A just released report of the District’s public transportation operations, commissioned by the School Board of Orange County Public Schools (OCPS), has found that given the strong bias to “serve”, millions of dollars have been spent over-investing in buses and operating staff. The report also found that there is very little reliable information, on which to undertake sound performance evaluation and as well, decision making.
The review, undertaken by TransPar Group Inc., found that while a majority of the principals are satisfied with the responsiveness of the Transportation Department and the timeless of the system, little attention has been paid to the cost of resources.
“In the absence of an objective performance framework and guided by a strong bias to serve, the Transportation Department has been built to assure responsiveness without a strict corresponding balance of concern for investment and ongoing cost of resources,” the authors of the report state.
The report notes that OCPS operates nearly 1,000 route buses requiring the efforts of over, 1,500 employees, on a daily basis, which is considered large by any measure.
There are more than 60 findings of the report which include:
- Not all field trip billings are collected thus transportation costs are not shifted to school budgets
- Drivers are paid one hour per day for non-driving tasks exceeding industry practices
- Operations staffing levels exceed industry standards
- Trip drivers are guaranteed 6 hours, monitors are guaranteed 5 hours
- There is a lack of data to objectively manage transportation
- Over 500 bus runs are underutilized, both time and seats
- Buses are performing 2.1 runs each morning and afternoon
- School bell times not set to optimize transportation
- Large buses are rarely “full”
- Many low rider bus runs
- Vehicle inventory and location could not readily be produced
- Parts and tire inventories are not centralized
The report makes a number of recommendations which, if implemented, could save between $5.8 million to $7.9 million in next year’s budget, and also improve operational efficiency.
The recommendations center around: reorganization of the Transportation Department; reduction in the number of buses and drivers; selling over 200 older buses; adjustment of bus routes; reduce absenteeism, overtime and time spent tracking field trips; and elimination of vacant mechanic, driver and monitor positions.
