The Legislature hereby finds and declares:

(a) There is an imperative need for a comprehensive mass rapid transit system in the southern California area, and particularly in Los Angeles County. Diminution of congestion on the streets and highways in Los Angeles will facilitate passage of all Californians motoring through the most populous area of this state and will especially benefit domiciliaries of that county who reside both within and without the rapid transit district. It is, further, the declared policy of the state to foster the development of trade and the movement of people in and around the Los Angeles area for the benefit of the entire state, and one of the purposes of the Southern California Rapid Transit District is to further this policy.

Terms Used In California Public Utilities Code 30001

  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • County: includes city and county. See California Public Utilities Code 18
  • District: as used in this part , means the Southern California Rapid Transit District. See California Public Utilities Code 30004
  • Rapid transit: as used in this part , means the transportation of passengers only and their incidental baggage by means other than by chartered bus, sightseeing bus, taxi, or any other motor vehicle not on an individual passenger fare paying basis, except as otherwise provided in subdivision (b). See California Public Utilities Code 30005
  • State: means the State of California, unless applied to the different parts of the United States. See California Public Utilities Code 17

(b) In view of the limited powers of the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority (herein sometimes referred to as “authority”) it has become apparent that the authority is unable to solve the transit problems of the southern California area and provide the needed comprehensive mass rapid transit system.

(c) It is, therefore, necessary to provide a successor corporation to the authority, to wit: a transit district, and to establish such transit district governed by representatives of the governmental agencies in the southern California area so that there will be sufficient power and authority to solve the transportation problems in the southern California area and to provide the needed comprehensive mass rapid transit system.

(d) It is evident, therefore, that such a transit district may plan to meet the transit needs and problems of the whole southern California area; and that the estimates of future population growth for the southern California area make it imperative that a comprehensive plan for rapid transit contain projections of population trends extending over the next 30 years.

(Amended by Stats. 1979, Ch. 579.)