Finance & economy briefs
By Daily Bruin Staff
May 2, 2005 9:00 p.m.
Prices to rise on Metrolink
LOS ANGELES “”mdash; Soaring fuel and insurance costs will likely
boost fares on Metrolink commuter trains linking five Southern
California counties.
Metrolink officials said the cost of riding the rails could rise
4.5 percent to 9.25 percent because of the 30 percent increase in
ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel and the tripling of insurance costs,
Metrolink spokeswoman Denise Tyrrell said.
“It’s a big blow financially,” Tyrrell said.
“We did not foresee fuel and insurance prices going up to
this degree.”
The regional rail system serving Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside,
San Bernardino and Ventura counties expects the additional costs to
add up to $1.7 million over the next year.
Metrolink ridership grew 7 percent during the first three months
of 2005, and a March survey of new passengers showed rising gas
prices were the main reason people were abandoning their cars for
public transportation, Tyrrell said.
CSU assistants may strike
SACRAMENTO “”mdash; A union representing more than 6,000 teaching
and graduate assistants in the California State University system
has announced a possible strike.
The system and union officials have been negotiating since
August.
The California Alliance of Academic Student Employees/United
Auto Workers charges that administrators are committing unfair
labor practices, including failure to provide necessary information
to negotiators.
CSU officials said they are bargaining in good faith and that a
union strike during negotiations would be illegal.
Compiled from Bruin wire services.
