Many Jump In to Help, Some Take Advantage

The civic cohesion so evident after earthquakes, fires, floods and riots has begun to surface in the wake of the 5-day-old MTA strike.

So has opportunism and indifference.

People unaffected by the strike--some acting from generosity, others from self-interest--are reaching out to coworkers and employees, trying to ease these times that try their soles.

But there are also the occasional cabdrivers who some say take circuitous routes to pad their fares, the stone-hearted supervisors who have docked employees despite the documented difficulties of the daily commute and the more privileged who fault bus riders for not arranging alternative transportation.

Retired actress Judith Woodbury said she worries about her maid, who doesn’t drive.

“I’ve seen a lot of these gals who walk up the hills,” said Woodbury, who lives north of Sunset Boulevard near La Cienega Boulevard.

“I give them a ride,” said Woodbury as she strolled through the Beverly Center on Wednesday. “Why don’t these people living in a nice area pay for their taxis?”

She said some taxi drivers are taking advantage of the strike. The woman who cleans her home, she said, took a taxi Monday but got out of the cab early after the driver tried to take her on a roundabout route to charge her more.

“He thought she didn’t know how to get to my house,” said Woodbury. “But of course I would have paid anyway.”

Tax consultant Maria Chan’s 40-mile commute from Brea to Los Angeles has not been affected by the strike, but she said she is concerned for people who depend on buses.

“I was thinking about the older folks,” she said, sitting with her golden retriever at a Wilshire Boulevard coffee shop. “A lot of them take the buses.”

She said she planned to get in touch with Meals on Wheels to help seniors who are unable to get to markets to buy groceries.

At the Box Store on Wilshire, Kim Cockerham said she was going out of her way to give colleague Manuel Reyes a ride to the packaging store. Both said the arrangement was far from ideal but that they had no other choice.

“Otherwise he couldn’t get to work,” Cockerham said of Reyes, who lives in North Hollywood.

Employees at the Ann Taylor clothing store in the Beverly Center were also organizing carpools Wednesday. Store manager Betty Monterrey, 22, said she’s been coordinating rides and trying to accommodate her staff’s schedules.

“I consider them my friends and colleagues,” Monterrey said. “That’s what we have to do, but it’s inconvenient.”

The attitude was less charitable among some outside the steel and glass office buildings downtown, where well-heeled professionals dined at upscale restaurants overlooking a courtyard with a live band.

Taking a break to smoke in a plaza near 7th and Figueroa streets, attorneys Jodi Lewis, 39, of Calabasas, and Elizabeth Lascheid, 45, of Mar Vista, criticized bus riders for lack of foresight.

They said they were frustrated that their receptionist didn’t show up for work Monday because she had no transportation.

“It’s very sad, but all of them should have made alternative arrangements,” Lewis said. “They should have watched the news.”

Lascheid, though, said she wasn’t keeping up with transit strike news. “I’ve tried, but I could care less,” she said.

Both own cars and drive to work. Lascheid said she does not consider buses a safe alternative. “I took the bus once, and it was awful,” she said. “I got trapped at a bus stop on La Cienega. It was misery.”

It is a necessary misery that tens of thousands of county residents depend upon.

Jamie Daquino, vice president of a downtown Internet company, realized that when two of his employees were stranded at home on Monday.

Two of his managers picked them up in Burbank and the San Fernando Valley, but the employees were four hours late for work, said Daquino, 36.

Many people who drive from outlying areas to Los Angeles said there were more cars on the freeways, adding 30 minutes to an hour to their commutes. But they said downtown traffic moved faster with no buses.

The strike against the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is wreaking havoc on some businesses, and the See’s Candy store in the Beverly Center is feeling its full brunt.

“Over the weekend, two people couldn’t come in,” said manager Marcia Jackson. “Other stores keep calling because people can’t get there. It’s really beginning to hit us. Every time the phone rings, it’s another person asking for extra help.”

Jackson said she was worried the strike would continue through the end of the month, when the store does its inventory.

“Most of the people who do that ride the bus,” she said.

Getting last-minute replacements is difficult, she said, because most workers are part-time and go to school or have other jobs.

Staffing problems on the afternoon shift are particularly tough, she said, because her workers “don’t want to walk at night.”

In West Los Angeles, a Screen Actors Guild member has found herself caught between two strikes. Her union is on strike against producers of commercials, meaning she can’t work, and the bus strike means she can’t get around town.

The actress, who recently moved to Los Angeles from New York, asked that her name not be used because she feared production companies would not want to hire her if they knew she didn’t have a car.

John Rosati, who heads an Internet company, Iville International, supports the striking drivers, although he is unaffected.

“We use the information superhighway,” Rosati said. “We don’t use the freeway.”

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Transportation Options

The public should not count on the MTA to operate any of its own bus or rail service today, according to MTA officials. None of the Red Line subway trains will be operating from the San Fernando Valley and Mid-City to Union Station. No service is planned on the Blue Line between Long Beach and Los Angeles or the Green Line between Norwalk and El Segundo. Here are some options:

* MTA BUSES: The MTA operated 29 buses along nine lines Wednesday under contracts with private bus companies. The lines in operation were: Line 96, from downtown Los Angeles to Sherman Oaks; Line 125, from El Segundo to La Mirada; Line 128, from Compton to La Mirada; Line 130, from Redondo Beach to Fullerton; Line 167, from Plummer Street to Coldwater Canyon Avenue; Line 205, from Watts to San Pedro; Line 232, from Long Beach to Los Angeles International Airport; Line 254, from Imperial/Wilmington station in Willowbrook to City Terrace in East Los Angeles; Line 266, from Altadena to Lakewood. The MTA said its ability to maintain a limited schedule would depend on strike developments.

In addition to the regular customer service number, (800) COMMUTE, the MTA has added another, (213) 626-4455. Customers can also check the Web site at https://www.mta.net.

A consumer group set up an all- purpose information Web site to provide information on different bus lines. The Web site is https://www.socaltip.org.

* NON-MTA BUS LINES: Foothill, Long Beach, Torrance and Norwalk Transit, Metrolink, Santa Monica Big Blue Bus and the city of Los Angeles (DASH, Community Connections, Commuter Express and Smart Shuttles) will honor MTA bus passes.

The Los Angeles County Municipal Operators Coalition’s 16 bus agencies will provide additional service: Foothill Transit will add five morning trips to its service to downtown Los Angeles originating from the Pomona Fairplex and four evening trips originating from 9th and Figueroa streets in downtown. With pickets surrounding the entrance to the El Monte bus station, riders can catch a Foothill Transit bus to downtown Los Angeles two blocks east of Santa Anita on the north side of Ramona Boulevard. Call (800) RIDE INFO, or visit Foothill’s Web site at https://www.foothilltransit.org

Torrance Transit will add additional service to and from downtown Los Angeles; Gardena Municipal Bus Line will operate additional services on its Lines 1 and 2 and will accept MTA tokens; Montebello Bus Line will provide additional service to East Los Angeles on Line 10 and will add trips on Lines 40 and 50 to downtown Los Angeles.

* METROLINK: Metrolink, the com-muter rail service that runs trains to downtown Los Angeles from Ventura, San Bernardino, Riverside and Orange counties, will add eight trains to serve more passengers.

Metrolink trains will honor MTA monthly, semimonthly and weekly passes, as well as passes for seniors, disabled riders and students.

“Red Line Special” buses provided by MTA and Metrolink will operate weekdays from the Metro Bus Plaza at Union Station. The bus stops will be at each Metro Red Line station from Union Station to Westlake/MacArthur Park, with two additional stops at 4th and Hill streets and at 9th and Hill streets, marked with special signs (see map). Signs and Metrolink personnel will direct passengers to the bus plaza area at Union Station to board the buses. One set of buses will run to the Westlake/MacArthur Park Metro Station. The other set will travel to the 7th Street/Metro Center Station. A limited number of buses serving customers on a first-come, first-served basis will operate all day, from the arrival of the first train each morning until the departure of the last Metrolink train in the evening. Waiting time is unpredictable and passengers are encouraged to give themselves extra time to complete their commute. Bicycles are normally allowed on trains, but because of space restrictions, bicycles will not be allowed on buses.

Metrolink commuters can call (800) COMMUTE for information on ridesharing options. Commuters can obtain updates by calling (800) 371-LINK, or visit Metrolink’s Web site at https://www.metrolinktrains.com.

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* OTHER TRANSPORT: Call your local municipal bus lines for more information.