RIGHT NOW: Go Protest Racist, Politically Motivated Cuts To Crucial L.A. Bus Lines At The MTA Headquarters
As the Weekly reported yesterday in a long-winded rant, the Metropolitan Transit Authority is slowly eliminating the only form of public transportation that people in Los Angeles are dependent upon for their livelihood: the bus system.
If nothing else, do it for Parks!
Your support is crucial -- even if you're too attached to your four-door to take the bus yourself, go support all those Angelenos who don't have that option.
Head to the MTA headquarters at 1 Gateway Plaza in the heart of Los Angeles RIGHT NOW to join the rally, or catch up with protesters en route to Father Serra Park by 7:30 p.m.:
We will march from MTA headquarters, make various stops throughout the civic center area, and end at Father Sera Park, La Placita (Olvera Street). The rally & concert at La Placita will begin between 5:00pm and 5:30pm.
The march will also protest the rising cost of housing in the city. The organizations behind the rally cry are the Bus Riders Union and the Los Angeles Human Right to Housing Collective.
Esperanza Martinez, head of the BRU, told the Weekly yesterday that the MTA's decision to eliminate nine bus lines and cut many more -- after fares shot up earlier this year -- have a "racially discriminatory impact" on the generally poor, generally non-white Angelenos who rely on bus service.
Though the MTA is crying "deficit," huge bites are being taken out of its budget by the trendy billion-dollar subway projects of L.A. politicians.
Martinez explained that buses navigating the unmatched L.A. sprawl -- unlike subways, which serve fewer and wealthier riders -- are currently the only units of public transportation with the capacity to deliver riders from their homes to their jobs.
"Buses are flexible, less expensive to run and operate -- and they create more jobs in the long run, when you consider manufacturing, maintenance... and drivers," Martinez said.
So, with our full support, please listen to BRU and HRHC when they say:
On the 55th anniversary of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, we are calling for the Human Right to Housing & Transportation to be upheld in Los Angeles. While the economy sits in shambles Angelinos struggle day by day to survive all while our local politicians enact laws that make us pay higher rent & bus fare increases. We are standing up to RECLAIM Our Fundamental Human Rights.
See you there, folks! And Rosa Parks, if you can hear us up there: This one's for you.
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