Same thing happened in Chicago. Before there was the CTA, there were private, for-profit rail roads connecting the city, owned mostly by the Chicago Rapid Transit Company.
So, if Via is unsustainable and unprofitable, and was acquired by local government, that wouldn't really be any different from how the LA Metro got started.
Why would LA Metro pay to acquire Via when it can just run identical bus routes? Also, LA transit planners probably already know which areas would benefit from new bus route, but are constrained by their budget.
Unless advertisers are thinking it's profitable to blast ads to commuters for their 30-45 min commute, affordable transit will continue to need to be subsidised by tax dollars (yes, yes.. transit in Asia, real-estate).
Seniority rules for assignment and training requirements for example may be hard to deal with.
As opposed to public sector workers and their defined benefit plans? https://www.latimes.com/projects/la-me-pension-squeeze/
Just not sure what it tells us if the parent company ... isn't solvent longer term and not sure if that is or isn't the case.