Ben Franklin Transit Cost Cutting Measures

"Fiscal Accountability is one of the core values for staff as well as the Board of Directors at Ben Franklin Transit. It has become a part of our culture.

There are many examples of our dedication. The following list of cost cutting measures have been taken by BFT as we continue to look for new ways to be strong and responsible stewards of public resources."

Leo Bowman-- Board Chair

Maintenance

• Extended preventative maintenance program on all vehicles (i.e. oil changes, tune-ups, etc.)
• Converted part of "old" bus wash building into secure file storage and record holding area - resulting in reduced / elimination of monthly rental cost fees at outside storage facility
• Off-site fueling of supervisory staff vehicles to reduce additional state tax burden to BFT
• Recycle and reuse over 1,000,000 gals of bus wash water each year
• Recycle Wheel weights, Brake drums, All scrap metals, Anti Freeze (Coolants), Oil Filters, Air conditioning refrigerant gases
• Lights off in unused areas except where safety is a factor
• Well water is used for irrigation to save money and sewer fees.
• Drip irrigation is used where possible.
• A single biodegradable brand of anti freeze / coolant is used in all vehicles replacing four separate product brands.
• All waste oils are sold to re-claimers.
• Universal synthetic long life transmission fluid is used in all vehicles reducing inventory.
• First choice where practical is to rebuild major components such as transmissions and engines. Brakes shoes, air conditioning units, alternators and other such items are rebuilt to the extend of the components useful life.

Admin, Finance, Service Development, Marketing

• Fuel Hedge to save on fuel costs
• Obtain Federal Capital funding usually at a 80:20 split 80% Federal 20% local except for ARRA funds which were 100%. 
• Joining Washington State Transit Insurance Pool (WSTIP) saved premiums when outside market was tight.
• Sharing of other PTBA expertise instead of reinventing the wheel on projects.
• Piggyback opportunities for vehicle purchases
• Elimination of special service events (i.e. Christmas light tour, hockey & baseball game service)
• Providing more in-house training of personnel in an effort to reduce travel/training costs 
• Cut back on tradeshows and the Fair booth
• Reduce use of temporary help
• Reduce travel to seminars
• Forego employee breakfast and employee picnic
• Did not replace at least 4 people who left the company recently which in turn saves on our recruitment advertising costs
• By not using light duty, in some instances we save nearly $1000 per person per month in health insurance costs
• Salary freeze for all non-represented employees
• Reduced 2009 Advertising and Marketing Budget by $51,000
• No COLA, Step Increases or merit pay for non-represented employees
• 6 administrative positions on hold
• Travel Training
• Print individual route schedules instead of a book to facilitate frequent changes
• ARC Contract save money for Dial-A-Ride trips
• Contracted Night & Sunday service
• Feeder Service
• Combined public hearings to save on ads
• Use more news releases than ads to promote services

Dial-A-Ride

• Enforcement of the No Show Policy
• Tightening the eligibility process for DAR riders with recertification's, conditional eligibility
• Rider Education on the high cost of DAR service and referrals to Travel Training
• Upgrading  hardware and software for improved service efficiency
• Efficiency Improvement Team (EIT) to look at all service processes for improved efficiency in day to day operations.
• Streamlining Prosser Operations

Operations

• Operators have gone through a refresher training that included ways to drive to conserve fuel.
• Conservation of paper resources
• Do not leave the spare buses running in the morning for more than the time it takes to pre-trip them.
• Turn off the buses at lay overs of more than 5 minutes.
• Use dispatchers to help give the supervisors time to take their earned leave.
• Runs are cut as tight as possible per union rules.
• Reliefs are scheduled to be done at the same time to save on taking relief vehicles out, saving gas.

Vanpool

• State reinvestment funds for vanpool growth at 100%.
• Rideshareonline.com
• Using a contracted (temp) employee instead of filling an open position
• Adjusting rates to recover the cost of insurance, charging by mile as we are billed.
• Vanpool’s fares are set to recover operational costs, insurance, and 80% of capital cost over the life cycle of the vehicle. 
• Vanpools reduce the number of vehicles on the road which in turn reduce road maintenance cost to the public. 
• Vanpool over sees the local operation of RideshareOnline.com a self service ride matching service the helps commuters find someone else to carpool or vanpool with.