By: Diane Benjamin
It should come as no surprise by now the Title of this story is how much Connect Transit lost in just the month of April.
Let that sink in for a minute.
Source: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1w_NfO02u72tKHxv6ZdTJY8wbMLepDP7J/view
April had 30 days. That means the empty buses were burning $29,973 in tax dollars EVERY DAY in April.
Connect had revenue for April of a whooping $114,136. The cost of health insurance for the employees was $103,590.
The year to date fiscal year loss (9 months) is $8,631,477.
Passengers per Hour:
Monthly Riders:
(This isn’t the number of riders, it’s the number of boardings. If a rider needs to take 2 buses to get somewhere and back – that’s a total of FOUR for just one person.)
More on the employee health insurance:
Employees get to choose between 3 plans: (PDF page 30)
The documents don’t say how much employees pay.
Connect Mobility:
According to PDF page 10, Connect Mobility (those small buses) cost between $26 and $30 per person. Of course riders don’t pay that much. The Board may finally penalize riders who are no-shows. Nothing happens unless a rider has 5 no-shows in one month. See PDF page 34, they get a warning letter.
If the rider has two months of 5 no shows, they can’t ride for 5 days.
Three months of 5 or more is 10 days of no riding. Four months is 15 days off. The penalties will continue to increase in 5 day increments, but can’t exceed 30 days.
This “punishment” sounds like sending a kid to their room with their smart phone, TV, and video gaming system.
Finally:
From the March minutes: https://www.connect-transit.com/documents/Meetings/Minutes/March%2027%20%202018%20Regular%20Board%20Meeting%20Proceedings%20-FINAL%20v1.pdf
FOIA filed.
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(Dis)Connect Transit delivers a sizeable voter block for local politicians, including riders, greeny do-gooders, local non-profits, and its employees. There’s no incentive from our big government mayors and city/town councils to rein in Connect Transit. If anyone in media (present company excluded) or local business/civic leadership reported this loss, citizens would be outraged. They do a good job avoiding responsibility and accountability, especially with the getaway drivers at the Chamber, EDC, BN Advantage, WGLT, and the Pantagraph.
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Yes you are correct… this is an abomination and a tremendous waste of taxpayer money that could be used for any number of worthwhile projects.
C’mon, Lawrence451, it only takes 2 hours to go from CIRA to State Farm HQ. Now that’s efficiency! What’s this Uber thing those crazy young people are all into? Ha!
Uber is paying to advertise on the buses now.
Uber is advertising on the city zombie buses? That is great… Maybe there is a horror movie plot within our bus system…. Night of the Living Buses…. they are dead but just don’t know it? Kept alive by insane politicians, their supporters and their area cronies.
Facts are important. You should consider where you get your news, Larry. Uber Displays is the name of the company which provides the electronic ads on the backs of the buses. Not associated with Uber, the ride sharing service. Facts, matter. Maybe consider branching out with your news sources.
I will respect your opinions when you respect the 90+ percent I get right. At least I don’t have to have an entire column for “Setting it right” like some local media.
Imagine if the $899,191.05 per month was earmarked for new local tech companies starting up or research grants instead of empty zombie buses driving around town operating on a failed business model. It’s long past time for different leadership in local government and the local business community. These cowards won’t try anything new or admit to making a mistake. So sad!
Imagine if some of that $899,191 could be used to fix o’neil pool for the poor kids on the west side?
Yes!! Parks has the cost of updating the pool and park at $10M. The problem is that most of the subsidized money for CT comes from the Federal & State specifically for public transportation. The City & Town contribute about $1M.
CT falis under the category of “infrastructure.” Keep that in mind when Renner mentions all the money the Council is spending on infrastructure.
Only government will thank and give gift cards for total incompetence. How about Mark Peterson explaining the almost monthly 1 million dollars lost on Connect Transit which he helped to promote. Leaving because facts are coming out of the total incompetence of the board?
Facts are important. If you read more closely, as a reporter should, you’d see the Uber Displays is the name of the company which provides the electronic ads on the backs of the buses. Not associated with Uber, the ride sharing service. Facts, Diane.
Who cares? $900,000 in losses a month would by cars for everyone riding the bus system. The point here is there are alternatives to a bus system in a town this size. Have you ever ridden the bus to get from point A to point B? A 6 minute trip turns into a 45 minute site seeing tour. I am a loss as to how anyone could defend this system in 2018?
He has to, he works for government
OK – got it…
I work for the government? Another one of your “facts?” You say the bus system “loses” $900k per year, based on info you read in this blog, Larry. So take that with a grain of salt. Say, should we charge a toll on all roads to pay for them? Roads lose money and require constant maintenance. Should the surcharge on all tickets fully pay for the cost of running the airport? Or should we close roads and shutdown the airport because they’re subsidized? Should we shutter the police department until they come up with a business plan to turn a profit?
(00,000 per MONTH! Facts matter. I think I heard somebody say that.
You are comparing a bus system to the police department? How many towns have police and police departments and no bus system? That is your argument? Are you serious? Please everyone don’t choke on anything because you are laughing so hard at Rich’s argument to keep a bus system the loses $900,000 a month and carries almost no one….FYI… Rich… there is a vast difference between roads, airports, police departments and a bus system. No one except you could conceive of comparing them and using them as an example to keep a failed bus system running. “Roads lose money and require constant maintenance.” Are you serious? Roads lose money? Are the roads here in town gambling on the side and we don’t know it? Roads don’t have the ability to lose money. They are what people call infrastructure, Rich. The next time you see a road out losing money… please call the police…. if of course they are not also out currently losing money in a crap game or whatever… LOL…