That $1.50 you pay to ride CT Transit bus hardly covers the actual cost of running the bus.
Scott Willis, Division Manager at CT Transit in New Haven, said the fare revenue collected from buses contributes a small portion to the operating and maintenance expenses.
“Our operating budget here is about $40 million a year and we take in, through fare revenue, about $10 million a year,” Willis said.
Operating expenses include bus drivers, technicians and administrative salaries, fringe benefits for employees, fuel and tire costs for the buses, and liability insurance.
A 2012 report from the National Transit Database (NTD), a program established by Congress to provide information and statistics on transit systems in the United States, showed CT Transit’s New Haven division had an operating expense totaling $39,028,419, and generated $8,596,747 in fares— covering only 22 percent of expenses.
The lack of funds and high expenses may sound like a failing business plan. But David Lee, CT Transit’s general manager, said public transit systems in the United States are all subsidized, and making a profit isn’t the main concern. Fare prices are decided through public agencies. Lee also said how fares impact lower-income and minority communities is an important factor in deciding fare prices.
“The issue is, on one hand, you want the fare to be low enough so it’s affordable by the large percentage of riders who are transit dependent, who have no other means of mobility,” Lee said. “On the other hand you want it to be high enough to recover a reasonable amount of the operating costs.”
The Department of Transportation (DOT) oversees the distribution of funding to CT Transit. Transit Administrator Michael Sanders said the bulk of funding comes from federal grants, bonds, and Connecticut taxpayers.
“The DOT budget comes from the state’s Special Transportation Fund, that’s mainly supported by gas taxes and most of the excise tax on fuels,” said Sanders. “We use some of that money to fund CT Transit.”
The Special Transportation Fund also provides monetary aid to the DOT’s Transportation Infrastructure Program, a program established to provide financing for the improvement, reconstruction, and/or removal of state highways, bridges, waterway facilities, and transit facilities.
A report written in October 2014 on the Infrastructure Program showed the Special Transportation Fund’s source of revenue, as shown at the bottom of the infographic to the right. Totaling $1.232 million, the Special Transportation Fund is made up of various sources.
The motor fuel taxes are taxes collected from the purchase of gasoline, diesel and other fuels used in commercial vehicles such as tractors and airplanes.
Motor vehicle receipts consist of car and motorcycle registration fees and license fees provided by DMV offices. Money collected from speeding tickets, illegal parking, and motor vehicle related fines are also included. DMV payments are funds received by the State from the tax imposed on sales of cars, trucks, boats, snowmobiles and aircraft.
Connecticut oil companies collect the revenue received from the tax imposed on the gross earnings from the sale of petroleum products to the Special Transportation Fund. This includes only petroleum products related to motor vehicles.
Carl Jordan Castro photo
David Lee, during an interview at Southern Connecticut State University.
Extracting from tax sources and funds, Lee said, Connecticut’s transportation funding is unique. In some states transportation is funded by a portion of sales taxes or property taxes.
“If we were in Atlanta we would pay a penny of the sales tax to support the transportation system,” said Lee. “Everybody else [transit agencies] are going towards member towns or transit districts and asking for annual funding “
According to the Connecticut 2012 Annual Report of the State Comptroller, $135 million of the total revenue from the Special Transportation Fund was appropriated towards bus operations.
“We also fund federally mandated ADA Paratransit service and rail service out of that total,” said Sanders. “The state-owned CTTRANSIT system – encompassing Hartford, New Haven, Stamford, Waterbury, New Britain, Bristol, Meriden and Wallingford areas – is about 75 percent of that total.”
Sanders also said Connecticut’s DOT is one out of a few states that have a high proportion of their capital going towards transit. The challenge for the DOT is funding and prioritizing various transportation projects around Connecticut.
“We’ll pool money [from the Special Transportation Fund] to fund one project, for example the CTTRANSIT garage in Hamden, and that will be funded over a period of years. But then next year some other region will have another project with a large capital need like the rail yard,” said Sanders. “Over time we’re spreading out the funds and getting their projects done, but we try to find a balance.”
The CT Bus Diaries project is a collaboration between the New Haven Independent, the Valley Independent Sentinel and students from the multimedia journalism class at Southern Connecticut State University. The students are blogging about experiences on CT Transit’s bus lines in order to give a glimpse into the commutes of the people using the bus system.
Related Stories
* CT Transit Can’t Count Crowding Yet
* Lost, Looking for the J Bus
* It’s Safer on the Bus
* Common Complaints: Crowding, Inconvenience
* 25 Years in, Eligio Keeps the Wheel Steady
* Class Waits For No Bus
* Guayquier & Terrier Board the G
* The Bus Gets Personal
* The Bus Helps Him Think
* Rafel Sanabria Has Big Plans
* Where Would You Really Want The Bus To Take You?
* With Whom Would You Want To Ride The Bus?
* Next Stop: Karma
* Resto Steers the O
* The Bus Stop is Quiet on Sundays
‘I’m Sick of Driving’
* CT Transit Drove Me To Zipcar
* Work Search Starts With The Bus
* Der Bus Ist Gut
* Football Win Makes The Bus Ride Bearable
* Brenda Works Around the F Bus
* Where’d the Q3 Go?
* 3‑Hour Commute Includes 3 Buses, 1 Train
* On Inaugural Ride, Student Meets the D Bus “Queen”
* Commute By Bus Must Start 2 1/2 Hours Ahead
* Foley: Let People Drive
* Malloy Vows To “Build a Better Bus System”
* State Bus Boss: What Broken System?
"said public transit systems in the United States are all subsidized, and making a profit isn't the main concern"
Ah, remember when candidate Foley suggested any transit lines not making a profit should be axed? Good times. *axes Shore-Line east, Metro-North, and every bus route in New Haven except maybe the D and B)