Posted on 06/03/2005 1:30:50 PM PDT by Antonio Ciaccia
This was written primarily for Ohio State students, but covers the current problems and dirty tricks involved in in public transportation in all of our nation's major cities:
Ohio State students are becoming increasingly strapped for cash as the university attaches extra costs to an already expensive education. Aside from tuition rising to record-highs, students are also compelled to pay for extraneous additions like the Student Activity Fee, Larkins Hall memberships, and the Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA).
COTA has been a part of the Columbus area since 1974. After a privately owned bus system discovered that busing was not profitable and that the public interest for a constantly-operating transportation service was on the decline, the company folded in 1971. Since there was little interest in busing, the local governments decided that they would create the interest, and with that, COTA was born.
On the national level, Columbus receives $66 million dollars from federal taxes for transit service. Franklin County’s students and citizens have been publicly funding COTA since its conception in 1974 as well. In 1997, students voted on making COTA “free” to all BUCKID holders for a quarterly fee of $9. In addition to the funding it was already receiving, in 1999 a 0.25% permanent sales tax was levied to help COTA to stay afloat.
Over the past few years, COTA has been forced to make cuts to its less productive routes and also decrease the number of buses available throughout the day. Yet in spite of these extreme cuts, COTA has found a way to increase its spending. According to a 2004 Columbus Dispatch analysis, “compared with peer agencies nationwide, COTA’s costs last year [2003] were among the highest and its number of riders was among the lowest.”
In 2003, COTA reported to have accumulated a $2.8 million deficit, and in 2004 it was estimated to have lost over $1 million as well. All of this comes at the expense of the Columbus taxpayer. Now, despite all of these fiscal dilemmas, COTA is looking to expand and it needs more Columbus tax dollars to do it.
COTA has unveiled a plan entitled Vision 2020. The plan’s chief goal is to create a light rail system that will stretch all over the city of Columbus. Currently, the venture is projected to cost somewhere in the billions of dollars. A similar proposition was introduced in the city of Detroit in 1987 with a rail system called “The People Mover,” constructed at a cost of $200 million. This rail service has a capacity of 40,000 travelers per day, and its 2.9 mile loop services various sports venues, hotels, and shopping districts.
The railway charges each passenger 50 cents. At first glance, this cost sounds like quite a deal. Yet interest in the People Mover is low, and it has never attracted an adequate number of riders (approximately 2,000-8,000 per day). Because of this, the People Mover only generates about $1.5 million in annual revenue while it costs about $12.5 million in maintenance. The city of Detroit subsidized it to the tune of over $10 million last year. According to the Detroit Free Press, "that means each of the 2 million 50-cent People Mover rides cost taxpayers more than $5."
Here in Columbus, it is expected that much of the same will occur, and with COTA’s poor financial track record, it can also be expected to be worse. In 1986, the estimate to build a light rail was $80 million with $4 million per year in maintenance. In 1998, the approximation grew considerably with $50 million spent per mile in construction alone. At that time, it was estimated that total rail costs would be into the billions of dollars within just a few years.
Of course, this may sound a bit expensive. So expensive, in fact, that The Buckeye Institute for Public Policy Solutions determined that it would be cheaper to lease every projected rider of the proposed system a new Ford Explorer than to build rail ($480 per passenger vs. $402 per lease).
Due to what some would call an outrageous price tag on these rail systems, public opinion is usually against subsidizing them. To cover the billions of dollars in costs, COTA will likely receive $250 million from the tax-funded Federal Transit Administration (FTA). They have also proposed that we increase the sales tax another 0.5%. Since citizens tend to oppose approving the tax levies for such projects, the FTA attempts to seize tax money on the national level to lessen the strain on the local taxpayers. This trick gives the illusion that these costly undertakings are much less than expected.
Of course, COTA receives guaranteed funding from other sources, including, as previously stated, colleges. Currently, every Ohio State student is charged $9 each quarter for a pass on their bus systems. But with the addition of light rail services, that number is likely to increase.
With all of these public sources of assured funding, COTA is left less accountable to its riders, because no matter what, it will still receive that guaranteed money.
Most students avoid COTA for their transportation. Their buses are rickety and dingy, and they are frequently used by some of Columbus’ more unsavory and homeless characters. On top of that, COTA’s evening routes are less frequent than their afternoon shifts and service ends after midnight. In truth, most students avoid riding COTA at all costs, which is why taxi services are the primary mode of transportation to go downtown.
COTA receives money from the students regardless of the quality and timeliness of their buses. This lack of accountability makes new safer and more reliable modes of transportation priced out of the market, and COTA is left with the reassurance that a private enterprise will not arise to take even more away from their already diminishing “business.” It is for reasons such as these that USG recently formed a partnership with the Central Ohio German Village Taxi Company. The deal reached allows cheap, flat rates for students seeking transportation from campus.
According to former USG president Aftab Pureval, “The idea came from the fact that the university safety escort service was being misused by students. Many students would call ahead and schedule for the service to pick them up from a house party and take them to a bar. It was pretty obvious that students wanted a cheaper taxi service. I had come across one similar to the one we have recently started at the University of Dayton. I realize that we have the COTA bus service. However, COTA is not a twenty four-hour service and many students need transportation late at night.”
Pureval’s comments make it clear that students are seeking an alternative, and we are fortunate to see action on this front. COTA has a long history of being financially irresponsible, and furthermore, they have shown little hesitation in raiding federal and local treasuries to bail them out of dilemmas. Now, their goal of expansion will come at a further cost to Columbus residents and students, and all the while, a lack of accountability has COTA officials laughing all the way to the bank.
Great article :)
"...Yet in spite of these extreme cuts, COTA has found a way to increase its spending..."
Sounds like the DC metro.
Boondoogle choo choo ping.
They are building a light rail system from Lebanon, TN to Nashville despite the fact that interest in it is near zero except among politicians. Mainly because it will dead end near downtown Nashville where there is almost no shopping and no one except state and federal employees work. It is a tremendous waste of taxpayer money.
Besides, Central Ohioans are wedded to their cars (this ain't Boston or NYC).
At major universities, such as Ohio State, it is appropriate that students be assessed a separate fee to cover the expenses of the variety of services and amenities that are provided to the student community. This would include student activities, membership in recreational sports facilities AND provision of some form of campus transportation system (usually buses) that helps them get around a large campus, to/from off-campus housing and apartment complexes that cater to students, and perhaps a shuttle to local shopping/business districts.
That said, it is NOT appropriate to divert student fees into the local mass transportation system that provides service to the entire community, especially in a major city like Columbus where the population (500K+) is substantially larger than the university community.
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