Los Angeles County Transportation Commission
Background

In 1976, the California state legislature enacted Assembly Bill #1246, by Assemblyman Walter Ingalls, which created the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission (LACTC) to oversee public transit and highway policy in the nation's largest county. The law required LACTC to approve all plans and funding with respect to transit capital development, transit operations and highway capital development. LACTC's authority over highways was ultimately subject to approval by the California state transportation commission. The authority of LACTC was similar to that of the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) in New York or the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) in Chicago, except that these organizations have little or no jurisdiction over highways (MTA has control of East River and Long Island Sound bridges).

LACTC was combined with the Southern California Rapid Transit District in the early 1990s, with the emerging organization being the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The board of directors of the new agency was essentially the same in composition as the LACTC board had been.

This page is under construction and will begin to reconstruct the information on LACTC, especially from the perspective of member Wendell Cox.

Wendell Cox, principal of Wendell Cox Consultancy, was appointed to LACTC by Mayor Tom Bradley, confirmed by the city council and served from the inception until March 31, 1985. During that time he was reappointed and reconfirmed three times. Two times he was reappointed at the expiration of his term (1981 and 1985). The third appointment occurred because he had resigned effective March 13, 1985. However, because a replacement had not been appointed at that date, he consented to stay in Los Angeles to cast a "yes" vote on the Los Angeles to Long Beach light rail line at the March 27 meeting. This required another appointment and another city council confirmation. All of the principal members of LACTC were elected officials, except Wendell Cox. Other LACTC members include (per state law), the Mayor of the city of Los Angeles, the five Los Angeles County Supervisors (county commissioners), the Mayor of Long Beach, two city council members from other cities in Los Angeles County and one additional appointee of the Mayor of Los Angeles. Mayor Bradley routinely appointed the City Council President to the Commission (first John Ferraro and then Pat Russell).