Benchmarking Efficiency for MTA Services Citizens Budget Commission April 6 th 2011
In a 2006, the CBC recommended using unit cost measures and developing comparative measures, or benchmarking, as a tool in controlling costs. Today s report has been prepared to support the MTA s ongoing efforts to find new efficiency initiatives. Improving Through Benchmarking
Dollars in Millions Efficiency is Important In the last two years, the MTA has taken steps to improve its finances, by controlling costs through carefully selected service cuts and efficiency savings. MTA Savings from Cost Cutting Initiatives, Fiscal Years 2010-2014 $1,250 $1,000 $750 $500 $391 $634 $758 $898 $935 Net Zero Labor Initiative 2011 Initiatives $250 2010 Initiatives $0 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Fiscal Year
MTA Operations Subway, Buses and Trains This report focuses on the three mass transit services provided by the five separate units within the MTA, which make up 9/10s of the MTA s operating budget: Within those 5 units, Subways: New York City Transit Bus Services: New York City Transit MTA Bus Company Commuter Rail Services: Long Island Rail Road Metro-North Railroad 6% Total Operating Expenses, Five Largest Units within the MTA, 2009 14% 11% 28% 41%
Source and Methods Source: National Transit Database (NTD) Widely Considered Reliable Latest Data Available is from 2009 Domestic Comparison of Ten Largest Systems 5
Miles of Service Hours of Service Passenger Trips Passenger Miles Active Vehicles Service Measures
Efficiency Measures Total Operating Expenses per Each Service Measure Component Expenses Per Each Service Measure Vehicle Operations Non-Vehicle Maintenance Vehicle Maintenance General Administration Labor Productivity Measures Hours of Service Per Total Employee Hour Hours of Service Per Vehicle Operator Hour Miles of Service Per Maintenance Employee Hour
Commuter Rail Systems Selected Service Indicators Ten Largest U.S. Commuter Rail Operators, 2009 City (Transit System) Daily Pass. Daily Miles Active Trips of Service Vehicles New York (LIRR) 266,714 (1) 178,190 (1) 1,185 (3) New Jersey (NJ Transit) 229,004 (2) 163,773 (2) 1,241 (2) New York (MNR) 217,710 (3) 161,199 (3) 1,073 (4) Chicago (Metra) 196,622 (4) 117,617 (4) 1,434 (1) Boston (MBTA) 111,186 (5) 65,684 (5) 470 (5) Philadelphia (SEPTA) 97,680 (6) 46,710 (6) 361 (6) Los Angeles (Metrolink) 33,539 (7) 29,194 (7) 204 (7) San Francisco (PCJPB) 31,121 (8) 18,892 (8) 147 (9) Baltimore (MTA) 22,140 (9) 13,941 (9) 157 (8) Miami (Tri-Rail) 11,571 (10) 8,091 (10) 46 (10)
Bus Systems Selected Service Indicators Ten Largest U.S. Bus Operators, 2009 City (Transit System) Daily Pass. Daily Miles of Active Trips Service Vehicles New York City (NYCT Buses) 2,308,596 (1) 281,351 (1) 4,538 (1) Los Angeles (LACMTA) 1,057,616 (2) 242,564 (2) 2,712 (2) Chicago (CTA) 873,076 (3) 184,773 (4) 2,056 (4) Philadelphia (SEPTA) 494,944 (4) 112,000 (6) 1,409 (6) New Jersey (NJ Transit) 467,777 (5) 221,745 (3) 2,542 (3) Washington D.C. (WMATA) 375,052 (6) 115,059 (5) 1,525 (5) New York City (MTABus) 328,701 (7) 74,821 (9) 1,347 (7) Boston (MBTA) 276,080 (8) 68,968 (10) 1,123 (9) Seattle (MetroKC) 250,270 (9) 87,979 (7) 1,248 (8) Miami-Dade (MDT) 207,145 (10) 86,430 (8) 902 (10)
Subway Systems Selected Service Indicators Ten Largest U.S. Heavy Rail Operators, 2009 City (Transit System) Daily Pass. Daily Miles Active Trips of Service Vehicles New York City(NYCT) 6,461,133 (1) 965,821 (1) 6,360 (1) Washington D.C.(WMATA) 813,307 (2) 196,721 (2) 1,120 (3) Chicago (CTA) 554,984 (3) 187,924 (3) 1,186 (2) Boston (MBTA) 407,354 (4) 61,575 (6) 442 (5) San Francisco (BART) 314,122 (5) 185,872 (4) 669 (4) Philadelphia (SEPTA) 260,576 (6) 46,267 (7) 369 (6) Atlanta (MARTA) 228,347 (7) 67,304 (5) 270 (8) New York/New Jersey(PATH) 219,329 (8) 33,433 (8) 369 (6) Los Angeles (LACMTA) 128,469 (9) 16,651 (10) 104 (10) Miami-Dade(MDT) 49,985 (10) 18,333 (9) 136 (9)
Commuter Rail Systems, Operating expenses by: $21.24 per: Unit Cost Measures Mile of Service $11.56 per: $13.50 per: Passenger Trip $6.16 per: $1,149,384 per: Active Vehicle $382,600 per:
Component Expenses Per Passenger Trip: $6.06 Per: Commuter Rail Systems, Unit Cost Measures: Component Expense Vehicle Operations $2.45 Per: $2.33 Per: Non-Vehicle Operations $0.56 Per: $3.57 Per: Vehicle Maintenance $1.15 Per:
Operating Expenses by : Bus Systems, Unit Cost Measures $5.52 per: Passenger Trip $2.43 per: $172.48 per: Hour of Service $112.28 per: $504,506 per: Active Vehicle $299,165 per:
Component Expenses per Hours of Service : Bus Systems, Unit Cost Measures: Component Expense $99.31 per: Vehicle Operations $71.94 per: $44.27 per: Vehicle Maintenance $20.48 per:
Bus Systems, Labor Productivity Measures 0.375 hours per: Hours of Service per Employee Hour 0.558 hours per: 0.547 hours per: Hours of Service per Vehicle Operator Hour 0.799 hours per: 13.4 miles per: Miles of Service per Maint. Employee Hour 20.9 miles per:
Subway Systems, Operating Expenses by: $352.10 per: Unit Cost Measures Hour of Service $123.78 per: $853,769 per: Active Vehicle $389,557 per: $4.30 per: Passenger Trip $1.40 per:
Subway Systems, Component Expenses per Hour of Service: $196.13 per: Unit Cost Measures: Component Expense Vehicle Operations $52.98 per: $83.82 per: Non-Vehicle Operations $26.83 per: $58.67 per: Vehicle Maintenance $25.18 per:
Subway Systems, Labor Productivity Measures 0.22 hours per: Hours of Service per Employee Hour 0.55 hours per: 0.48 hours per: Hours of Service per Vehicle Operator Hour 1.26 hours per: 23.28 miles per: Miles of Service per Maint. Employee Hour 68.05 miles per:
Conclusions Benchmarking can be a useful tool in finding new efficiencies The MTA commuter rail systems are relatively inefficient. The LIRR ranks last in vehicle maintenance costs while having lowest average fleet age. NYCT & MTA buses represents the greatest opportunity for improvement because of their low rankings and large operating budget. NYC subways rank high in comparison with the other national systems, with the one notable exception being nonvehicle operations, which includes stations, depots and track maintenance