RTD Suggests Equal Shares in Funding of Valley Metro Rail

A battle over an RTD funding proposal unveiled Thursday will likely determine whether construction on the San Fernando Valley end of Metro Rail will begin as scheduled this September.

Extensive delay could result from the resistance of city, county and state officials to the proposal by John Dyer, general manager of the Southern California Rapid Transit District. Dyer’s plan would have each entity chip in about $25 million for the Valley end of the subway.

Sen. Alan Robbins (D-Van Nuys) expressed anger Thursday that Dyer would condition building of the Valley end of Metro Rail on receiving additional government funds.

“I think it would be very nice if all these entities made the maximum commitment to transit funding, but the Valley spending is not conditional on anyone approving any appropriation,” Robbins said in an interview. He said RTD should use funds already committed to the $3.8-billion Metro Rail project.

Valley Construction Mandated

Robbins sponsored a 1984 state law requiring the start of construction of the Valley end of Metro Rail within one year of its Sept. 29, 1986, ground breaking downtown. The law also requires RTD to spend on the Valley portion of the subway 15% of the non-federal funds spent on construction downtown. That means RTD must spend $74 million on building Metro Rail in the Valley during the next six years, Dyer said.

The RTD has previously said it needs funds to comply with the law. On Thursday, Dyer proposed for the first time a financing plan for building the Valley end of the subway, including proposing who should pay and how much. RTD directors are expected to approve the plan May 14.

Robbins has said that if the city and county decline to provide funds, he supports providing funds for Valley subway construction from some of the $400 million already committed but not yet allocated by the state for the entire Metro Rail project.

However, some members of the state Transportation Commission, which allocates the transit funds, have expressed concerns about the state bearing the burden for financing construction of the Valley end of Metro Rail.

At least two influential Los Angeles city councilmen have questioned whether the city should provide additional funds for building the Valley portion of Metro Rail.

“I’m not favorably inclined to the city participating additionally in any aspect of this project as it now stands,” Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky, chairman of the Finance and Revenue Committee, said in an interview Thursday.

Councilman Michael Woo, chairman of the Transportation and Traffic Committee, was out of town and unavailable for comment Thursday. But Woo previously expressed doubt that the city would provide additional funds for Metro Rail construction in the Valley.

An analyst in the city administrative office said the City Council and Mayor Tom Bradley would have to cut other transit projects, including a number of popular community dial-a-ride and shuttle services, to come up with an additional $25 million for Metro Rail.

Sales-Tax Funds Available

Rick Richmond, executive director of the county Transportation Commission, said the commission has $25 million available from a half-cent sales tax approved by Los Angeles County voters in 1980 to pay for transit projects.

But Jacki Bacharach, a county transportation commissioner, also questioned whether the commission would be willing to chip in additional money for Metro Rail unless the city and state did likewise.

The staff of the county commission has questioned whether it makes sense to build the Valley end of Metro Rail without knowing when--or even if--there will be funds to link Valley and downtown segments. County transportation commissioners have advocated studying substituting a trolley from Universal City to Warner Center for the Universal City to North Hollywood portion of Metro Rail.