By: Diane Benjamin
h/t: a Reader
From the Connect Transit website: https://www.connect-transit.com/about/our_fleet.asp
Connect Transit has 5 small buses people can schedule to use at a higher cost.
How often are these 5 buses used? PDF page 11: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CbmR9DiMsXr6XQ1U_8AaLtGKH9yGbh_x/view
The 5 buses average 3 boarding per hour. That means a large percentage of the time the 5 buses are doing nothing, especially at night when they aren’t transporting people to appointments. Mobility, according to their website, operates during the same hours as the fixed route buses.
So what do the driver’s do when they don’t have anyone to transport? According to the reader who sent this pic, park and play on a phone. The reader sees this bus parked frequently.
Here’s an idea:
Take a couple huge empty buses off the roads and use the small ones instead!
This is why the Transit Board needs all new representatives – no common sense exists now. Of course the current members were appointed by both mayors and it’s why Koos refuses to appoint Marc Tiritilli. Common sense isn’t allowed.
These smaller buses would not work for Transit Disconnect because the establishment here still thinks it can someday force regular people to ride these buses (thus filling the big buses). It is a prime example of how a flawed ideology (mass transit is good because it replaces cars and is good for the environment) can lead to entrenched crony systems that protect themselves with all sorts of lies and rationalizations for their continued existence.
Gee Whiz, smaller buses? Who knew? They could cycle more frequently. Both part of a successful strategy that works in other out of state communities. So easy that the smaller buses fill up. Bet you could even offer it at no cost to riders and still save expenses vs the Chicago metro sized buses. Now I see the problem. Smaller is entirely logical. And its fiscally responsible. It’ll never work in Illinois.
What you are seeing when you get free money bottomless pit with little or no accountability (government) you are not motivated to manage or make prudent business decisions. As a former manager in corporate America I would have been fired for managing my business like connect transit. Make the company private and see how quickly with real accountability the problems get fixed.
Working people who pay taxes are paying some slug to sit in an empty bus behind trees and play on his/her phone. Marvelous. THIS IS DISGUSTING!
You are paying people to drive empty buses too!
I realize that mobility buses appear to be excessive, and maybe five are, but those with mobility issues have little choice of transportation when they are not in a nursing or assisted living center that have lifts for wheel chairs and power chairs. I don’t know the hours they run, but certainly during the day time the riders have to schedule a ride and give an estimated return time, often need to call for that return trip. One must also take into consideration that these lifts and loading and unloading take time as the chairs must also be secured at both pickup and return.
I know of one woman that uses these mobility vans frequently and without them she would not be able to get to physical therapy or doctors appointments. My wife and I met her at Aldi’s one day and helped her load two baskets of food into bags. When we asked how you was going to transport them she indicated that the driver always helped her into the house when she had bags.
I don’t know that 14 passenger vans are needed, but certainly smaller vans would be more economical as I doubt that the 14 passenger vans are rarely full. Scheduling come also reduce the number of vehicles on the road during none peak times.
You are right that this transit board could actually learn from it’s passengers rather than being filled with political want to bees and friends of the mayors and council.
Just a little stats to follow moderator’s research information in an earlier story, just some fun facts to poiht out how stupid these people are.
April 2019 operating loss for connect transit….$960,518.85
Assuming 24/7 operation (they are not)……$1250.72 per hour
They lose $20.85 a minute…..
Illinois subsidized $657,727 of this in April, a loss of $913.50 per hour
I wonder what the roads in BLM/NOR would look like if just half this figure would have been used by Illinois on roads as opposed to this waste. a continual failure of the state to
properly watch spending….wonder why we are billions in debt.
In April Connect transit claimed 26.31 riders per hour ….
Assuming they operated 24/7 that means a loss of $47.54 for each ride(fare)
Realistically it exceeds $50.00 per ride in loss by Connect Transit.
What a bunch of out of touch morons.
we need dial a ride service as much of the community has no service. Chicago land has it. we need buses that match the ridership demand too. red and green and sometime purple are busy sometimes. . get a r t a. Chicago map the bus stops need a place to stand. meijer need to move the stand to the street
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My mom used to use the special buses. She had to scheduled the bus two hours before her appt and pray they showed up before the appt was over. She once tried to use the special bus to go to a Transit meeting but the special bus never showed up at all. How’s that for service?
Why not get rid of this special bus system, contract out to a local transportation company. Make it an competitive bid situation, invent them to keep cost low with tax incentives. This will reduce capital expenditure for buses, maintenance, etc. The contractor should be reimbursed for buses, which they, probably lease, at their actual cost plus %. Labor cost for drivers would be charged by the contractor on a manhour (oops did I say man? Hell yea! ) basis . For example, let’s just take an arbitrary wage rate of $10..00/hr for simplicity purposes. So the contractor charges a bill rate based upon this pricing formula,
Cost Per Labor Hour
Wage:
Payroll taxes, GL insurance. WC , SUI , and FUI. (1)
Direct costs. (2)
Variable costs. (3)
Contractor Overhead Cost (4)
TOTAL DIRECT COSTS
PROFIT (5)
BILLING RATE PER-HOUR TO CITY FOR LABOR. (6
(1) GL = General Liability Insurance, WC= Workers Comp Ins. SUI= State Unemployment Insurance
FUI= Federal Unemployment Insurance
(2) Direct Cost= Any other forecasted cost the contractor anticipates spending for this project Supplies,
Uniforms, Cleaning Equip, etc
(3). Variable Cost= Vacation, PTO, Sick Leave, Other paid leave, Training payroll cost, Travel cost,
Group Medical Insurance, etc.
(4) Contractor Overhead = All office overhead costs directly supporting and managing the Transit
Program.
(5). Profit %= % of Bill Rate going towards profit and also expressed as cost per man hour.
(6). Billing Rate= Charge per labor hour for each hour worked by contractor employee.
Bus or Van costs ( including any other special leases, costs such as fuel, oil, maintenance, etc. All othe non labor cost) should be a billed as a pass through plus 10% Administration Fee
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) should be developed and mutually agreed to by the Transit Board and Contractor. If the Contractor meets or exceeds these KPIs. Any additional award would be paid to the company, and the company would be required to share this award with employees assigned to the Transit Project.This could be done on a semi yearly or quarterly basis, and it would drive a higher level of performance. Failure to meet the KPI bonus requirements would result in no award for that period.
This formula would reduce cost and incentivize a higher level of performance. No more capital expenditures absorbed and paid for by the citizens. It would ensure tighter control over cost. Better accountability.
All good ideas, though not sure they would work within the frame work of government bureaucracy.
This shows both ‘thinking outside the box’ and a desire to serve the customers of CT vs the management of CT, two things that are sadly missing in the CT board today. Have you considered throwing your hat in the ring to be on the board? You seem better than the current nominees. (That’s intended as a compliment, even if it could be taken as an insult.)
Only people who believe downtown Bloomington needs a transfer station will be appointed. It’s the agenda, not common sense.
Yes, just like in the left’s agenda nationally… the narrative must be preserved and those who don’t completely agree with the agenda threaten the narrative. So the left becomes isolated and only hears what it wants to hear inside its own echo chamber. This is why both nationally and locally we look at what they say and the agendas/narratives they are promoting and wonder if they live on the same planet with us?
So unless there is a leadership change here, you will not see anyone appointed to the CT board who is not in complete agreement with the current (out-of-touch) agenda that our leftist leadership supports.
The outsourcing idea I presented has worked ,all over the nation from Miami to Bangor, from Laredo to Fargo, from Albuquerque to Anchorage. This model has worked at Federal, State, County. and City governments where Transit, Police, Fire, Garbage, Parking, Plowing., Security, and Office Services has-been provided. I personally have provided most of the above service to Counties, Cities, Federal
Facilities, Contract Deputy US. Marshall’s/ CSOs in Federal Courthouses, Highly trained armed personnel for CIA facilities. The World Bank in DC, Parking Facilities,,and many more type of operations. It works in any environment involving labor. It’s very simple. Easy to calculate, budget, track, forecast. I did so as a VP for three decades for revenue up to $220M in an 8B company. What do u mean it wouldn’t work in a Government Bureaucracy? Contract employee payroll is billed at an hourly bill rate predicted upon a living wage. The wage drives the bill rate – see above formula.Buses and equipment are leased by the contractor and billed back at the contractors monthly lease cost plus 10%. Actually, this model would eliminate the sacred cows. The employees work for the contractor, not the city.. Pay a good wage. A good benefit package, avoid unionization.It makes it very easy to terminate non performing employees. I’m not interested in serving, I wouldn’t put up with the garbage these people spew.