BILL ANALYSIS
By: Carona
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Section 452.454 (Performance Audits; Certain Authorities), Transportation Code, mandates that a subregional board created under Chapter 452 (Regional Transportation Authorities), Subchapter O (Subregional Board in Subregion Having Principal Municipality with Population of More than 800,000), Transportation Code, contract with an outside firm every four years for the purpose of conducting a performance audit of certain required performance measurements. The only transit authority that this section affects is Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART). DART was a solely a bus agency when Section 452.454 (Performance Audits; Certain Authorities), Transportation Code, was enacted, so the key performance indicators only measure performance of fixed-route bus transit. There are currently no meaningful measurements for the other modes that DART operates, including light rail, commuter rail, paratransit, and High Occupancy Vehicle lanes.
As proposed, S.B. 1077 updates Sections 452.454 (Performance Audits: Certain Authorities) and 452.455 (Computation of Performance Indicators), Transportation Code, to include statutory performance measures for other modes of public transportation.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.
ANALYSIS
SECTION 1. Amends Section 452.454(c), Transportation Code, to require each audit of a regional transportation authority created under this chapter (Regional Transportation Authorities) or Chapter 683, Acts of the 66th Legislature, Regular Session, 1979, to include an examination of the performance indicator for the subsidy per passenger, number of passengers per hour, and number of miles between mechanical service calls, rather than operating cost per passenger, average vehicle occupancy, and number of miles between mechanical road calls.
SECTION 2. Amends Section 452.455, Transportation Code, by adding Subsection (c-1) and amending Subsections (g)-(j), as follows:
(c-1) Provides that subsidy per passenger is computed by subtracting annual operating revenues from annual operating costs and dividing that amount by the total number of passengers for the same period.
(g) Provides that the number of passengers per hour is computed by dividing the total number of annual passengers by the total number of revenue vehicle hours for the same period. Deletes existing text providing that the average vehicle occupancy is computed by dividing the annual passenger miles by the number of miles traveled by authority revenue vehicles while in revenue service for the same period. Deletes existing text providing that the annual passenger miles are computed by multiplying the annual passenger trips and the average distance ridden by passengers for the same period.
(h) Provides that on-time performance is computed only for fixed route revenue service.
(i) Deletes existing text specifying that the number of miles for all service is required to be directly operated by the authority in calculating the number of accidents per 100,000 miles. Redefines "accident."
(j) Makes conforming and nonsubstantive changes.
SECTION 3. Amends Sections 452.455(k)(2) and (4), Transportation Code, as follows:
(2) Defines "passenger" and makes a nonsubsubstantive change.
(4) Redefines "revenue vehicle."
SECTION 4. Effective date: upon passage or September 1, 2007.
EFFECTIVE DATE
Upon passage, or, if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act takes effect September 1, 2007.