VANDALISED BUSES * Bangladesh - Lawmaker attacked, 100 buses vandalised in Bangladesh strike
* USA - History Repeats Itself In Bus Vs. Rail Protests
KCet org, by Matthew Fleischer -April 5, 2011: -- As you may have heard, Metro has approved plans to significantly rollback its bus service. 300,000 hours, or 4% of all bus routes, will be cut. This comes only a year after Metro already cut bus services by 8%. Prompted by low-income transit advocates, the Federal Transit Administration is investigating whether these proposed rollbacks violate the Civil Rights Act--as it can easily be argued they disproportionately affect poor, minority riders... This wouldn't be the first time Metro faced federal sanctions for bus reductions in the face of rail expansion. Back in 1994, a group called the Bus Riders' Union sued Metro for reducing bus service while simultaneously constructing a multi-billion dollar rail line to Pasadena... The current plan to the bus fleet to 1,900 means Metro's total fleet will be 200 smaller than the 2,100 buses that drove the Bus Rider's Union to sue back in the 90's... With the Expo Line (hopefully) set to open in due time, there may indeed be a few lines that become redundant with the expanded rail service. But as my Spot.us colleague Alex Schmidt is currently investigating, many of the proposed cuts will take place in LA's poor working class communities, far away from new rail construction... History appears to be repeating itself in Los Angeles... Rail vs. bus shouldn't be a choice we need to make in Los Angeles. Everyone is excited for LA to finally get a world-class light rail network... Granted, LA's bus system is not always convenient for riders stuck in traffic. This city is in obvious need of increased light rail options. But our expanding rail network needs to complement our existing bus system, not replace it, nor shortchange it... (Photo from kcet.org: Buy 500 buses by 2010)
* USA - Vandals damage Edgewood buses
Labels: strikes, vandalized buses
posted by Unknown @ 4:38 PM
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