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service standards, budgets, and fares. Staff's responsibility in managing the O&M contract <br />will be to ensure the Board's policy is carried out. <br /> <br />This administrative function can be perforned by an independent agency, such as a regional <br />transit authority, or by an existing public agency that assumes the responsibility. In the former <br />case, the long term development of the transit system is perhaps best served by a regionwide, <br />special purpose authority that acts as an official advocate of the total transit program. <br />However, this development of the ultimate system structure can be transitioned from an <br />interim step. <br /> <br />The immediate need is to identify a "home" for the regional transit administration. An <br />approach that has been applied successfully in other jurisdictions is the use of a city's structure <br />to be the focus of the development of a transit program. Again, using the example of <br />Maricopa County in Arizona, the City of Phoenix was designated the lead agency for transit <br />development until a. regional organization was warranted. In its role as Regional Transit <br />Administrator, the City staff worked with neighboring cities to determine cost effective transit <br />services that the cities would support financially. The services were operated by a contract <br />service provider. The City acted as a broker for services, with reimbursements from other <br />cities that received bus services that they contracted for. On a reasonably limited basis, the <br />system works well and fosters a sense of cooperation among the parties to the service <br />contracts. <br /> <br />The advantages of the interim step are to utilize the existing administrative structure while the <br />transit agency is small, and focus attention on market development and customer service rather <br />than organizational issues. The existing city infrastructure for payroll, benefits, technical <br />services, and so on, does not have to be duplicated for a small staff size. The incremental <br />costs of accommodating the transit group are very minor. The portion of those costs <br />associated with services outside the city are reimbursable by the contracting city. <br /> <br />Figure 2 illustrates the different structures and how they relate to the administrative function. <br /> <br />· Finance <br /> <br />The financial dealings of the transit agency will be dictated by the source(s) of revenue. For <br />example, if Federal Transit Administration funds are received, there are many federal <br />guidelines that must be followed in the expenditure of these funds. The regulations that flow <br />from the financial sources will require various reporting formats and information that will be <br />generated by the O&M contractor. Therefore, it will be important to define these sources <br />before contracts are awarded for O&M services. <br /> <br />The other consideration in the financial area is the mix of funds that can be used to support <br />services. For example, capital funding for some social service vehicles prohibits the collection <br />of fares and, therefore, limits the use of these vehicles. Generally, the restrictions on the use <br /> <br />Gannett Fleming <br />ENGINEERS AND PLANNERS <br /> <br /> <br />