No more free rides
Jake Haulk and Eric Montarti of the conservative Allegheny Institute write in today's Trib in praise of the Port Authority's long overdue proposal to outsource 20 percent of its bus service and vehicle maintenance to private contractors:
This is a radical idea in Pittsburgh. But it is not one without experience in other parts of the country. The Denver Regional Transportation District has contracted out a portion of its non-rail mass transit service since 1988. Recent amendments to the state law that created the outsourcing arrangement raised the level of bus service provided by qualified private carriers to 50 percent.
Under Denver's arrangement, the district owns the buses, solicits bids and determines routes while leaving driving and maintenance to contractors. The savings are substantial. Operating costs per vehicle hour were lower, as were hourly wages for contracted drivers and mechanics. In addition, the wage progression for district personnel was much more rapid than for contractors. Based on recent numbers, the district is saving at least $30 million per year due to the contracting program, and that number will rise over time.
A similar plan could bring down costs in Allegheny County's system. Bus passenger trips per hour are lower than comparable systems while per-passenger expenses are higher. Put alongside systems in 20 other cities -- including New York, Atlanta, and Detroit -- average hourly wages for drivers, operation costs and driver wages per passenger trip are well out of line.
Closer to home, our research on mass transit service in Western Pennsylvania shows that authority driver wages are far higher than those of the Beaver County Transit Authority, the Mid-Mon Valley Transit Authority and the Westmoreland County Transit Authority. The Mid-Mon Valley and Westmoreland County authorities do not directly operate their buses; they contract out service to private operators.
The union that represents Port Authority workers, of course, is dead set against the proposal. Perhaps they should consider the alternative--escalating costs that lead to fare hikes and service cuts, which in turn drive down ridership, further eroding revenues. And Ed Rendell won't be governor forever. Pennsylvania may one day have a chief executive less sympathetic to mass transit and less willing to circumvent the Legislature to fund it. Business as usual is over.
posted by Jonathan Potts at
5:27 PM
3 Comments:
How much of the fare hikes and service cuts are due to the reduction in federal funding? The increase in mass transit costs exceeds my tax "refund"
1:10 AM
That is a good question; however, it's my understanding that most of the federal funding that the Port Authority has received or been promised has gone to large capital projects, such as the planned North Shore light-rail connector and the recently completed new Castle Shannon, both largely unnecessary. In other words, it does not fund operating expenses. Again, I could be wrong.
But that doesn't change the fact that the onus should be on the Port Authority to streamline how it operates, and maximize efficiency. The political climate in Washington may not change anytime soon, and it definitenly isn't going to change in Harrisburg in the near future.
8:39 AM
In 2002, the feds gave the Port Authority $33.5 million from Congress, mostly for five capital projects.
This figure includes about $4 million in job training disbursements to hire, train and retain low-income workers, part of another federal funding mechanism, plus $4 million in capital acquisition funds reserved for bus replacement.
It doesn't include the $34 million in additional annual funds REQUESTED from Congress for the North Shore light rail connector (or, "boondoggle," if you will) and several other capital projects.
Last time I checked, the Leave-No-Contractor-Behind-Act favored by the fiscally conservative Rick Santorum for the aforementioned boondoggle connector would cost federal taxpayers from $200 million to $312 million.
But why haggle over a mere $100 million? Especially when its completion could shave a minute or two off the congested parking times during eight Sundays every autumn.
By the way, it's the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission which technically earmarks federal funds sluiced through the commonwealth for local road projects. They're the ones who shaved off $24 million or so to prop up the Port Authority, if I recall.
So, if you drive the roads in Armstrong, Beaver, Washington, et al, just remember that your local bridge repair was delayed so that suburban commuters in Allegheny County could continue to pay high salaries to bus drivers.
These monies are called "flexed funds" and bubble up from a stew of state and federal sources, often with matching outlays paid out after county or municipal antes.
Much of it, of course, comes from funds reserved for highway projects which have their beginning in gasoline taxes.
Over the past seven years, the reeling Port Authority has claimed nearly $100 million of the regional pool of cash, and still it's in bad shape.
6:14 PM
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