DEAR EDITOR:
Your Feb. 23 report about VTA increasing bus fares repeats
previous incorrect reports about the size of VTA’s operating
deficit. Ignoring all capital and fixed costs, VTA’s annual
operating loss is about $277 million (operating expenses less fares
paid by riders).
DEAR EDITOR:
Your Feb. 23 report about VTA increasing bus fares repeats previous incorrect reports about the size of VTA’s operating deficit. Ignoring all capital and fixed costs, VTA’s annual operating loss is about $277 million (operating expenses less fares paid by riders).
However, if we required transit agencies to apply generally accepted accounting principles , then we would have to add the billions of taxpayers’ dollars used to pay VTA’s other costs, too. When will you report that?
If VTA’s farebox recovery rate has dropped below the legal limit (15 percent of operating costs) prescribed by Section 99268.12 of the Public Utilities Code, then when will our elected leaders sue VTA to recover the illegal subsidies? We don’t let passenger carriers violate the law, do we?
Even if they are managed by our elected leaders, they still have to obey the law – right? Nobody is above the law – right? So, why are our leaders ignoring the illegal activity right under their noses?
Since the accounting scandals at Enron, Worldcom, and others, why do we tolerate “off-book” accounting practices at VTA and our other transit agencies?
Finally, four nationwide studies reviewed by Greene, Jones & Delucchi in “The Full Costs and Benefits of Transportation: Contributions to Theory, Method and Measurement” (Springer Publishing Co., 1997), found auto costs “clustering around 3 to 4 cents per passenger mile.” In contrast, they found public transit costs “significantly higher,” “ranging from 40 cents per passenger mile to around $2 per passenger mile.” So, why do you report that “VTA is generally still cheaper than driving”? Your readers deserve better.
Joseph P. Thompson, Gilroy
Submitted Tuesday, March 16
