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On June 18, 2007 Public Advocates filed a brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in Labor/Community Strategy Center v. Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority on behalf of the Strategy Center and the LA Bus Riders Union, which represents hundreds of thousands of low-income and minority Los Angeles bus riders. With our co-counsel at the firm of Howrey LLP, we appealed we appealed a lower court decision not to extend a previously issued Consent Decree and hold LA MTA in contempt for failing to make required improvements to bus service. On May 5, 2009 a divided panel of the 9th Circuit ruled against extending federal jurisdiction over the consent decree that required the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority to expand bus service. The decision drew a powerful dissent from Judge Marsha Berzon. Darensburg v. Metropolitan Transportation Commission
Background The litigation seeks equity in the funding and services available for low-income transit-dependent riders of AC Transit. Plaintiffs include three individual AC Transit bus riders: Sylvia Darensburg of East Oakland, Vivian Hain of East Oakland, and Virginia Martinez of Richmond. Additional plaintiffs are Communities for a Better Environment (CBE) and the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 192. Representing plaintiffs with Public Advocates are Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein; CBE; and Altshuler Berzon Nussbaum & Demain. Copies of Plaintiffs' court documents can be obtained through the link below. For additional information, please contact Richard Marcantonio at rmarcantonio@publicadvocates.org, or Guillermo Mayer at gmayer@publicadvocates.org. Court documents Article: "From the Back of the Bus to the End of the Line: The Discriminatory Funding of Public Transit in California" (American Bar Association Journal, Human Righs, Summer 2007, Volume 34, No. 3) Report: MTC, Where are Our Buses? (Dec. 2006) Article: "Bay Area Transit: Separate and Unequal" (Race, Poverty & the Environment, Dec. 2005) Supporting Documents Attorney General Comments on MTC's Notice of Preparation for Draft Environmental Impact Report (October 2008) Letter by Bay Area Elected Officials Urging Equitable Funding from MTC (March 2007) Resolution by Richmond City Council in Support of Equitable Funding for AC Transit Riders (November 2005) Resolution by Oakland City Council in Support of Equitable Funding for AC Transit Riders (November 2005) Letter by Bay Area Elected Officials Urging Equitable Funding from MTC (September 2005) Resolution by Berkeley City Council in Support of Equity for AC Transit Bus Riders (July 2005) Urban Habitat and the Transportation Justice Working Group asked MTC to conduct an analysis of the equity of its funding decisions, and critiqued MTC's inadequate analysis. Read the proposal and the critique. Transportation Justice Campaigns Urban Habitat, California ACORN and the Genesis grassroots/faith-based coalition are working to build a groundswell of support for fair transit funding and build an East Bay Bus Riders Union. They are also urging a Free Youth Bus Pass program. We are supporting them in this mission, as well as providing data to MTC’s Minority Citizens’ Advisory Committee. Transit Riders for Public Transportation On April 8, 2009 Public Advocates joined civil rights and environmental justice groups across the country in launching a national campaign targeting the Congressional reauthorization of the $500 billion Federal Surface Transportation Act (FSTA). The Transit Riders for Public Transportation (TRPT) campaign, coordinated by the Labor/Community Strategy Center in Los Angeles, calls on Congress to dramatically curb greenhouse gas emissions and meet the vital transit needs of low-income communities of color by dedicating 80% of federal funding to public transit and 20% to highway maintenance – a flip of the existing funding formula. TRPT Campaign Website TRPT Brochure Transit & Job Creation Genesis On February 25, 2009 Genesis argued that federal stimulus money should be used to preserve current transit service Advocating at state and federal level Court Strikes Down Raid of $1 Billion in Transit Funding On June 30th, the California Court of Appeal, Third District, held that $1 billion in "spillover" gas tax revenues dedicated to public transportation by Proposition 116 may not be diverted by the California Legislature to the General Fund. (opinion) This ruling is a significant victory for all Californians, and especially for low-income communities where transit services have been scaled back as a result, in part, of the misappropriation of funds that has now been found illegal. Public Advocates represented the amici curiae in this case, Shaw v. Chiang, arguing on the side of the plaintiffs that the Legislature’s transfer of the "spillover" gas tax revenues was both illegal and bad public policy. (amicus brief). The amici are Urban Habitat, TransForm, the Los Angeles Bus Riders Union, the California Public Interest Research Group, the Planning and Conservation League, California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc., and Legal Services of Northern California. Operating public transit service is a triple-win: it promotes social equity and access to economic opportunity for low-income and transit-dependent communities, while at the same time fueling economic growth and reducing carbon emissions. The Legislature’s illegal diversion of “spillover” gas tax revenues contributed to a growing crisis facing transit operations that has resulted in unprecedented service cuts and fare hikes throughout California and nationally. In the San Francisco Bay Area alone, the operating deficits for BART, AC Transit, Muni and the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority exceed $350 million. Read a short piece we prepared for legislators on the need for transit operating funds. If you would like more information on this important victory for public transportation and low-income communities in California, please contact Richard Marcantonio or Guillermo Mayer at (415) 431-7430. Using Stimulus Funds to Mitigate Cuts to Local Transit Service (February 20, 2009) Transportation & Infrastructure Committee statement (January 21, 2009) White Paper: Preserving Transit Operating Funds in the State Budget (December 22, 2008) Youth Bus Pass MTC Staff Report on Youth Bus Pass (July 2002)
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| Public Advocates Inc. is a nonprofit law firm and advocacy organization that challenges the systemic causes of poverty and racial discrimination by strengthening community voices in public policy and achieving tangible legal victories advancing education, housing and transit equity. |  |
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