City Council Committee OK’s Pasadena’s Inclusion in Transit Services Mutual Assistance Pact

The Municipal Services Committee unanimously approved the transportation department’s recommendation for Pasadena to enter into a statewide agreement for mutual assistance for public transportation services known as the California Statewide Transit Mutual Assistance Compact, (TransMAC).

Under the agreement, member agencies could provide or receive assistance in the form of personnel, services and equipment if needed during an emergency where the demand for transit resources exceed those available.

Transit Manager Valerie Gibson said the agreement is intended for rapid, short-term emergency support scenarios.

The agreement can be activated even without a formal emergency declaration. It could be triggered if a member agency needs additional transit resources to evacuate people and if there is increased demand for transit resources due to special events.

“Members are not required to provide assistance, it is given only when a member agency is in a position to do so,” said Gibson.

As per Gibson, executing the agreement does not compel Pasadena to provide any transit resources to other member agencies at the time of an emergency.

The agreement merely indicates its willingness to do so and abide by the procedures set out in the agreement.

Member agencies under TransMAC agree to reimburse direct cost by the providing member under the agreement, as per Gibson.

TransMAC was initiated in 2010 by Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, (Metro) Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) and the California Emergency Management Agency, among others.

Since its creation, the agreement has never been activated, according to Mike Greenwood, Chief Operations Officer for Access Services and Chair of the TransMAC Steering Committee.

“Technically TransMAC has never officially been activated and that’s a good thing because there’s never been an emergency of significance scope enough for a transit agency to call on another transit agency for assistance.”

As of April 2022, TransMAC has 22 member agencies including Metro, OCTA, SunLine Transit Authority, Anaheim Transportation Network, City of Montebello and Foothill Transit.