Transit Costs Are Off the Rails

Getting Budgets Back on Track

And now, an NBC Bay Area Editorial:

Never before have our public agencies been in such need of adopting survival strategies from private companies to consolidate.

I'm Suzanne Shaw (NBC Bay Area Editorial Director)

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission, which oversees the Bay Area's twenty-eight transit operators, from Bart to the ferries, reports we're spending millions more than the national average on administration. Nationwide, transit "admin" costs run 14% of operations, we're spending 20%.

Do we really need twenty-eight separate purchasing departments? Twenty-eight planning departments? 

MTC staff says by consolidating certain functions, we could save $90 million a year. So let's do it!

In past editorials, NBC Bay Area has called for consolidation of school districts. We believe the same philosophy of consolidation should apply to public transit.

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