ah, the BRU

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — I’ve never been a fan of the Bus Riders Union. They sued the MTA ten years ago and got it to agree to a consent degree saying that it would add a lot of bus service, etc. And this may have really been important ten years ago. But today the BRU is stuck in the impossible mindset that buses are exclusively the answer. The LA Times today has an article on ongoing disputes involving the consent decree. The BRU continues to allege that Metro needs to add more buses and more service, and any time Metro starts to plan a rail line the BRU comes out opposed. In light of that background, I found the following from today’s article to be pretty funny:

Bernardo Torres, 40, said Rapid buses often get so crowded that people start fighting. But he isn’t sure that more buses are the answer.

“There will be more traffic and the congestion will be even worse,” he said. “I think they need light rail.”

Don’t tell that to the BRU… They won’t like you very much.