Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutFY 2024 (Transportation Agency) Budget Narrative TRANSPORTATION AGENCY FY 2024 BUDGET AND OPERATIONS SYNOPSIS Celia Mahikoa Executive 2 3 4 1. MAJOR CHANGES AND/OR VARIANCES IN OPERATIONS BUDGET Highway Fund Regular Salaries and related Benefits expenses are being increased by $178,008 and $51,513 respectively due to collective bargaining pay increases. The Highway Fund supports 50% of Full-Time Bus Driver payroll expenses. No new positions were obtained. Vehicle/Equipment, Lease expenses decreased by $1,115,000 due to the expense now being budgeted in the General Excise Tax fund. General Excise Tax Fund Regular Salaries, Wages and Hourly Pay, and related Benefits expense amounts are being increased by $422,072 and $94,069 respectively due to collective bargaining pay increases. No new positions were obtained. Utilities expenses are being decreased by $1,570 to adjust budgeted amounts closer to recent actuals. Vehicle/Equipment, Lease budgeted amount increased by $1,532,577 primarily due to its transfer from the Highway Fund (see “Vehicle/Equipment, Lease” comment in the Highway Fund section above). Operations budgeted expenses increased by $245,698, primarily to reflect anticipated increases in fuel expenses. OPERATIONAL CHALLENGES Primary operational challenges the Kaua‘i Bus continues to experience follow: 1) Kaua’i’s Short-Range Transit Plan was completed in 2018 and provides the County with a list of useful recommendations for improving Kaua‘i Bus service that upon implementation will continue to increase the effectiveness, efficiency, and user-friendly nature of this essential public transit service for the people of Kaua‘i. The ongoing support provided by our Mayor, Councilmembers, and many other partners in public service has provided the County Transportation Agency the resources and capability to continue to successfully implement some of the significant changes recommended. Meanwhile, the greatest challenge faced by the Kaua‘i Bus continues to be the limited space on which the bus baseyard, repair shop, and administrative facility are located. The current facility was constructed over 20 years ago, at which time transit service was extremely limited and ridership was less than 25% of what normal ridership would be today outside of the pandemic conditions. Since then, the fleet size, repair shop requirements, and operations staffing have more than doubled, and ridership of the Kaua‘i Bus by the public more than quadrupled. The existing facilities have reached their maximum capacity, and although a mezzanine was completed within the repair shop and a portable office building was recently installed to address the shortage of office space, space needs remain deficient. 5 The Space Needs Study currently being assembled by PBR Hawai‘i is providing an assessment of the facility space needed to sustain the anticipated growth in demand for public transit service on Kaua‘i in the future. The most pressing need at this time is repair shop and base yard space to safely and effectively manage fleet operations. The Federal Transit Administration provided a $3.5M grant requiring no local matching funds to proceed with the design, engineering, and construction of additional repair shop space. The plans are nearing completion and the procurement and start of construction is anticipated to occur during this upcoming fiscal year. 2) The State of Hawai‘i’s renewable energy and transportation electrification goals prompted a County Proclamation made December 12, 2017 to describe the County’s commitment to converting 100% of the County’s fleet to renewable-powered fuels by the year 2035. The County Transportation Agency remains committed to working towards transitioning all Kaua‘i Bus vehicles to a zero emission fleet by 2035. This collaborative effort with statewide partners in the statewide “Hawai‘i Zero Emission Bus Pilot Project” is nearing the completion of its bid process, will soon be identifying the successful vendor(s), and then proceed with the purchase of Kaua‘i’s first four electric powered transit buses. Infrastructure requirements have also been identified and are currently in development to align its completion with the arrival of the electric buses, which is anticipated to occur in late 2024. To successfully achieve the County’s goal of transitioning the Kaua‘i Bus fleet to electric buses, grant funds are being made available, for which local matching funds are required to apply. This will continue to present the need for the County to provide funding allocations to support the procurement of electric buses and the related infrastructure requirements, as well as the local matching funds required to sustain the needed diesel/gas fleet replacements to maintain current service levels. 3) Post-pandemic impacts continue to present operational challenges, of which the greatest of these has been maintaining sufficient staffing levels to preserve acceptable levels of quality transit service and to effectively respond to increasing ridership levels, particularly near the high schools that are experiencing the negative impacts of the elimination of several school bus routes on island. An effective strategy employed for driver recruitment has been the hiring of on-call Van drivers who are provided an extensive training program that supports drivers in obtaining the CDL-P license required for a full-time Bus Driver position. There has recently been a modest increase in response to recruitment efforts, which is anticipated to continue. 2. TOP 3 OPERATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS FROM FY 2023 1) The Kaua‘i Bus’ deployment of its mobile app that provides users a live map of bus routes and the real time status of Kaua‘i Buses was reported to have 6,100 downloads for Kaua‘i Bus schedules and information in 2022. The app includes real time tracking of estimated bus arrival times, and the ability to receive text updates of service changes. It provides a service portal for paratransit customers and is available for download through the Apple Store and Google Play Store. Wi-fi continues to be available on the Kaua‘i Buses, providing passengers the benefit of connectivity while also providing the County with portable Wi-Fi connection points in periods of disaster and emergency response. 6 2) Community Outreach continues to provide the Kaua‘i Bus leader team with public comments and suggestions that are taken into consideration when employing efforts to enhance transit service and information access. The Transportation Agency regularly attends the Kaua‘i Developmental Disability Council’s monthly meeting to provide attendees with updates that impact Kaua‘i Bus riders and to address questions or concerns that riders and potential riders might have. This meeting provides a scheduled forum for many riders with disabilities who utilize paratransit bus service to serve their transportation needs. Many share their questions, comments and experiences at these meetings. For the few questions or concerns that can’t be answered or addressed at the meeting, follow up is conducted and a reply is promptly provided. The Kaua‘i Bus is leading the Transit project group within Get Fit Kaua‘i’s Built Environment Task Force in an effort to draft of a Hanapēpē ‘Ele‘ele Pilot Shuttle Plan, which so far has included two community meetings at Hanapēpē Neighborhood Center, and a public survey event conducted at the entrance to Eleele Big Save. Consultation with large employers in Poʻipū are to take place in the upcoming months, after which the plan will be finalized, providing the steps needed to conduct a pilot shuttle service for the Hanapēpē / ‘Ele‘ele area, moving us towards completing another recommendation within our Short Range Transit Plan. 3) In our commitment to the goal of effectively transitioning our team from paper time sheets to the County’s Workday payroll software program, the Kaua‘i Bus leadership team held several training sessions with its team members prior to implementation and conducted one-on-one training as needed, in addition to the County-wide training that was provided. There were some who do not usually use computers and were quite intimidated by the new system and procedures, however the additional training and support provided was very successful, resulting in an exceptional level of compliance and accuracy by Kaua‘i Bus team members upon going live in December 2022. All team members are still learning the various capabilities and limitations of the system, and continue to support each other in addressing any challenges. Issues beyond our Agency’s abilities are always promptly and kindly addressed by Human Resources.