Editorial: Transit authority gets behind wheel of buses
Share this post:
Everyone looks for a fresh start in the new year.
For Westmoreland County, that fresh start means getting in the driver’s seat.
That’s really not a euphemism. The county’s transit authority takes over bus and paratransit services starting Jan. 2.
It’s a very different role for the authority. Until October, it was just an administrative group. It contracted with outside organizations to make the wheels on the buses go ’round and ’round.
The most recent contractor was Ohio-based National Express Transit, which signed a five-year, $39.5 million contract in May 2018, but since then, the service has been plagued by route cancellations, delays and maintenance issues, leading to the decision to terminate the agreement and take the operations in-house.
“I’m looking forward to it,” said authority board Chairman Frank Tosto. “It’s going to be a challenge, but I’m cautiously optimistic, and I’m looking forward to the difference we can make now that we’re in control.”
That’s a good outlook. It’s important to be positive, but also to realize when you are treading new ground.
The authority made the right move in pulling the contract from a vendor that was struggling with demand. Whether taking on the job of providing that service itself will be the right way to go remains to be seen.
But kudos to the attempt, which they claim could save $2.3 million over three years. And that’s on top of having buses that actually pick up people and drop them off when they are supposed to operate, which will be a leg up over what has been offered for the past year.
It will be important to realize that transitioning from office management to operator could have some bumps in the road, but that seems under control as the authority is not pushing the gas pedal on a planned redesign of routes and services recommended in a 2018 study. Implementing those changes will happen later in the year, after the changeover is accomplished.
The plans seem solid. Only time will tell how long before the training wheels can come off.