Archive for Friday, March 28, 2008
City, KU review 2 bus proposals
March 28, 2008
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City weighs bus system proposals
Running the city's public transportation system is going to cost more in 2009, and city leaders are in the process of determining how much. 6News reporter Chad Lawhorn has more. Enlarge video
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City and Kansas University leaders are reviewing two proposals from bus companies interested in operating both the city and university's bus systems.
Cliff Galante, public transit administrator for the city, confirmed that MV Transportation - the current city and university operator - and First Transit - the company that provides school bus service to the Lawrence school district - have submitted proposals.
Galante declined to release details from the proposals, but he said it is clear the city will not receive nearly as good a deal on diesel fuel from either provider as it currently does.
"I can tell you this much," Galante said. "Our costs are definitely going up."
Galante said he hopes he and his KU counterparts will be able to make a recommendation on a provider within the next one to two months so that city commissioners can consider it as part of their 2009 budget deliberations. Those deliberations will begin this summer.
The cost to continue operating the city's public transit service is expected to be one of the larger issues facing the city. City staff members have braced commissioners for a significant increase in public transit costs, in part because of the fuel issue and also because the city's bus fleet is in need of replacement.
The city's current contract, which expires at the end of 2008, has a provision that caps how much the city will pay for diesel fuel at $1.62 per gallon. Galante said the proposed contracts come nowhere close to providing that type of fuel break for the city. The bus system uses about 170,000 gallons of fuel per year.
Commissioners have stopped short of saying they can support more money for public transit. Instead, commissioners asked any company submitting a proposal to provide prices for two reduced-service scenarios. Commissioners said they wanted to see prices based on keeping the T service at status quo levels, one cutting service by 30 percent and the other cutting service by 50 percent.
Danny Kaiser, assistant director of parking and transit for KU, said university leaders are keeping a close eye on the commission's attitude toward transit.
Both KU and city leaders have been interested in working on a system that would coordinate routes, fares and other systems between the T and the university bus system. Kaiser said many efficiencies and some cost savings could be gained by having better coordinated systems.
"But the benefits of doing what we're trying to do diminish quite a bit if the other party starts reducing service," Kaiser said.
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28 March 2008
at 6:27 a.m.
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LogicMan (Anonymous) says…
The T's commission shouldn't forget the base option — to mothball the program. Put the city-owned equipment in storage, and wait for the economy to slow to the point where public transportation is really needed here in this small town.
28 March 2008
at 6:54 a.m.
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booze_buds_03 (Anonymous) says…
The one major thing I have yet to understand is this. Why do the city's busses need replacing after some 8 or so years? Especially after KU recently purchased old city buses from some city, maybe portland, that were 18 years old at the time and they appear to be working just fine.
28 March 2008
at 7:38 a.m.
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Unix_Admin (Anonymous) says…
I think the University buses came from the city of Sacramento. I agree they appear to be just fine.
28 March 2008
at 11:12 a.m.
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hawkperchedatriverfront (Anonymous) says…
This goes from very bad to very, very bad. There were no leaders around when the T was started. At that time, both KU and the city should have had a plan an implemented it, instead they continue to experiment. An experiment in ignorance and wasteful spending. Lawrence will never, never ever have a real bus system. Never!
28 March 2008
at 5:20 p.m.
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gccs14r (Anonymous) says…
Why contract it out instead of having the City run it? It makes no sense to pay some outfit millions a year to run the bus system if we have to provide the busses. Also, why do the busses need to be replaced already? I think some cities still use 1960s-era GMC busses. If the ones we bought are already near death, we got ripped off.