"The study is a faux study. They're working toward a preordained solution," said Diana Lipari, chairwoman of Citizens Organized for Smart Transit.
The group filed suit against the MTA in 2002, alleging that the busway was unsafe and that the agency failed to consider cost-effective alternatives.
Lipari contends that the busway, which would follow a defunct rail corridor, would cost $16.8 million per mile to build while a Metro Rapid line would cost $195,000 per mile.
A trial court judge threw out the lawsuit, but an appeals court reversed that decision earlier this week. The panel held that the MTA addressed the safety concerns but did not adequately consider rapid buses as an alternative in its environmental impact report.
The MTA board also approved a highway study in northern Los Angeles County.
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(Begin Text of Infobox)
Timeline
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Beginning in the early 1990s, some Los Angeles County bus riders accused the Metropolitan Transportation Authority of favoring rail over bus service. They sued on the eve of a planned fare increase.
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Aug. 31, 1994: The NAACP files a federal civil rights suit, charging the MTA with "inflicting severe and irreversible harm" by raising fares and funneling money to rail projects at bus riders' expense.
Sept. 1, 1994: Hours after bus fares increase by 25 cents, to $1.35, U.S. District Judge Terry Hatter rolls back the first fare hike in six years, an increase the MTA adopted after a series of raucous public hearings.
Feb. 1, 1995: The MTA is allowed to increase fares to $1.35.
Oct. 28, 1996: Hatter approves a consent decree requiring fares to stay at $1.35 for two years, cheaper weekly and monthly passes and 152 more buses on the streets over two years.
March 26, 1997: The Bus Riders Union says the MTA failed to abide by the consent decree, and Mayor Richard Riordan admits, "We are light-years away from having a plan" to expand the bus fleet.
March 8, 1999: Donald Bliss, the special master overseeing court-
mandated improvements, orders the MTA to buy 532 new buses.
May 14, 1999: Bliss trims his order to 481 new buses.
Sept. 23, 1999: Hatter gives the MTA 30 days to buy 248 buses.
Sept. 29, 1999: The MTA board agrees to buy 297 clean-fueled buses, but later appeals.
Aug. 31, 2001: In a strongly worded 2-1 decision, a federal appeals court panel rejects the MTA's appeal of Hatter's order.
Jan. 12, 2004: Bliss orders the MTA to buy 145 buses by the end of 2005.
Feb. 2, 2004: The MTA board appeals the order, saying the agency doesn't have the money to buy and run 145 new buses over 10 years.
June 28, 2004: Hatter upholds Bliss' order.
July 22, 2004: The MTA decides not to appeal and agrees to buy the 75 new buses it needs to put 145 more buses on the streets.
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Los Angeles Times
