Proposed Swap of U.S. Transit Funds Assailed

An unusual cross-country swap of federal transit funds that could net Los Angeles County a $1.5-million windfall came under fire Friday from a Reagan Administration official in Washington.

While the proposed trade appears to be legal, Alfred DelliBovi, chief of the Urban Mass Transportation Administration, announced that he is reviewing the deal between the county and Baton Rouge, La.

“It’s certainly not a good-government move,” DelliBovi said.

The Los Angeles County Transportation Commission wants to give Baton Rouge $2 million. In exchange, Los Angeles would receive $3.5 million in funds that may only be used for purchases of equipment or new construction.

The proposed swap--the first across state boundaries--would generate additional money needed in Los Angeles to purchase buses, officials said. It would provide Baton Rouge with badly needed cash to run its transit system.

The trade is similar to one approved by UMTA last year when the commission netted a $3-million profit in a deal with San Bernardino, Riverside and Ventura County officials.

“We win and they win,” said Mary Sue Omelia, a commission analyst.

But DelliBovi complained in a letter to Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards, who approved the deal, that by allowing a 60-cents-on-the-dollar trade of funds, he was condoning “a permanent and irreparable loss” of funds needed elsewhere in his own state.

Because of the proposed swap, DelliBovi threatened to shift capital funds targeted for a New Orleans streetcar project to another state.

Officials in Los Angeles expressed surprise at the controversy. They said Congress last year approved interstate trades of federal transit funds.