Transit Bill for Rail Funds

Pasadena’s Transportation Commission has grave concerns with Senate Bill 2111 now before Gov. Deukmejian for approval or veto. This bill arbitrarily allocates 15% of Los Angeles County’s rail transit funds to the San Fernando Valley for the eventual construction of light or heavy rail.

This bill removes from the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission the authority to decide how best to allocate limited rail transit resources in our region. It therefore removes from that same agency the ability to fund those lines for which there is strong community support and strong traffic demands.

We are concerned that this is a special interest bill which is likely to result in more specialized bills being generated to parcel out limited transit resources in detriment of the local decision-making process.

We in Pasadena are currently engaged in a community-based process to locate our portion of the Long Beach-Pasadena light rail line. In a series of public meetings, we have found nothing but strong support for light rail coming to Pasadena. This is matched by unparalleled support for the line by the communities along this route between Los Angeles and Pasadena.

The LACTC has been very open about its process of funding the next segment of the regional rail system. We all know that next spring, LACTC will reach a decision on which route to fund--and we have all gone forward on that basis with community planning to fit rail transit into our cities. This bill would change all the rules we have been playing by.

In recent letters, city and county officials have urged the governor to veto this bill. This may not be enough. The governor needs to hear from all of us who will be directly affected by the diversion of funds from our light rail line. We urge everyone to make your views known.

NANCY LEON

Chairman, Pasadena

Transportation Commission