Contracting for Bus and Demand-Responsive Transit Services A Survey of U.S. Practice and Experience: Special Report 258 (2001) / Chapter Skim
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Executive Summary
Executive Summary
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to conduct a study of contracting by recipients of federal transit grants. The act called for an examination of the extent and practice of transit service contracting and its effects on operating costs, customer service, safety, and other aspects of service quality and quantity.
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Part 1 yielded much detail on the amount of contracting that goes on and how contracts are obtained and structured; the results from Part 2 offer important insights about the effects of transit contracting on cost, quality, and other aspects of service. Though highly informative, the national transit survey was a challenging undertaking, its design, administration, and analysis consuming much of the time available to the committee for deliberation and analysis.
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These responses, augmented by NTD data, are highly informative about the extent and methods of transit service contracting in the United States. The survey findings reveal that transit contracting is neither rare nor monolithic in practice.
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53. Possible Reasons for Contracting The survey findings, coupled with NTD data, suggest some plausible reasons why transit agencies choose to contract.
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O Bus Services 40% 20% __ 0% O Demand-Responsive Services All Service 26 to 99% 11 to25% Contracted Contracted Contracted 1 to 10% No Service Contracted Contracted (b) F I G U R E E S - 3 Contracting for fixed-route bus and demand-responsive transit services by (a} system size and (b)
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Chief Reasons for Not Contracting In explaining why they do not contract, general managers cited a desire to maintain control over their operations, low anticipated cost savings, and little reason for changing current practice Like the general managers of agencies that do contract, few general managers of agencies that do not contract cited state and federal laws and policies, including the labor protection provisions in Section 13c of the Federal Transit Act, as influencing their decision.
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Contract Specificity Most transit service contracts are highly prescriptive and detailed agreements. They not only define the kinds of services to be offered, but also prescribe how those services are to be provided; how service quantity and quality are to be measured and monitored; and who will provide the vehicles, facilities, main
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Competition for Contracts The survey results indicate that the majority of transit systems obtain service contracts through procedures intended to attract competing bidders. Most reported contracts, especially the largest ones and those for bus services, have attracted multiple bidclers.
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Instead of attempting to formulate such judgments about the effects of contracting by reviewing past studies, the committee chose to ask the transit general managers surveyed for their own assessments of those effects. Respondents received no guidance on what constitutes a cost saving or a high quality of service; instead, they were simply asked to use their judgment in identifying and rating various effects of transit service contracting.
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General Managers' Advice on Contracting By and large, the general managers from transit agencies that are now contracting are satisfied with the cost savings achieved and less satisfied with the quality of service provided. Yet often through practical experience, the transit systems that are contracting today have found ways of achieving acceptable levels of both cost savings and service quality.
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Over time, as transit agencies exert more control over service quality by imposing more stringent performance requirements in contracts, it is reasonable to expect contractor costs to rise. At the same time, labor unions may agree to changes in collective bargaining agreements that make direct service provision more cost-competitive with contracted service.
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The extent to which such service contracting relationships exist today in the transit industry and can be fostered and maintained to the benefit of riders deserves further consideration in follow-on studies that assess the appropriate role of public transit agencies in contract monitoring, oversight, and management.
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. I,~_ ~ ~_~4 ~ He O _~ 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 Year 0 Motor Bus Demand-Responsive OlRapid Rail O Commuter Rail OTrolley Bus BILight Rail/Streetcar Source: American Public Transportation Association, Public Transportation fact Book, 1997 to 2000.
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