NOTICES
Public Transportation Grants Management Accountability Performance Review Criteria for Class 4 Transit Entities
[31 Pa.B. 4020]
I. Introduction Act 3 of 1997, Section 1315, requires the periodic completion of management performance audits by all transit entities receiving financial assistance under public transportation grant programs administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (the Department). The Act further stipulates that the Department shall establish criteria to be followed by transit entities in the completion of these audits. The following guidance is intended to fulfill this requirement. These guidelines are applicable to Class 4 transit entities.
While the legislation specifically references ''audits'', the following guidance will use the term ''management performance review'' or ''review'' to establish a clear distinction between the annual independent financial audits which transit entities are required to complete, and the management reviews described herein.
II. Schedule for Completion Class 4 transit entities shall begin the initial management performance review no later than July 1, 2002. Thereafter, Class 4 transit entities shall perform a management performance review at least once every 10 years. The Department shall perform the review through qualified independent contractors within the months of the scheduled initiation of the review. If a class 4 entity wishes to perform its own review through qualified independent contractor, the class 4 entity must provide written notice to the Department no later than one year prior to the initiation date of the next scheduled review and that review must be performed within ten months of the scheduled initiation of the review.
The Department shall pay for other costs of the management performance reviews for class 4 transit entities. For those class 4 entities that chose to use its own qualified independent contractor to complete the management performance review, the Department will pay for the cost of such review provided the following requirements are met.
1. The qualified independent contractor (herein referred to as the consultant) will be selected through an open, competitive process consistent with state and local law and regulation.
2. The scope of work paid for by the Department must be consistent with the functions and activities listed below.
Procurement documents must specify the required scope for the review, which shall be in compliance with this guidance, and must be submitted to the Department for written approval prior to advertisement. Transit entities that provide both urban Class 3 transit service, and rural class 4 service may elect to conduct one management performance review, in accordance with this guidance, encompassing both urban service and rural services.
III. Organization Functional Review The consultant shall conduct a system performance review to determine the operating efficiency and service effectiveness for both the transit system as a whole and for selected organization functions and activities of the agency. The analysis of the efficiency and effectiveness of the forenamed organization shall, at a minimum, include the functions and activities listed below. The transit entity is encouraged to include additional functions and activities in their evaluation as it finds appropriate.
Organization Functions to be Reviewed:
1. Board of Directors
2. Management/Administration
3. Finance
4. Human Resources
5. Transit Operations
6. Vehicle/Facility Maintenance
7. Marketing/Promotion
8. Planning/Government Relations
9. Capital Planning
IV. Systemwide Performance Evaluation The analysis of systemwide performance shall, at a minimum, include the following transit industry performance measures.
Transit Performance Measures to be Included:
1. Operating cost per vehicle mile and/or per vehicle hour
2. Operating cost per originating passenger
3. Originating passengers per vehicle mile and/or per vehicle hour
4. Total employees per vehicle mile and/or per vehicle hour
5. Total vehicle miles and/or total vehicle hours per peak vehicle
6. Average age of the active vehicle fleet
7. Ratio of operating revenue to operating expenses (required for fixed route services only)
8. Average trip length (required for demand response services only)
Transit entities are encouraged to supplement these measures with additional performance factors which would be helpful in determining the agency's overall operating efficiency and service effectiveness.
The review shall include a time-series trend analysis of the above performance measures for the agency for the five most recently completed fiscal years. Based on this trend analysis, the consultant shall identify the areas of relative improvement and relative decline. To the maximum extent possible, the consultant shall identify the probable causes of these relative changes and make recommendations intended to strengthen the performance of the transit system.
In addition to this systemwide trend analysis, the review shall include a comparison of the above performance measures for the agency, for the most recently available fiscal year, with the same measures for approximately five ''peer'' transit systems. The peer transit systems, to the maximum extent possible, should have similar operating characteristics including service area, number of vehicles, types of services offered, etc. The selected peer transit systems may be either systems within, or outside of Pennsylvania.
Based on this peer-group analysis, the review shall identify the transit entity's areas of relative strength and relative weakness when compared to the peer group. To the maximum extent possible, the consultant shall identify the probable causes of these comparative strengths and weaknesses, and make recommendations intended to strengthen the performance of the transit system.
Finally, the review must include an evaluation of the results of the customer satisfaction surveys completed by the transit agency in accordance with Section 1315(c) of Act 3 of 1997. At a minimum this analysis must address the following six state-mandated subject areas:
a. On-Time Arrival & Departure
b. Vehicle Cleanliness
c. Fares
d. Driver Courtesy
e. Safety
f. Overall Customer Satisfaction
The transit entity is encouraged to evaluate additional areas of customer satisfaction that were included in the agency's customer satisfaction survey. This analysis shall include a time-series trend analysis of this information for the five most recently completed fiscal years. Based on this trend analysis, the consultant shall identify the areas of relative improvement and relative decline. To the maximum extent possible, the consultant shall identify the probable causes of these relative changes and make recommendations intended to improve customer satisfaction.
V. Transit System Response and Submission of Independent Review Upon receipt of the final report, each transit entity shall prepare an action plan addressing the findings and the recommendations contained in the independent review. The action plan must be approved by the transit entity's governing body within two months of receipt of the final report. Upon, approval of the action plan by the transit entity's governing body, a copy of the independent review report and the agency's action plan must be submitted to the Department.
The transit entity shall implement its action plan in accordance with the time frames specified in the plan.
BRADLEY L. MALLORY,
Secretary
[Pa.B. Doc. No. 01-1344. Filed for public inspection July 20, 2001, 9:00 a.m.]
No part of the information on this site may be reproduced for profit or sold for profit.This material has been drawn directly from the official Pennsylvania Bulletin full text database. Due to the limitations of HTML or differences in display capabilities of different browsers, this version may differ slightly from the official printed version.
