Midwest Voices

E. Thomas McClanahan

The Kansas City Star

Two decades ago, a consultant said Kansas City’s local bus system was locked in a “cycle of failure,” with rising costs leading to higher fares and falling ridership, leading to another round of rising costs. The latest turn of the cycle came last week: The city of Independence fired the Area Transportation Authority and hired a private contractor to deliver the city’s fixed-route bus service.

ATA, which operates the Metro system, will still handle inter-city service when Independence goes to the new provider in July.

ATA supporters claim the agency is already competitive. A couple of years ago, Kitty McCoy of the Regional Transit Alliance said the agency was “pretty trim.” ATA General Manager Mark Huffer says ATA’s costs are comparable to transit agencies of similar size and geography.

Yet the contractor chosen by Independence outbid ATA on fixed-route service by $670,000 a year — a number that hints at the savings that can accrue from more widespread use of competitive contracting. Huffer bemoans the increasing fragmentation of regional bus service, but elected officials facing tight budgets are desperate for ways to squeeze more service out of existing revenue — as Independence has done.

Thanks to the new provider’s lower costs, the area covered by the new service will expand by 40 percent and hours of operation will increase by 30 percent.

This isn’t the first time ATA has lost a contract. In the early ‘80s, Johnson County switched to a private-sector provider and reaped immediate savings of $800,000. Then-County Commissioner Johnna Lingle said, “It was the cost factor. It was the only reason.” Kansas City, Kan., also runs its own intra-city service.

After ATA lost Johnson County, the Metro’s average daily ridership cratered. It dropped from 92,700 in 1981 to 61,600 a decade later. In recent years, it’s been bumping along between 50,000 and 54,000, with a spike to 56,300 in 2008, when gasoline prices breached $4 a gallon. Average daily ridership, however, counts “trips,” not people. One person transferring makes two trips. The actual number of people on bus seats each day: about 30,000.

Huffer says the Independence routes only represent about 3 percent of the ATA’s service hours and losing the work probably won’t result in layoffs.

ATA’s inflexibility stems from the restrictive language of its labor contract combined with federal law. The local contract prevents management from doing anything that would “eliminate” work done by the union, while federal law empowers the Labor Department to protect workers from a “worsening” of employment conditions. Any agency that finds itself crosswise with its union can be cut off from the federal grants that buy new buses.

The combination of federal law and the local labor agreement puts the ATA in a straitjacket. Compare ATA’s situation with Denver, where the local agency contracted out entire maintenance facilities and route packages at substantial savings. One Denver official I spoke with several years ago was astonished at the restrictions facing ATA management.

Many years ago, ATA’s management bargained away its right to contract out service, even though under federal law no worker can be laid off because of work bid out.

Now, facing a sluggish economy and declining public resources, the agency’s options are few. Voters and elected officials won’t pay indefinitely for an uncompetitive public-sector monopoly with an ossified labor contract.

Like Independence, they will will seek another way.

ATA can continue as it has, seeking state aid or more local tax money to cover its costs. Or it can seek more flexibility in its union contract.

Hufer says contracting is no panacea. True, but in certain circumstances it can give elected officials a choice: save money or use the savings to deliver more mobility for bus riders. Unless the economy suddenly booms, more officials are going to seek ways to get around the ATA’s cost structure.

To reach E. Thomas McClanahan, call 816-234-4480 or send email to mcclanahan@kcstar.com.

Comments

1. 

   Kent Mueller

   3 months, 3 weeks ago

   Excellent blog, Thomas.

   When is the current ATA union contract up for renewal? That seems to be the first time this can be addressed, but a lot of work will need to be done prior to that time.

2. 

   Mark Hastert

   3 months, 3 weeks ago

   Having experienced cities with good public transportation it makes you wish we had better and more extensive buses and trains.

3. 

   Kent Mueller

   3 months, 3 weeks ago

   Mark, I too would like better public transportation. But what would the cost be, and who would pay that cost?

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