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Council Mtg. February 23, 1982
T0: Mayor and City Council
FROM: City Staff
SUBJECT: SUBMISSION OF SHORT RANGE TRANSIT PLAN
Introduction
Santa Monica, California
This report requests that the City Council authorize the City Manager to file a
Short Range Transit Plan(SRTP) with the Southern California Association of Gov-
ernments(SCAG) and the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission (LACTC), in
order to remain eligible for State and Federal transportation grant funds. The
deadline for filing this year's plan is March 1, 1982.
Background
Federal Transportation System Management regulations require the City to prepare
an annual Short Range Transit Plan, based on a study of existing operations and
future plans, in order to remain eligible for Federal transportation funds. This
document also serves as the basis of requests for State transportation funds.
Although the primary purpose of the SRTP is to provide budget information and
justification for use by the LACTC in making subsidy allocations for fiscal 1983,
the Plan also provides an important look at future years based on information
currently available to the City. However, fiscal years beyond 1983 will again be
addressed in next year's version of the Plan.
This year the City retained the services of ATE Management and Service Company
to prepare the document according to the guidelines set forth by SCAG through the
LACTC. A major problem addressed for the first time in this plan is the Federal
Administration's decision to phaseout Federal operating assistance entirely. In
past years, the City normally received an allocation of Federal operating assist-
once which represented approximately 25% of the Department's operating budget.
As the report indicates, the withdrawal of this funding will lead to higher fares
and less service in future years. However, the Department's ability to conserve ~~'~
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To: Mayor and City Council -2- February 23, 1982
federal operating funds in prior years and to use these carryover funds in FY 83
and FY 84 substantially cushions the impact that would otherwise have occurred
due to the loss of these funds.
In line with the SRTP guidelines, the document describes and evaluates existing
conditions of Transportation Department service and facilities, then presents a
five year plan, including revenues by source, expenditures, miles of service to
be operated and capital programs to be pursued. ATE notes in summarizing the
existing conditions that Santa Monica service is marked by high productivity and
efficiency; that its maintenance facilities lack space for the size of fleet to
be maintained; and that in the last three years, new equipment has lowered the
average fleet age to 4.5 years, but that reliability problems with newer buses
has lead to an increased need for spare buses and placed even greater importance
on remodeling and expanding the facility. It should be noted that the FY 1982
financial figures are based on the Transportation Department's budget. However,
as shown in the mid-year financial review recently presented to the City Council,
actual expenses are expected to be below budget.
The Commission distributes State and Federal transportation funds to each eligible
operator in Los Angeles County based on a formula, of which 95% is given to each
operator under all circumstances and the other S% distributed at the discretion
of the Commission. The Commission requires each operator to develop three
scenarios of the future based on receipt of 95%, 100% and lOSo of the transit
operator's formula share.
All three scenarios presented in the SRTP include an increase in the basic cash
fare from 35¢ to SO¢ in mid-FY1983, with additional increases for fiscal years
1985, 1986, and 1987, to a total of 90¢ at that time. All three plans maintain
the existing level of service in FY 1983, but project a 14o decrease in miles
operated over the five year period, reflecting the anticipated loss of passengers
To: Mayor and City Council -3- February 23, 1982
caused by the fare increases. Under the 95o plan, even with the fare increases
and mileage reductions, the SRTP projects budget deficits of approximately $1.2
million annually in FY 1985, FY 1986 and FY 1987. Since Santa Monica received
only 95o funding in FY 1982, funding at the 95% level in the future is not an
unlikely possibility.
The 100% plan also projects budget deficits in FY 1985., FY 1986 and FY 1987,
ranging from $500,000 to $600,000 annually. Nevertheless, this 1000 plan is
being put forward as the recommended plan, as it is based on Santa Monica
receiving its full fair share of the formula funds. In the event that either of
the above plans are funded at the levels outlined in the SRTP, and all other
projections for FY 1985 and beyond hold true, it would be necessary to reallocate
funds from other priorities, or to raise fares even higher, to cover the budget
deficits.
The Plan based on receiving lOSo of the formula share of funds in each of the
next five years would eliminate the budget deficits completely. However, allo-
cation of a 105% share annually to Santa Monica for each of the next five years,
would mean that SCRTD and/or the County's other municipal transit operators
would receive less than their formula shares. Since the other operators are gen-
erally in worse financial shape than Santa Monica, this is considered a highly
unlikely scenario.
In view of Santa Monica's poor experience with advanced design buses, the five
year capital program includes the selective rehabilitation of older Big Blue
Buses in addition to the purchase of new replacement buses. Also included in the
the capital program is the modernization of the Department's radio system and re-
placement of fireboxes. The modest level of the capital program, which remains
unchanged under all three plans reflects the Federal Government's announced
To: Mayor and City Council -4- February 23, 1982
intention to reduce Federal capital funding for transportation in addition to
the complete phase-out of Federal operating funds.
Recommendation
City staff recommends that the City Council authorize the City Manager to file
the Short Range Transit Plan with the Southern California Association of Govern-
ments and the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission.
Prepared by: J. F. Hutchison
R. L. Ayer