Although I can get better numbers to address the question of vehicle fleets, there are a little over1,000 vehicles in the county fleets. And Michael’s statement that vehicle life is seven years is a reasonable number. That would mean that counties would need to replace about 140-145 vehicles per year. A minibus, at the low end, probably costs $50,000 a year. So that means if you were just replacing minibuses at a rate of 140 a year, you would need about $7 million in capital. And that’s probably a little low. This year, there were stimulus dollars available under the Federal Transit Administration’s Rural Transportation Program, and New Jersey used those rural stimulus funds to purchase, or are in the process of purchasing, vehicles for the county systems. It will probably bring in about 40-45 new vehicles. Bids opened last week and were low and we may be able to buy more. But that helped offset what is going on in terms of capital this year. I’ve appeared here before and, basically between coordination efforts, upgrading technology, we are exhausting what we can see on the horizon as other funding opportunities for capital. Starting in January, when the counties begin to use their 2010 dollars, we don’t have any more tricks up our sleeves. We are going to continually look for ways we can maximize operations. For instance, the Governor, in 2007, issued an Executive Order which created an Executive Committee with the Department of Human Services to look at better ways to coordinate transportation in the state. They continue to meet and under another Federal program were recently awarded a new grant. The new funding will allow the hiring of another person and to help the Committee and move the process along. The Executive Committee has an interdepartmental meeting monthly.
Although I can get better numbers to address the question of vehicle fleets, there are a little over1,000 vehicles in the county fleets. And Michael’s statement that vehicle life is seven years is a reasonable number. That would mean that counties would need to replace about 140-145 vehicles per year. A minibus, at the low end, probably costs $50,000 a year. So that means if you were just replacing minibuses at a rate of 140 a year, you would need about $7 million in capital. And that’s probably a little low. This year, there were stimulus dollars available under the Federal Transit Administration’s Rural Transportation Program, and New Jersey used those rural stimulus funds to purchase, or are in the process of purchasing, vehicles for the county systems. It will probably bring in about 40-45 new vehicles. Bids opened last week and were low and we may be able to buy more. But that helped offset what is going on in terms of capital this year. I’ve appeared here before and, basically between coordination efforts, upgrading technology, we are exhausting what we can see on the horizon as other funding opportunities for capital. Starting in January, when the counties begin to use their 2010 dollars, we don’t have any more tricks up our sleeves. We are going to continually look for ways we can maximize operations. For instance, the Governor, in 2007, issued an Executive Order which created an Executive Committee with the Department of Human Services to look at better ways to coordinate transportation in the state. They continue to meet and under another Federal program were recently awarded a new grant. The new funding will allow the hiring of another person and to help the Committee and move the process along. The Executive Committee has an interdepartmental meeting monthly.
Minutes20090918Meeting.docx