Suffolk’s bus service was outsourced as a cost-saving measure. As repeatedly shown, the local government is not usually the best entity to provide products and services that should be handled by businesses. I am glad to see a review of the bus service and only wish for a more thorough analyses of all the operations in our city.
I am also surprised at the findings but through them I am gently reminded about the reasons why citizens must continue to speak toward pursuing excellence, accountability, and transparency in our local government. We should never have had a bus service that picks people up at their front doors, escapes ADA requirements, regularly runs late, continues to use routes that aren’t used by citizens, and more.
Vice-Mayor Milteer shows concern related to people no longer having front-door service. Because the City Council has allowed these practices for years, it will be inconvenient for some.
HRT: Suffolk routes among riskiest, most delayed in region
City of Suffolk 2008-2009 Operating Budget This is the source document that indicates the bus service being handed over as a cost-savings measure.
7 comments:
Based upon the HRT ridership perhaps council would be better served by foregoing further investment, waste and time. Instead a chit system could be used with one of the local livery services underwritten with the Obama Stimulus Package dollars. Door to door service, clean pleasant drivers funded by someone else. I certain Around the Town with Brown Taxis can fill the void.
congrats for the City staff in recognizing that HRT is the experts when it comes to Public Transit.
Deb, please remember it was not HRT pushing the City to take over the System but the City staff asking HRT to take over the system as the City recognized that HRT was far better equipped to deal with this specilized tast.
nice to know the City can admit it in not the best at everthing and is not on a power trip to control all aspects of what goes on in the City.
Way to go Ms. Cuffee-Glenn!
To anon, May 21, 11:40
You are right that the city chose to outsource, but I beg to differ on the reason why. I attended the meeting where the discussions and the votes were made - and it was done for a cost-savings measure, not because Council figured out that someone could do this better.
If your premise were correct, the Council would be asking a key question about everything: What can be done better by someone else and save the citizens money at the same time - which I wish so much Council would do. I also believe the HRT example highlights the need for true performance measures in our city - and not the type of "performance measures" that are included with the budget documents. But that's for another post.
Thanks for your comments; we need to hear all sides of issues so readers can make their own decisions about what is working and what is not.
Council made this decisson only to redirect more money to pet projects, not to "save money"! This was another change for a purpose of the staff, not the citizen.
isn't this change an acknowledgement that an authority that specializes in public transportation can do a better job at providing this service than the City? NO other City in the HRT servce area runs their own bus system. Just check out the last City Council meeting and you will see three staff members from HRT, all Public Transportation Planner. It just seems logical that with all the resources that HRT has, they would be the experts vs. city staff.
And with repeated requests for public transit in the northern area of Suffolk, it seems very logical that HRT could provide this service in the future more easily and at less cost than the City expanding its public tranit department.
At last regionalism takes a hit. Was this the best choise remains in question. Of interest where was our home grown Regionalism Czar Mr. E. Dana Dickens during all this?
Mr. Milteer "The trade-off KING" will insure that door to door drops stay the norm, even if it makes little sense. Another buyout for Milteer.
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