The MTA held a public meeting today to vote on a proposed fare restructuring proposal that will have disastrous consequences for the city's mostly impoverished bus riders. Leading the opposition to this increase is the Bus Riders Union (BRU), which mobilized an enormous contingent of mostly poor working and unemployed bus riders to attend the meeting and testify against the increase.

The following pictures are chronologically ordered and the captions briefly tell the story of the meeting.

Media coverage was extensive and I just heard channel 5's report and for corporate media it was fairly informative. When a significant people's movement flexes its muscle in public it _is_ still possible to break through, or at least ruffle, the media's "corporate curtain."

All seats will filled an an overflow crowd gathered at the back of the room and snaked out into the hallway. Later, the MTA ordered all of those standing into a separate room with closed circuit TV showing the meeting room, reducing the number visible in the room (although even at the end of the meeting, most of the seats were still filled).

Translation devices are distributed by an organizer from the BRU, so that non-English-speaking members of the public could fully participate in the meeting.

The MTA announced that no public comment would be heard on the fare increase issue. Bus riders responded by rising from their seats, chanting, and completely shutting down the meeting. The MTA responded by fleeing the room. The remained AWOL for one hour, keeping the public waiting and wasting everybody's time.

The suit and briefcase set was there as usual in their own little corner of the room, looking for public money, of course. Doesn't the one guy look exactly like Dick Cheney?

When the MTA left, the BRU took over the meeting from the floor and spoke to those attending, explaining what had happened and what was likely to occur. Then, they held an informal press conference which resulted in extensive coverage on the evening news.

During the MTA Boards unannounced "recess," an angry exchange occurred between this unknown (to me) rider and an official of the MTA, who shouted at the rider in front of the cameras.

After an hour of absence which turned out to be significantly detrimental to their reputation, the Board decided that it would hear public comment at last.

Only one minute was provided to each person testifying, so this rider decided to sing a fare hike protest to the tune of "I've Been Working On The Railroad."

Long-time transit researcher and gadfly John Walsh testified angrily and humorously on several agenda items related to the increase. His piece de resistance was tearing up a bus pass (whose price is being increased by almost 20 percent) and (literally) eating it. He remarked that although due to poor service the pass was not worth the money charged for it by the MTA, when it passed through the system the next day it would still be worth more than the entire MTA board combined.

Korean-American BRU Activist "Grandma Kim" testifies, with translation by another BRU member.

This bus rider told the MTA that the impact of their fare increases on her limited budget would be to force her to choose between diapers and maxi pads. She left both boxes on the podium, where they remained for the rest of the meeting.

After detailing the economic impact of these increases upon her life, this bus rider took several shirts and tossed them over the railing into the MTA's area to illustrate that they were taking the shirt off her back. The Board was evidently so stunned that these items remained on the carpet for the rest of the meeting, along with the diapers and maxi pads on the podium.

Prior to this member's testimony, MTA Board Member and County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky accused bus riders in general of "Making out like bandits" with the fare subsidies "given" to them by the MTA. This BRU member pointed out that a large chunk of the MTA's budget comes from a regressive one percent sales tax that is paid by the poor, and that the MTA is spending public money that comes to a significant extent from the riders themselves.

After public comment was completed, the MTA had some discussion, during which Board Members Yoh, Hahn and Burke expressed attitudes toward the increase ranging from skepticism to direct opposition. Supervisor and Board Member Zev Yarolslavsky and Board Member Fasana spoke in support of the increase. When the vote was taken, only Yoh, Hahn, Burke and Hudson voted against the increase. The measure passed by a single vote. Gloria Molina, who represents a low income area containing many bus riders, cast the deciding vote in favor, thereby significantly reducing the living standards of many of her constituents.

This is how the meeting ended. A large group then staged an impromptu march from the meeting to Glora Molina's office to protest her vote. Molina's staff refused to meet with the protestors.