Date: Sun Sep 26 15:32:09 1999 From: cartero@NGUWORLD.COM (Mike Dugger) Subject: What separation of powers To: LIBERTARIANS@LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Reply-To: LIBERTARIANS@LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Libertarian Students at the University of Arizona)
I don't know if the following is the result of another federal judge simply taking it upon himself to legislate LA transit issues, or if it is simply the natural result of accepting federal funds for your city's transit projects. Perhaps theEPA is part or all of the problem, but you'll never know from the info provided in the article.
JUDGE ORDERS LA TRANSIT TO ACQUIRE MORE BUSES New York Times (from AZ Republic 9-26-99)
LOS ANGELES -- A federal district judge has taken a further step in directing the operations of one of the nation's largest mass transit operators with a bluntly worded decision ordering the county to acquire 248 more buses to ease overcrowding. Judge Terry Hatter, Jr. has given the Los Angeles Couty Metropolitan Transit Authority just 30 days to buy or lease the buses at least on a temporary basis, a drastic order given that new buses generally take more than a year to order, and even locating used or refurbished buses can take months and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars each. The judge said the order was called for because the transit authority failed to live up to its promises to improve bus service under a federal consent decree signed three years ago. That order, administered by a cour- appointed special master, was intended to improve the system' poor bus service to Black, Hispanic and low- income residents. The transit authority said it would hold a special board meeting Wednesday to determine if it would appeal the decision. The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Inc., which had sued the MTA, expressed satisfaction with the decision. The special master previously had ordered the transit authority to immediately acquire more than 500 buses to reduce the numbers of people who have to stand at peak hours or are left fuming on street corners as jammed buses pass them by. Under a highly unusual federal consent decree in 1996, the special master had been given broad powers to effectively force the transit authority to scale back its once huge rail construction program and to focus instead on improving its long-neglected bus system. The decision is part of one of the most dramatic shifts in transportation strategy a major city has undergone in recent decades. Just five years ago, the MTA had planned to spend $183 billion over 30 years to build a large network of subways and light- rail lines throughout Los Angeles County, the nation's most populous with more than 9 million residents. The plan was envisioned as a way of getting commuters out of their cars and onto public transit, cutting congestion on the city's often choked freeways.
Mike Dugger When in doubt, vote 'em out Armed and SAFE! Legalize Freedom - ELECT Libertarians