Tax would move subway project along
CITYWIDE Chris Ritter is a native New Yorker often stuck in left coast traffic, sitting in a bus watching the clock tick as he waits to get from point A to point B.
“I can get anywhere I need to go on the buses but sometimes it takes a long time,” Ritter, currently a Santa Monica resident, said. “I haven’t driven in 10 years.
But a subway could become much more feasible if voters approve a proposed half-cent sales tax increase in Los Angeles County this November. The measure, if passed, would bring in more than $40 billion over the next 30 years, which transit advocates say could go a long way toward making projects like the Subway to the Sea a reality.
Ritter is among a number of local residents who say they would be willing to support the tax increase, as long as they pay for transportation-related projects.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board of Directors is expected to discuss the half-cent sales tax proposal at its meeting next Thursday, possibly voting to recommend a ballot measure to the county Board of Supervisors next month. The supervisors would have to authorize the measure by Aug. 8 in order to qualify for the Nov. 4 ballot.
A number of transit advocacy groups, including the Subway to the Sea Coalition, have rallied around the half cent sales increase, pointing out that the stream of revenue will help the long-awaited project finally receive federal grant money.
Denny Zane, the executive director of the coalition, said that given the state of capital financing at the MTA, transit advocates had reached a conclusion that it was going to take an infusion of capital to make the subway happen, which would most likely take the shape of a voter-approved initiative.
“If it passes, it would give life to the subway where otherwise it wouldn’t exist,”Zane, a Santa Monica resident, said.
The subway, which would extend all the way to Santa Monica, is estimated to cost around $6 billion. Major capital projects have historically been at least 50 percent federally funded, which Zane believes is not feasible for the subway project. But a public-private partnership could be a possibility for the subway, he said.
Transit advocates have differing opinions on how the sales tax will affect the other highly anticipated project in the city, the Exposition Light Rail, which will connect Westside residents to Downtown Los Angeles.
The first phase of the project is currently being constructed while the second stage, which will take Expo from Culver City to Downtown Santa Monica, is still in the environmental stages.
Darrell Clarke, the co-chair of Friends 4 Expo Transit, said he doesn’t believe the sales tax will have much of an effect on Expo since it’s one of the few projects in the funded portion of the MTA Long Range Transportation Plan.
But proponents of the Gold Line are seeking an extension in the San Gabriel Valley, asking MTA to move the project up the priority list, a move that Expo advocates like Clarke are opposing.
“I’m personally a supporter of the Foothill project, but not for it to displace Expo’s priority,” Clarke said.
While the added revenue is expected to help projects like Subway to the Sea, transit supporters say that it will only be a piece of the solution.
“Subways are much more efficient but I guess they’re harder to do out here.”
“Over the next couple of decades, in order to solve our mobility issues and take into account the continued growth of the region, we would have to build something like $60 billion worth of projects,” Kymberleigh Richards, spokeswoman for the Southern California Transit Advocates, said. “There is no way the sales tax is going to generate $60 billion in 20 years.
Richards said the sales tax will help the subway project have a “fighting chance” to secure federal dollars.
“The feds like to give money to projects that have as much local revenue tied up as possible,”she said.“If we can get a significant percentage of the subway funded with sales tax revenue, it increases our chances when we fight for federal funds for the project.”
The MTA Executive Management Committee met on Thursday and received a briefing on a poll that was conducted to gauge the public’s response to a half sales tax increase, a survey that found there could be enough support for the measure to receive the necessary two-thirds vote to pass, according to Pam O’Connor, the MTA board chairwoman.
“In light of gas prices and congestion, people are clamoring for more transit like light rail,” said O’Connor, a member of the Santa Monica City Council.
In addition to the subway and Expo, the sales tax will also pay for highway and roads projects, funneling funds to individual cities, O’Connor said.
Among the groups that could oppose the measure is the Bus Riders Union, which has yet to take a position.
Manuel Criollo, spokesman for the BRU, said the organization might oppose the measure if it’s similar to Propositions A and C, two other sales tax measure previously passed by voters.
“We’re really leaning towards no sales tax if it’s (similar) to Proposition A and C where bus riders were taxed to be given secondhand service,” Criollo said. “Based on the history of service MTA has given to bus riders, it makes us have reservations on additional sales tax.”
Criollo said the union would take a position once the specifics of the proposal are released.
Some locals expressed support for the project.
Margaret Chock, a Santa Monica resident for 38 years, said she believes the sales tax will benefit the people who need it most. “(Taking bus) is really great on the parking end, but the buses only run every 15 minutes and they pass before I get there,” Chock said.“I would ride more often if there were more buses.”
Olivia Feldman, a Mar Vista resident, said while she doesn’t ride public transportation, she would support a sales tax increase.
“The traffic is usually very congested … we always have the rush-hour traffic,” Feldman said.“It’s not always a great experience but that’s kind of what you have to deal with living in the Los Angeles area.”
Caressa Avalos, an Inglewood resident who rides the bus three times a week, said she wouldn’t be as inclined to support the measure.
“I guess in theory it’s good but I would say no,” Avalos said while in Santa Monica on Thursday. “They always say they’re going to use the money but they never do.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 20, 2008. Read the original PDF.