Taxpayers to spend $360,000 to save Jeffrey Starkweather's wife $3,500/year

[integrityticket]

Attorney Jeffrey Starkweather boasts about how much money taxpayers will be saving his wife.

Chatham’s new commuter bus service is a first step toward sustainable public transportation

Aug 28, 2009

By Jeffrey Starkweather
http://www.carrborocitizen.com/main/2009/08/28/chatham%E2%80%99s-new-commuter-bus-service-is-a-first-step-toward-sustainable-public-transportation/

Monday morning, my wife, a UNC employee, skipped her usual indoor bicycling exercise. Instead, she walked 23 minutes to the Chatham County Courthouse in downtown Pittsboro to catch a free bus ride to work. Rather than driving her car as usual along U.S. 15-501, she got on a 7:08 a.m. Chapel Hill Transit bus that dropped her off 45 minutes later at the UNC Student Union.

Monday was the start of a weekday commuter bus service between Chapel Hill and Pittsboro. The bus my wife rode was the second of three buses that begin their journey from the courthouse during the morning rush hour. The buses also pick up riders at Lowes in Pittsboro and in Fearrington. They start their return trips from campus at 4:48 p.m. UNC covers the fare for its employees, others pay $3 each way or $65 a month.

By taking the bus daily from Pittsboro, a UNC employee would save about $3,500 a year in transportation expenses (e.g., gas, wear-and-tear based on federal mileage cost rates and parking savings). A non-UNC employee would save $780 less, still about $2,700 a year over driving the entire route in his car. My wife has already been saving since she has been riding the free Chapel Hill Transit bus from the north Chatham UNC lot for more than two years, but she’s saving considerably more now by riding the bus all the way from PBO.

In addition to personal savings, riding the bus will reduce traffic congestion, air pollution, fossil fuel consumption and their carbon footprint. Car insurance costs also will decrease. Riders can spend more of their increased expendable income in Chatham, since they won’t be tempted with out-of-county shopping after work. Automobile accident costs will be significantly reduced. My wife is enjoying having 40 minutes of uninterrupted time to read going to and from work each day.

Thus, if use of this commuter bus grows as expected, it will have a significant positive impact on Chatham’s economy. Beyond this direct economic impact, the success of such a service will help brand Chatham as a green enterprise zone, attracting the type of green industries and creative entrepreneurs that are already beginning to locate and/or incubate here. That was one of the reasons why the Chatham County Economic Development Corporation Board unanimously requested that Chatham County and the Town of Pittsboro financially back this service.

Of course, no successful transit system starts and grows without significant government subsidies. For Chatham, that meant a relatively modest investment of $43,000 for the county and $24,000 for Pittsboro, all allocated without resorting to tax increases or staff reductions. The federal government is investing $176,356 for 18 months. More importantly, this incredible public service is the result of an extraordinary county-town-federal-state partnership with UNC and Chapel Hill Transit, which are providing the buses and subsidizing fares, as well as Lowe’s shopping center, which provide the parking space. Each partner understands the long-term economic, environmental and social benefits a successful transit system will bring to residents, students and/or employees.

Starkweather conveniently overlooks that the real total cost of the magic bus service of $20,000 per month? Or did he conveniently forget it?

Those concerned about these modest public investments should ponder the enormous subsidies governments provide to automobile commuting and sprawl. For years, the federal government paid 90 percent of the cost of state highways. In 2000, $46.5 billion was provided across the nation in government highway subsidies. Only 2 percent of federal transportation dollars was spent on transit.

Others may be concerned that not enough Chatham residents will ride the bus to justify the government subsidies. Ridership, of course, will depend on whether these cost savings and community benefits are marketed effectively. It will also depend on the price of gas, which economists say will continue to rise as worldwide petroleum demand increases and supply decreases. I’m betting that cost-savvy commuters will soon be eagerly hopping on the bus.

Chatham cannot postpone the development of a public-transit policy. Sixty percent of Chatham workers commute to jobs outside the county. More than 4,000 commute to Orange County. Chatham faces enormous sprawl development pressures that will only exacerbate commuting. County leaders’ other commuter mitigation strategies include smart growth, high-paying jobs in Chatham and telecommuting. Even these strategies will be insufficient, given the expected dramatic population growth in eastern Chatham.

If the EDC was really doing what they were supposed to be doing, jobs would coming into the county and the would not require commuting.

Chatham County and the Town of Pittsboro should be applauded for taking the critical first step in developing a sustainable public transportation system. Now every Chatham resident who desires sustainable economic prosperity needs to help it succeed.

Jeffrey Starkweather, a lawyer and Chatham County Economic Development Corporation board member, will teach “Introduction to Sustainable Communities and Public Policy Analysis for Sustainable Communities” this fall at Central Carolina Community College in Pittsboro. He welcomes feedback at jeffreystarkweather@earthlink.net

[NC YIPPIE]

This really is getting kind of like you 'kicking the shins' of the girl you like at school.

[djkelly]

By taking the bus daily from Pittsboro, a UNC employee would save about $3,500 a year in transportation expenses (e.g., gas, wear-and-tear based on federal mileage cost rates and parking savings). A non-UNC employee would save $780 less, still about $2,700 a year over driving the entire route in his car. My wife has already been saving since she has been riding the free Chapel Hill Transit bus from the north Chatham UNC lot for more than two years, but she’s saving considerably more now by riding the bus all the way from PBO.

A lot of programs look great if you don't consider any other options.

If you don't work at UNC you may not have a parking permit cost but you will incur the bus pass fee

From the UNC website it looks like the current prices for parking vary greatly.  If you use a park and ride lot there is no charge so you're saving on parking fees and some mileage costs already.  I would suspect that the most likely candidates for the new service would be people that are already using park and ride lots since they're already used to working around a bus schedule so realistically it's not fair to promote the bus savings by comparing it to the full cost of parking on campus without also addressing the other options available.

Obviously commuting expenses vary greatly depending on where you live, what you drive and whether or not you carpool. 

Permit prices vary depending on where you park and your salary range.  It looks like the cheapest permits range from $399 for people making under $25,000/yr to $854.50 for those making over $100,000.  The most expensive permits range from $965 to $2071 depending on salary.  So there's a pretty broad range of permit costs.  That assumes you can actually get an on-campus permit.  Many people can't since there isn't enough parking on campus so they're already using the free park and ride service. 

UNC also offers the option of splitting the costs of a permit if you ride in a registered carpool and will pay $20/month towards the cost of riding in a TTA vanpool.  These options promote the same things the bus does but don't cost the town and county taxpayers anything. 

If the people promoting the bus were so interested in reducing traffic and saving money for commuters why haven't they been actively promoting these options?

In addition to personal savings, riding the bus will reduce traffic congestion, air pollution, fossil fuel consumption and their carbon footprint. Car insurance costs also will decrease. Riders can spend more of their increased expendable income in Chatham, since they won’t be tempted with out-of-county shopping after work. Automobile accident costs will be significantly reduced. My wife is enjoying having 40 minutes of uninterrupted time to read going to and from work each day.

These benefits only materialize when enough people use the bus to actually make a difference in those areas.  It could also cost us more in those areas for awhile before ridership increases that much so those costs must be figured into any long term evaluation of the program.

Also depending on where commuters live in the county there's no guarantee that it will increase shopping in the county.  I can easily see someone that lives in the southern part of the county that might have stopped at one of the stores along north 15-501 on their way home, now shopping in Sanford on the weekends instead due to the extra time it will take them to take the bus and not being able to stop at those stores any longer. 

There are always trade-offs in any proposal.  Anything will look great if you only look at the benefits and ignore the drawbacks.  Unfortunately too many government programs do this which is why so many supposed cost-saving measures end up costing more in the long run.


I'm not necessarily against mass transit but I am against projects that spend tax money without due consideration of all available options and reasonable cost-benefit analysis of real life situations, not just best case scenarios for the point they're trying to make.

[natvrabit]

Over the many years I worked at UNC and had a parking permit on campus, I would dash out at lunch time often and run an errand or two...spending my money in Orange County.
When I changed departments and parking allocations methods changed, numbers became tighter, more expensive and the park and ride lots came about, I converted to the bus. I no longer ran an errand at lunch time, I ran one or two on the way home to/in Chatham County. So, really the bus system contributed to me spending more of my money in Chatham, vs. not!

[WolfpackFan]

All we have to do is hope the money spent in Chatham covers the cost to Chatham for the bus.

[natvrabit]

Wolf, I have said on other threads on the bus scenario, that I thought it was premature in the need. IF the 19K homes the Bunk and Co. approved had panned out quickly, then I think it would have been appreciated and utilized more. I didn't want to use the bus service at first, but then came to like it for the most part.
Neither here nor there mostly for me now, as I don't work there any longer.
I utilized it some not long ago, when a family member was in the hospital and it saved the hassle of going around in circles in the parking deck there and the expense to park in there long term.

[WolfpackFan]

I am not saying it will be convenient for a certain number of people, I just hope it is enough people to justify the price.

[natvrabit]

I am not saying it will be convenient for a certain number of people, I just hope it is enough people to justify the price.

It will be a while before the number of people would justify the price IMO. I don't think it was a bad concept, just premature. Those who petitioned for the desire for the service need to get their butts on that bus!

[belle]

I am not saying it will be convenient for a certain number of people, I just hope it is enough people to justify the price.

it is not just the rides.

I know of one mother, never able to drive, or own a car, so chronically unemployed. her kids were in foster care, on the taxpayer dime for foster care and health care. once the bus came to Cole park, she got a housekeeper job at UNC Hospitals. she kept it long enough to get her kids back, and has that insurance for the kids. she still does. so she, alone, took what, $25,000 annually off the taxpayer load, by using that bus. think about that for a minute. ask DSS how many people like her there are.

[WolfpackFan]

I am not saying it will be convenient for a certain number of people, I just hope it is enough people to justify the price.

it is not just the rides.

I know of one mother, never able to drive, or own a car, so chronically unemployed. her kids were in foster care, on the taxpayer dime for foster care and health care. once the bus came to Cole park, she got a housekeeper job at UNC Hospitals. she kept it long enough to get her kids back, and has that insurance for the kids. she still does. so she, alone, took what, $25,000 annually off the taxpayer load, by using that bus. think about that for a minute. ask DSS how many people like her there are.

Was she on the bus this week?

[Silk_Hope]

She probably was the one person that was spotted on the bus. How much exhaust does a bus emit for one person to ride it? How many MPG does a bus get? That is what amazes me about the "green" crowd, their numbers do not add up.

[curlygirl]

I heard from a bus rider who was on the bus every day last week that passenger numbers increased daily as the week progressed.

[WolfpackFan]

I heard from a bus rider who was on the bus every day last week that passenger numbers increased daily as the week progressed.

From what to what?

[integrityticket]

I heard from a bus rider who was on the bus every day last week that passenger numbers increased daily as the week progressed.

From what to what?

Come on, you don't expect a real number, do you? The Vollers rarely provide real #s.

[WolfpackFan]

I heard from a bus rider who was on the bus every day last week that passenger numbers increased daily as the week progressed.

From what to what?

Come on, you don't expect a real number, do you? The Vollers rarely provide real #s.

The fact the numbers were not given makes me really curious about them.  Maybe it was just an oversite.

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