Local News in Brief : RTD Strike Contingency

A controversial proposal that could put additional private or city transit buses on Los Angeles County streets during an RTD bus drivers’ strike was delayed Friday for additional study.

A committee of the county Transportation Commission instructed its staff to do a more in-depth analysis of the pros and cons of the proposal being pushed by the commission’s conservative new chairman, Supervisor Pete Schabarum. The commission’s Finance Review Committee also told its staff to analyze other actions that might be taken, including requiring the RTD to prepare some of its hundreds of supervisory personnel to operate buses during a work stoppage.

The matter is expected to be reconsidered next month.

The Schabarum-backed proposal would allow the commission, which controls the RTD’s purse strings, to redirect RTD funds to municipal or private bus companies if there is a drivers’ walkout later this year, as some have predicted. Union officials bitterly attacked the proposal, saying it is intended to undermine their bargaining position and could lead to violence.