Foothill Transit

Foothill Transit is a joint powers authority of 21 member cities in the San Gabriel and Pomona Valleys. It operates a fixed-route bus public transit service in the San Gabriel Valley of Greater Los Angeles, California.

Overview

The impetus for the formation of the transit agency was Los Angeles County Supervisor Pete Schabarum. Schabarum, annoyed at the cutbacks of bus service by the SCRTD, wanted to secede from the larger agency and form his own transit agency. Schabarum, who hated the influence of trade unions, chose to use contractors to operate the service, and Foothill executives made the service essentially strike-proof by insisting that two different companies operate the two bus yards, even if it would cost more in the short term. However, due to bus industry consolidation, First Transit had operated both yards from 2001 to mid-2007. Currently, both Foothill Transit yards are represented by unions (Arcadia by the Amalgamated Transit Union and Pomona by the Teamsters Union), but past strikes at the agency have been less than successful due to the ability of one yard to operate the other yards' service. In addition, wages are less at Foothill than at other transit operators in the region.