RTD Tables Plan to Form Foothill Transit Agency

Despite strong appeals from San Gabriel Valley officials, the Southern California Rapid Transit District has indefinitely postponed consideration of a low-cost, privately run transit agency.

The RTD board of directors has tabled a motion by Charles Storing, a La Puente councilman and the San Gabriel Valley representative on the RTD board, consenting to the formation of a Foothill Transit Zone until the RTD’s lawyers can review the district’s legal liability. Among the cities to be included in the zone is the Southeast community of La Habra Heights.

In June, a Superior Court judge blocked the transfer of lines from the RTD to Foothill at the request of RTD unions, supported by the RTD board. The lines had been transferred by the county Transportation Commission, which brokers the county’s transit tax funds.

To operate the lines, Foothill Transit planned to hire drivers, mechanics and other personnel, which the RTD unions perceived as a threat.

The RTD until recently had refused to consider the transfer, citing pending litigation.

It was “clearly a stonewalling issue by them,” said Foothill Executive Director William Forsythe. “They weren’t even willing to consider it.”

El Monte Mayor Don McMillen, who is Foothill Transit’s president, said Foothill is likely to approach a state legislator to sponsor a bill that would enact the agency, circumventing both the RTD and the courts.