Bus Riders Protest Fare Hikes Using Groceries
Metro says it's in dire need of the revenue that will be generated by fare hikes
Tuesday, May 25, 2010 | Updated 4:30 PM PDT
Metro.net
About a dozen bus riders handed out bags of groceries to the mayor and other officials Tuesday to represent the food they say will be taken from the tables of poor families citywide when Metro fare hikes take effect July 1.
"We're here to deliver ... grocery bags of actual food that we believe are what this increase represents for a lot of our people -- basic foodstuffs like milk, like bread, like Corn Flakes," said Manuel Criollo, the Bus Riders Union's lead organizer.
He called the Metropolitan Transportation Authority fare hikes "immoral and unethical and ultimately a violation of the civil rights of our people, (who are) primarily people of color who are going to be basically asked to pay more of what they don't have."
Metro spokesman Marc Littman said the fare hikes will not immediately affect the transit agency's "most vulnerable" passengers.
"It's really important to understand that for 52 percent of our customers, their fares will not change until the year 2013," he said. "We're talking about seniors, students, (the) disabled and Medicare recipients."
Littman said Metro is in dire need of the revenue that will be generated by the fare hikes.
At one point, he said, the transit agency had a projected deficit of $250 million.
Metro addressed part of that shortfall by cutting back on expenses and eliminating more than 500 positions -- including laying off 80 people, Littman said.
To close the rest of the gap, it is counting on the $24 million that will be generated by the fare hikes, Littman said.
The Metro board approved a two-step fare hike back in 2007. The first hike was implemented as scheduled, but the second hike was delayed for a year -- to this July 1.
