Ennis: “C-TRAN’s annual operating costs have more than doubled (up 112 percent) since 1996, rising from $17 million per year to $36 million per year.”
First, C-TRAN’s operating cost increase during this period is the second lowest of the Washington state urban transit systems Mr. Ennis compares C-TRAN to, a fact he neglects to mention. He also neglected to mention the primary factors leading to the increase:
• C-TRAN had 34 more employees in 2010 than in 1996 because of federally mandated increases in paratransit service for persons with disabilities
• 222 percent increase in fuel costs
• 167 percent increase in liability insurance and claims
• 135 percent increase in utility costs
Ennis: “In fact, since 1996 C-TRAN officials have doubled workers’ average annual salaries.”
Ask yourself what your annual salary was in 1996. Data from the Washington State Employment Security Department shows the average annual wage in Clark County increased from $26,994 in 1996 to $41,752 in 2010. C-TRAN’s figures are $23,300 and $43,972 respectively. 39 percent of this increase is due to inflation and the balance is what has been needed to attract and retain quality employees.
Ennis: “In 1996, there were only two C-TRAN employees who received more than $75,000 per year in wage compensation, for a total annual cost of about $163,000. By 2010, the number of these high-wage employees had grown to 21 and they now cost taxpayers more than $1.8 million per year.”
Ennis conveniently forgets to adjust the $75,000 for inflation. If he had, it would be $104,750 in 2010 dollars. Only two C-TRAN employees made over that amount in 2010.
Ennis: “…employee wages now represent 78 percent of C-TRAN’s total annual operating budget, which ranks the highest among all urban transit agencies across Washington state.”
Ennis artificially depressed the wage costs at the state’s other urban transit systems by excluding the cost of service they contract out to other providers. For example, King County Metro contracts out paratransit service at a cost of around $121 million per year, most of which goes to wages. Once the contractors’ employee wage costs are added back, the share of wages on total operating budget are nearly identical to C-TRAN’s.
Ennis goes on to fault C-TRAN for poor gains in ridership since 1996 (a 6.6 percent increase) and low market share (only 1.6 percent of all daily person trips).
C-TRAN’s ridership reached its all time high in 1999 with nearly 8 million passenger trips. The passage of Initiative I-695 in 2000, however, cut C-TRAN’s public funding in half. In response, C-TRAN initiated a series of service reductions and fare increases between 2001-2011. In fact, C-TRAN’s fare revenue has increased 255 percent since 1996 and its farebox recovery (the amount riders pay toward the cost of operations) is now second only to King County Metro. When you combine significant fare increases, service reductions and high unemployment from the recession, it is not surprising C-TRAN’s ridership has not increased more. And it was not until voters approved C-TRAN’s 2011 ballot measure that the agency’s financial condition has stabilized since the lost of state funding in 1999.
Finally, the value of C-TRAN to the community does not lie entirely in the volume of passengers transported. Yes, C-TRAN’s 6.9 million riders in 2011 is a small percentage of the regions total person trips. But most of us never use the Salmon Creek Interchange at 134th St. and I-5 either, and its 5 percent of total county vehicle trips is forecast to shrink to 3.5 percent by 2035. Does that mean the $133 million in taxpayer dollars going to improve the interchange is a bad investment?
Many transit riders have no other means of transportation by virtue of income, age or disability. According to the 2010 Census, 9 percent of households in C-TRAN’s core service area have no vehicle available to them. Also at critical times and locations, C-TRAN does help manage traffic congestion. C-TRAN’s Park & Ride lots take more than 1,300 cars off our freeways every weekday during rush hour.
The Ennis assertion that C-TRAN costs and operation performance compare poorly to other urban transit systems in Washington is simply not true. And while the value of public transportation to our community can be debated, the agency’s performance indicators are a reflection of policy and financial tradeoffs, not mismanagement or indifference to costs and the number of citizens served.
Jeff Hamm is the executive director and CEO of C-TRAN.
