1% of RTD Drivers Expected to Face Counts of Driving Without Licenses

Misdemeanor charges of operating RTD buses without valid licenses are expected to be filed against up to 50--or about 1%--of the transit district’s drivers by the Los Angeles city attorney’s office, an RTD police official said Tuesday.

“Our understanding is it will probably be less than 50,” said RTD Police Chief James Burgess, whose department has provided the city attorney’s office with information during a three-month investigation.

The city attorney’s office has declined to discuss the findings of the investigation, but spokesmen for the office have said the results will be announced soon.

Citing an “urgent matter of public safety,” City Atty. James Hahn in September ordered the probe following news reports that hundreds of RTD drivers--about one in eight on the road--had suspended or expired licenses, outstanding warrants, or no record of a license. Hahn obtained license records on RTD’s nearly 5,000 drivers to determine if any had operated buses illegally in the City of Los Angeles.

The probe has been time-consuming, according to Hahn’s press spokesman, Mike Qualls, because Hahn’s staff has had to analyze piles of RTD and Department of Motor Vehicles paper work.

Burgess said the charges likely to be filed against the drivers would be for driving buses with suspended, revoked or expired licenses or the wrong type of license. Under the state Vehicle Code, the maximum penalty any driver could receive for a single conviction is six months in county jail or a $1,000 fine or both.

Hahn’s office is empowered to prosecute violations in the City of Los Angeles and if any are found outside the city, they could be referred to other jurisdictions. Burgess said based on files sought by the city attorney’s office and his knowledge of the bus drivers’ records that he doubted the prosecutions would total more than 50.

RTD officials insist that recently improved procedures ensure that all bus drivers now on the road have the required licenses and medical fitness certificates. They also have said that problems with unlicensed drivers were overstated initially because of errors and delays in recording up-to-date information in DMV computer files.

While the proportion of drivers who apparently operated buses illegally is smaller than originally reported, Burgess said, “Anytime you have a driver out there without being properly licensed (it) is a concern.”

Assemblyman Richard Katz, (D-Sepulveda), chairman of the Assembly Transportation Committee, said prosecutions of up to 50 drivers would be “totally consistent” with his committee’s investigation of RTD licensing problems. The committee determined that about 30 RTD drivers--about 0.6%--may have driven buses illegally.

‘No Excuse’

“There is no excuse for a transit system to be having any drivers driving in violation of the law,” Katz said. But he added that the investigations show “there are some problems (but that) most (RTD) drivers have good driving records.”

Katz recently introduced legislation that would require the state and transit agencies to track bus drivers’ records more closely. RTD and DMV officials also have been working to improve computer checks of drivers’ records.

RTD President Jan Hall said that “any drivers driving without credentials is too many” but insisted that the district now is monitoring bus drivers’ licenses closely.

Hahn also indicated he would check on traffic arrest warrants outstanding against RTD drivers. Burgess said he believed RTD police had already cleared up most of the outstanding warrants through arrests or referrals to other police agencies.

Also on Tuesday, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors demanded an explanation from the Southern California Rapid Transit District for spending $56,615 for newspaper advertisements defending the performance of the transit agency.

The resolution, by Supervisor Kenneth Hahn, declared that “it is outrageous” for RTD General Manager John Dyer to authorize “spending taxpayers’ money for an advertisement to pat itself on the back when this money could be used to relieve bus overcrowding and provide better service to the bus riders.”

The advertisements, placed in Tuesday newspapers, were headed “Beyond the Headlines” and discussed district steps to correct problems of driver drug abuse, driver credentials, absenteeism and consumer complaints--all of which have been the subject of news stories.

“That’s the good news from your Southern California Rapid Transit District,” the ad said.

Hahn called the ad “the worst example of public relations.”

Drop in Ridership

RTD President Hall defended the ads, saying the district is facing a drop in ridership--attributed to lower gasoline prices and bad publicity--that averages $17,400 a day in lost fares. “If our revenue goes down, our ability to keep service goes down,” she said. “It is a prudent business decision (to have placed the ads). . . . Our marketing department thought it would help by letting people know we recognize we have problems and we’re trying to solve them.”

Supervisor Deane Dana, while supporting Hahn’s resolution, expressed sympathy for the district, whose problems, he said, are traceable to improper organizational structure. Dana has recommended that the RTD and the County Transportation Commission be consolidated in a single body.

“Until the Legislature modifies this structure, we will have these problems--the drug problems, the absentee problems.” The RTD, he said, “was grasping for ways of getting their story out.”

In other developments, the district, which has been criticized for its increases in spending on lobbyists, computers, management staff and other administrative overhead, released updated figures showing it has spent more than $1 million during the past 3 1/2 years on lobbyists for the Metro Rail subway system. It has authorized lobbying contracts for about $1.3 million.

Up From $800,000

The expenditures are up from the $800,000 reported earlier this year.

The largest share of the funds has gone to Bill Hecht & Associates, a Washington-based lobbying firm ($437,800), and the Los Angeles law firm of Mannat, Phelps, Rothenberg, Tunney & Phillips, which is prominent in Democratic politics ($326,500).

Critics charge the RTD should not be spending large sums on lobbying--funds that come out of the budget used to operate bus service.

But RTD spokesman John Hyde noted that Los Angeles city and county, as well as many other agencies, maintain lobbying operations and consultants in Sacramento and Washington. “It’s a traditional thing to make sure you get your share of federal and state grants,” he said.