Los Angeles County Transportation Commission

Biography / Administrative History

As traffic and congestion continued to worsen in 1970's Southern California, civic leaders realized that a new approach to regional transportation planning was required. The last two public transit agencies, the LAMTA and its successor, the SCRTD, were not legally equipped to deal with the fractious political landscape that characterized the Southern California region, nor were they authorized to develop the economic or political clout needed to address region-wide transportation issues.

In an attempt to remedy the agencies' shortcomings, in 1976 the state legislature enacted AB1246, the County Transportation Commissions Act, by Assemblyman Walter Ingalls. AB1246 established transportation commissions in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties and charged these commissions with providing efficient oversight of public transit, coordinating between transit providers, and developing a highway policy.

In order to make the agency an effective and potent player in the transportation arena, AB1246 gave the LACTC approval power over the plans and funding of all the transportation agencies in its region. In addition, the most important and powerful movers-and-shakers in Southern California were given important representation on the LACTC board, further amplifying its power. The LACTC board consisted of the Mayor of the City of Los Angeles, the five Los Angeles County Supervisors, the Mayor of Long Beach, two city council members from other cities in Los Angeles County and one additional appointee of the Mayor of Los Angeles.

The LACTC achieved many successes. It put much effort into public accountability and developing community support through communications and community relations. As a result the LACTC gained voter approval for two countywide half-cent sales tax increases, Proposition A in 1980 and Proposition C in 1990, to support regional transportation improvements, including a countywide rail transit program. Other achievements were the construction and completion of the Metro Blue Line, Metro Green Line through a specially created subsidiary, the Rail Construction Corporation (RCC). The LACTC also took over the construction of the Metro Red Line from the SCRTD.

LACTC's assumption of the Metro Red Line was indicative of its stormy relationship with the SCRTD. "Issues between the two agencies came to a head in 1988 with an 'Eight-Point Plan' adopted by both boards. Among the elements of the plan were provisions for LACTC to release $140 million in funding for SCRTD operations if SCRTD agreed to move responsibility for the Metro Rail subway construction project to LACTC's newly formed Rail Construction Corporation, and also drop opposition to the formation of the Foothill Transit zone, which was carved out of SCRTD's service area in the San Gabriel Valley".

The battle over the "Eight-Point Plan" made it pointedly clear that an unhealthy rivalry had developed between the two agencies, a rivalry which would have to be overcome in order for rational and efficient mass transit planning and operations to move forward in Southern California. A plan eventually crystallized that entailed merging the LACTC and the SCRTD. "...Citing overlapping administrative functions and achievable cost savings that could be redirected toward additional transportation improvements for the region, the legislature passed AB152 (Katz) merging the Los Angeles County's largest transportation operator with the primary planning, funding and construction agency". This new agency was the Los Angeles County Transportation Authority (LACMTA), which went into official operation on April 1, 1993.

List of Sources Barrett, Matthew, Introduction to the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority , Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, 2001 (available on LACMTA intranet). Dorothy Peyton Gray Transportation Library, Los Angeles Transit History , available at http://www.mta.net/about_us/library/transit_history.htm , (accessed July 17, 2006).

List of Abbreviations LACMTA - Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority LACTC - Los Angeles County Transportation Commission LAMTA - Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority PUC - (California) Public Utilities Commission RCC - Rail Construction Corporation SCRTD - Southern California Rapid Transit District

From the guide to the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission records, 1976-1993, (Dorothy Peyton Gray Transportation Library and Archives.)