Transportation Services Budget February 4, 2010 Josh Davis, Director 1

Transportation: Recent Actual Expenses  : $9.4 million  : $9.8 million  : $9.6 million – under budget, contributed $400K to fund balance  School Board and Board of Supervisors granted $213K from fund balance to procure GPS system.

Annual VDOE Report  December 2007 VCU Resource Utilization Study noted ACPS Transportation cost per mile = $2.77.  Annual Pupil Transportation Report to VDOE: ◦ : $3.14 per mile ◦ : $2.97 per mile for regular buses, $4.53 for special needs buses.  VDOE fails to subtract out “Rebates and Refunds – Other Motor Vehicles” from our total operating costs (per Annual School Report). Cost of $834K represents credits from local government for fueling and servicing their vehicles. This credit would reduce our cost per mile by $0.25 to $2.72.

Budget  Total Transportation budget = $8.9 million (-11.5% from FY08-09 budget). ◦ School Division total reductions = $2.32 million. ◦ Transportation budget declined $1.15 million (50% of Division cuts).  Spending more than budgeted to support driver training, overtime. ◦ Driver training has cost at least $90K since hiring freeze lifted (have trained/hired ~ 50 new drivers and transportation assistants since April 2009). ◦ Paying ~48 hours of overtime per week for mechanics to drive buses.

Transportation Expenses FY09-10 Budget

Opportunities for Efficiency Reduce Deadhead Mileage  Assigned routes closer to bus parking locations for  Reduce parking buses at driver homes (up to 600,000 deadhead miles).  Reduce diesel fuel consumption, maintenance by %.  Historical diesel fuel consumption = 412,000 gallons per year.  Purchases through mid-January (midpoint of school year) = 192,000 gallons (-9%).

Deadhead Parking Analysis  Total fleet mileage = 3.2 million miles per year (1.3 million deadhead) * Parking is limited at some schools 27 drivers 24 drivers 55 drivers

Proposed Budget Reduction  Transportation Efficiencies - Reduce Deadhead Mileage ($150,000)  Reduce parking buses at driver homes and use GPS to monitor and minimize deadhead mileage. These actions should cut diesel fuel consumption and maintenance costs by 10-20%. Original Budget Savings with 10% reduction Savings with 20% reduction Diesel Fuel*$988,800$98,800$197,760 Repair Parts$532,000$53,200$106,400 Total$1,520,800$152,000$304,160 * Assumes average price of $2.40 per gallon

Opportunities for Efficiency Consolidation of Bus Routes  Fewer routes/drivers ◦ Ridership  55% of manifest at middle and high schools  67% of manifest at elementary schools ◦ Apply walk criteria to bus stops more stringently. ◦ Increase walk zone around designated schools. ◦ Transport more Special Needs students on regular buses.

Proposed Budget Reduction  Transportation Efficiencies - Redesign Bus Routes ($200,000)  Reduce current level of service to eliminate 5-10% of current bus routes and associated bus driver positions (6 to 12 drivers).  Require high school students to register for bus transportation. Increase the radius of walk zones around designated schools. These actions will result in higher load factors (% of bus capacity utilized) and longer bus rides (60 to 90 minutes) for a significant number of students.

Route Reduction Analysis: Albemarle High/Jouett Middle School 38 bus routes (32 are paired with elementary routes) Actual ridership: 31 students per bus Planned ridership: 61 students per bus

Proposed Budget Reduction  Transportation Efficiencies - Special Education ($40,000)  Review special education student transportation requirements. Identify students that can ride regular school buses with transportation assistants or ride in cars. This action would reduce the demand for special needs bus drivers (2 drivers = $40K).

Bus Driver Salaries – FY Salaries – Bus Drivers $3,170,687$3,345,832-$175, – Credit Salaries Bus Drivers (field trip reimbursements) -$396,026-$225,637-$170, – Sub/Wages – Bus Drivers $98,000$200,532-$102,532 Total$2,872,661$3,320,727-$448, Budget08-09 ActualDifference Benefit expenses were $134,058 less than budgeted.

Hire The Right Number of Drivers  Spent $314,008 more than budgeted for bus driver salaries and benefits during an acute driver shortage in FY  23 Members of VMF staff drove a bus or served as transportation assistant. Nine shop personnel drove an average of 241 times during FY  Spent the equivalent of 25 FTE to do FTE of work.  Need to fully staff all routes and hire relief drivers (with benefits) as subs for absentees…..like Building Services custodians.

Proposed Budget Reduction  Transportation Pay Reform ($32,000)  The Transportation Pay Reform Action Committee (PRAC) is working to revise pay policies and deploy a time management system.  The department expects increased costs for payment of driving time (time from parking areas to and from first/last bus stops) and reduced costs for payment of non-driving time.

Wage Codes  Implemented wage codes to better account for payroll costs for overtime, field/athletic/ activity trips, “extra duties,” substitute driving, training.  Data from will improve planning for future budgets.

Attendance Incentive  Pay $50 to each employee for perfect attendance during each 9-week grading period.  107 employees earned the incentive for first grading period of  Transportation attendance is at a 5-year high.

Bus Replacement  Goal is 13-year cycle.  Driving 1994 buses now.  Fleet of 220 buses requires replacing 17 buses per year.  Bought 6 buses this year ($500K), will buy one more Special Needs bus with ARRA funding.  budget request includes $500K.

Summary  Transportation has opportunities for efficiency and cost reductions.  Hire the right number of drivers.  Must budget for supplementary missions and some overtime.