More fare hike opposition

Some African-American activists have joined those in calling for the MTA board to reject proposed fare hikes:

"We reject MTA CEO Roger Snoble’s proposal to force working class bus riders of color to bear the burden of the MTA’s self-imposed budget crisis," said a statement issued on behalf of a number of black community leaders. "If approved, this fare increase would cause serious civil and human rights violations that South L.A. residents should not have to endure. We are united in the effort to defeat this ill-conceived and racially discriminatory fare policy. We call on our elected representatives to vote for the interest of the most vulnerable communities of South Los Angeles. The statement was issued on behalf of Ericka Smith of Strategic Concepts Organizing and Policy Education (SCOPE/AGENDA); Marqueece Harris-Dawson of the Community Coalition; Rev William M. Campbell of Mount Gilead Baptist Church; and Minister Tony Muhammad of the Nation of Islam. (CNS)

Comments

[yours truly, johnny dollar]

Let's take a test:
Question 1: Why do I ride the busey?
Question 2: Why do I live where I do?
Question 3: Why do I ride the busey to where I ride the busey?
Question 4: What am I doing here?
Question 5: Why am I complaining? I chose to do this.

[yours truly, johnny dollar]

Let's solve this arguing. Pull all the buses off the streets. This way no one needs to be screaming over fares. The only good bus is a parked bus.

[jake]

a policy can be racist in effect even if it's not racist in intent. because our society is stratified by race, a policy that hurts the poorest also disproportionately hurts racial minorities.

transit riders reduce congestion and don't pollute. this should be encouraged. fares should be *lowered*, not raised.

drivers cause global warming and damage public health (accidents, pollution). they hurt the economy thru traffic congestion. this should be discouraged. taxes on cars and gas should be raised and the money used to close the MTA budget deficit.

[calwatch]

Race is a convenient proxy and is used because race is a legally protected class under Title VI and CEQA environmental justice laws, which the BRU has happily used as a club. When the post mortem is written about this, the bizarre $120 monthly pass idea has probably done more for the BRU's membership than anything Metro or Eric Mann has done this century. Terry Matsumoto (MTA's chief financial officer) should be fired for even pushing this idiotic idea forward.

[Ana Maria]

As a Latina, I'd like to comment. The proposed hike affects all MTA commuters, and while the majority are people of color, and likely people of limited means who can ill afford it, race is not a factor. The increased fares are to accomodate the rising costs of providing the service. When Starbucks raises prices (because of increased costs of milk, coffee beans, or plastic cups), no one views this as a plot to take down the white man, although the majority of people carrying a latte out the door at any given Starbucks are white.

[Oz]

It is an issue of race and class, when those riders MOST affected are poor people of color. Yes, all of the riders are affected by rate hikes, the HIGHEST impact will be paid by poor people of color.

The proposed rate hike are unreasonable, riders are attracted to mass transit to avoid traffic and because it’s less expensive than operating their own car. These rate hikes would nullify that.

[Mik]

I'm glad to hear that they are imposing a racist fare hike. As a white bus rider, it will be great that I will pay a smaller fare then the brown man.

Do I have to register as a white man to get the discount? Or is being pasty proof enough of my whitey status?

[J]

Our population increase comes from immigrants and their children. So our problems with traffic come from immigration. Imagine if the illegal immigrats went home! The traffic would be so much better immediately, not to mention the improvement in our environmental footprint.

[Tom A.]

I think the race card is getting frayed edges from all this repeated use...

[Michael L]

It's not always about racism!!! Please MTA don't listen to these selfish people! They only scream racism because they can't formulate any type of logical argument.

[Patrick McKinnion]

I'm not a "person of colour", (well, other than off-beige), and this fare hike effects me as well.

So get off the racism card. If you use the metro, share the load.

[ma]

This affect everyone not just the people of color, and all of MTA commuters not just the people from South Los Angeles. So stop making this a race issue, its an issue that effects all MTA riders.

[Anthony Fernandez]

It's always about racism isn't it? Maybe Metro just needs more money and a fare hike is the easiest way for them to get that money. But no, the leaders of these stupid groups will never be able to see that.