LOS ANGELES — The more-than-$1 billion the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority is expected to receive in initial federal COVID-19 relief funding will not be enough to cover all of its losses due to the pandemic, board members said May 29.
The MTA Board voted to adopt a continuing resolution to its budget and accept the federal funding through the county, but the full financial outlook for the transportation authority is not expected to be finalized until September or October.
MTA service plans have been amended to reduce capacities of people on board rail and buses during the pandemic, and there could be service changes coming every two months, officials said.
MTA officials also said they’ve been making weekly or daily changes to service based on the most-used service lines during the pandemic, and a report on service changes will be brought back to the board at next month’s meeting.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, who also sits on the MTA Board, said the agency needs to be sure its planned projects are ready to commence once funding is available and the pandemic subsides.