Want to have a say in Metro’s bus service? One of the best ways to do thatis to attend and participate in Metro monthly Service Council meetings.
Nearly10 years ago, the Metro Board created five regional service councils. Theywere formed to bring service planning closer to the people we serve and to make it more convenient for the public to be involved with service planning decisions for Metro bus service in their area. The five regions served by Metro service councils are:
•Gateway cities (Southeast L.A. County)
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Starting in August, we’ll post a story here on The Source every month highlighting some of the more interesting agenda items planned for each Council’s agenda. Each council meets on a monthly basis to receive various reports on Metro service issues, and to hear public input on service within each service council’s area.
If service changes are proposed, Metro’s service councils conduct the official public hearings for the proposed changes in their area, and take the public’s comments on these proposals. The councils vote on the proposed changes the month after the hearings, taking into account public input they’ve received. All of the service council’s recommendations on proposed changesthen go to the MTA Board for final approval.
Jon Hillmer is the Director of Service Councils, and works with all of the council members and Metro staff to develop agendas for each month’s meetings and coordinate presentations. “We strongly encourage the public to attend and participate in service council meetings,” said Hillmer. “Council members want to do all they can to make sure we are providing the best service possible, and receiving comments and suggestions from the public helps them better understand the needs of our customers.”
For details on what cities and communities each service council is responsible for, you can go to the Metro service council web pages. Click here to connect with those pages. The web pages also provide details about council members, meeting dates and locations, service council bylaws and other information.
Categories: Inside Metro, Policy & Funding
Glad to see all the interest in our Service Councils. Many of our Council members read The Source but we’ll make sure they all see any comments posted here. Let me respond to a few of the comments.
We are not planning any major service changes for this coming December so no public hearings are being scheduled. We welcome public input in all forms. If you can’t attend the meetings, please send them to us at servicecouncils@metro.net. If your comment pertains to a certain service council, please help us out by noting which one in your message.
Beginning in August, the Westside/Central Service Council meetings will relocate back to the Beverly Hills Tennis Center, located at 325 So. La Cienega Blvd (between Wilshire and Olympic Blvds). We are unfortunately unable to continue meeting regularly at the Young Oak Kim Acadamy.
We look forward to seeing you at any or all of the meetings and hearing from you.
David Hershenson
Metro Community Relations Manager
LAX Frequent Flyer: Your best and easiest bet is to submit written comments. They tend to be better thought out and are more appealing than say Bus Rider Union members parroting the latest grievance in a not neccesarily coherent fashion. [My last [two?] meetings I attended over a year ago—the majority of folk there were BRU members in yellow t-shirts.]
5 PM and 6:30 PM is hardly “evening” enough. People get off at 5 PM. They can’t magically transport themselves to a meeting somewhere as soon as they clock out.
They need to make it later in the evening like 7 or 8 PM or have these meetings on the weekends.
@LAX Frequent Flyer:
3 of the 5 meetings are already in the evening.
I agree the other 2 should follow suit.
Metro San Fernando Valley Service Council usually meets the first Wednesday of each month at 6:30 pm at The Marvin Braude Constituent Center in the City of Van Nuys, located at 6262 Van Nuys Blvd.
Metro Westside/Central Service Council meetings are normally held at 5 pm on the second Wednesday of the month: Young Oak Kim Academy, Multipurpose Rm, 615 S. Shatto Place, LA CA 90005.
Metro San Gabriel Valley Service Council usually meets the second Monday of each month at 5 pm. Meetings are conducted at El Monte City Hall East, located at 11333 Valley Blvd.
Metro Gateway Cities Service Council usually meets the second Thursday of each month at 2 pm at Salt Lake Park Community Center in the City of Huntington Park, 3401 E Florence Ave.
Metro South Bay Service Council usually meets the second Friday of each month at 9:30 am. Meetings are held at the Inglewood City Hall, located at One Manchester Blvd.
If we cannot make it to those meetings, is there any way to write to the service councils via email or mail?
Hi there;
The email for the service councils is servicecouncils@metro.net
Steve Hymon
Editor, The Source
I remembered that previously, the proposed changes in each service sector is published so that we can voice our concerns. Where are the proposed changes for December?
It doesn’t really do much help to have such meetings and expect a vast majority of Angelinos to tell their opinion when they schedule these meetings on a weekday during hours that most people are at work.
A vast majority of Angelinos have jobs Monday through Friday between 9 AM to 5 PM. Does Metro really think people are going to come to these meetings using their precious vacation time? And do they really think people will come to these meeting using public transit on business hours during normal weekdays?
I mean seriously, Metro, think.