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Pastimes : Where the GIT's are going -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: sandintoes who wrote (118804)	7/25/2006 11:55:45 PM
From: Peter Dierks	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 225578

MARTA has hiring freeze, proposes 135 route eliminations Atlanta Business Chronicle - December 12, 2001 ... bizjournals.com - - - - - - - - - - - - Atlanta's MARTA Lacks Leadership, Severe Service Cuts Likely Georgia \| Transportation Posted by: C. Scott Smith 24 February, 2004 - 8:00am Metro Atlanta's mass transit system is in a financial crisis and faces possible service cuts of as much as 35 percent...and there is no public outcry. "There's a sense of urgency on my part because we are dying on the vine," says Nathaniel Ford, MARTA's general manager. "It's almost like a slow death with 1,000 cuts." Instead of an outpouring of aid for MARTA, state and local leaders are spending their time nitpicking and criticizing the system. Here is an agency that has cut 725 positions in the last three years and reduced its annual budget by more than $5 million. It has done that while investing nearly $1 billion in its infrastructure, trying to overcome years of neglect and deferred maintenance. Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Feb 23, 2004 planetizen.com - - - - - - - - Oversight committee examines MARTA's new budget Atlanta Business Chronicle - June 10, 2005by Ryan MahoneyStaff Writer The Georgia General Assembly's MARTA oversight committee ran a fine-toothed comb through the transit authority's new fiscal 2006 budget in an all-day hearing June 9. Led by state Rep. Jill Chambers (R-Atlanta), members of the joint House and Senate committee known as MARTOC requested more information about MARTA's legal expenses, engineering costs, derivatives transactions and the sale-leaseback agreements on its rail cars and tracks. "We need thorough explanations" before MARTOC's next meeting on Aug. 18, Chambers said. "These are very complicated transactions." Chambers also asked about MARTA's practice of re-hiring retired workers on a contract basis and whether there were any potential ethical conflicts between the authority's employees and the companies it does business with. State Sen. Vincent Fort (D-Atlanta) said he was more than satisfied with MARTA's responses, most of which came from general manager Nathaniel Ford. "I think there is an effort to badmouth MARTA," Fort said. "But I have not heard anything that says there is mismanagement, or that there is fat." Fort also reported the findings of a subcommittee he led that found MARTA's average annual expenditures of $54,862 per employee were below those of other large transit systems nationwide and that its health care costs decreased 12 percent to $36.9 million in fiscal 2005. On June 7, MARTA's board of directors unanimously approved a $323.5 million operating budget that avoids a hotly debated 25-cent increase in the basic one-way fare (which will remain at $1.75) to help close the gap between the amount the authority spends and the amount it takes in. Instead, MARTA will modify several train schedules and bus routes, including dropping its shuttle to the Six Flags Over Georgia theme park and tacking a $1 surcharge onto shuttles to and from HiFi Buys Amphitheatre and Turner Field. In addition, it will lay off another 62 employees and cut back specialized bus service for the disabled to the minimum levels required under federal law. Under this new plan, MARTA still anticipates a deficit of $15.9 million in fiscal 2006 and will deplete its reserves in two more years, according to Ford. Ford also said the authority was "not close" to signing a new contract with its union, although he was optimistic a new agreement would be reached before the current one expires June 30. bizjournals.com Hmmmm: Democrats satisfied with MARTA - Republicans question MARTA - No political cover going on by partisan Democrats covering up ofr their politcal allies, do you think? - - - - - - - - Tuesday, May 16, 2006 MARTA BOARD APROVES FY07 BUDGET Some enhancements to service now possible due to fiscal responsibility in years past MARTA’s Board of Directors voted to approve the Authority’s FY07 Capital and Operating Budget during their regular monthly meeting held earlier today, May 15, 2006. It includes $344.75 million in projected operating expenditures and $403.7 million in projected capital outlay. The budget was based on the guiding principles of maintaining financial stability, improving customer service and reinvesting in MARTA’s infrastructure to ensure reliable, safe transportation into the future. “After two years of cutting service and reducing staff to meet MARTA’s budget needs, I could not be prouder of the fact that this budget will actually enhance our customer’s experience,” said MARTA Board Chairman Ed Wall. The FY07 budget includes no cuts to service, nor does it include a fare increase. Highlights of the operating budget include: additional bus and paratransit operators; additional cleaning staff for vehicles and rail stations; and modest enhancements to service including the expansion of MARTA’s small bus program. The operating budget also funds additional customer service staff who will be deployed to assist MARTA riders through the transition to the new Breeze fare collection system and help the Authority accommodate the growing numbers of paratransit riders. “The things we are able to do in this year’s budget would not have been possible without the hard work and sacrifices our employees have made over the past few years,” added Interim General Manager/CEO Richard McCrillis. “While we are certainly not out of the woods completely, our financial outlook has somewhat stabilized, allowing us to focus on improving our customer’s experience. This is an exciting time - as our major capital improvement programs are completed over the next few years, our riders and the region will begin to see a virtually new MARTA.” MARTA’s FY07 capital budget will have an equally positive impact on customers – funding capital improvement programs scheduled for completion between now and 2008. Highlights of the capital budget include: both rail car and track rehabilitation, new clean-fuel vehicle procurement, enhancements to safety and communications systems, and improvements to infrastructure throughout the transit system. Media Contact: Joselyn Baker jbbaker@itsmarta.com itsmarta.com It sure looks rosey from MARTA's perspective.