to start this summer are a sheer matter of fiscal necessity.
But members of the Bus Riders Union see the increased fares as a civil rights issue, saying they’re part of an attempt to balance the city’s budget on the back of the poor.
Camped in a small park near Union Station where many homeless people sleep, activists set up their own tents, emblazoned with pictures of Rosa Parks and other civil rights leaders. Five of the protesters began fasting on Thursday, May 20, and by Monday, another five had joined in, a spokesman said.
Los Angeles bus riders are overwhelmingly people of color – 88 percent – and “profoundly poor,” making on average $12,000 a year, the group said, citing Metropolitan Transit Authority numbers. By their figures, a family of four will have to spend more than a fifth of their income on transportation after the fare hikes.
“It could lead to people having to choose between buying a bus pass and doing without food,” said Reggie Streeter, one of the fasters. “This is a reality. This is not a game - this is people’s lives they’re playing with, and they’re not taking time out to look at the issues.”
Several religious and community leaders visited the tent city Monday to show support, including United Farm Workers co-founder Dolores Huerta and a number of local clergy members.
Father Bill Delaney, of South L.A.’s St. Agnes Church, said members of the MTA needed to consider the impact of their decision.
“These people endured a fare hike three years ago,” he said. “In the meantime, the rents have gone up, the cost of food has gone up, the cost of clothing has gone up. So it’s very important that our officials on the MTA board…realize their responsibility to the people on the bottom end of the society.”
Judy Redmond, a faster, agreed.
“How can they sleep at night knowing they’re about to challenge the livelihood and cause mental anguish to those who are already challenged?” she asked. “How can they purposefully harm those in need during a universal time of need? Raising fares at this time is morally irresponsible. Cutting bus service is morally reprehensible.”
Many signs at the protest called the fare hikes ‘racist.’ Rabbi Jonathan Klein, the executive director of LA County Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice, said the intent may not have been, but the effects will be.
“While I may not use the word ‘racist’ as easily as some might, I will say that the net effect is that people of color are suffering disproportionately, way disproportionately. And that is immoral, unjust and uncalled for,” he said.
MTA spokesman, Marc Littman, told City News Service that the hikes would raise $24 million needed to close its projected $250-million deficit, and that fares would still be lower in L.A. than in most other cities.
But BRU organizer Esperanza Martinez dismissed that claim. Pointing to the money spent on research for the proposed ‘Subway to the Sea,’ she said it was a matter of priorities.
“Is the MTA board so mesmerized by shiny trains that they’re willing to throw our people to the streets and make them starve?” she asked.
The protesters said they planned to continue their fast until Thursday, when they will attend an MTA board meeting.
In the meantime, they’re trying to raise awareness of the issue, said Maywood mayor Ana Rosa Rizo, who also joined the fast.
“It’s a call to consciousness,” she said. “Everyone should think about whether this is something that is just, what the MTA is trying to do. And I believe it is unjust.”