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Quality of Service and Responsiveness to Agency/Client Needs <br /> The major factors considered by the Steering Committee in discussing possible private sector <br /> management and operation was the question of whether or not a private contractor would be more cost <br /> effective, and can assure quality while retaining control for the County. At this point, based upon the <br /> combination of a low per-mile operating cost, the loss of benefits should drivers be employed by a for- <br /> profit firm, and the loss of quality control when management is subcontracted, the consensus of the <br /> Committee was to continue with the current management arrangement. The Committee does recommend, <br /> however, that a study of the feasibility of establishing a non-profit management fine or a separate County <br /> Department of Transportation be included in the next Transportation Development Plan Update. <br /> Summary of Private Sector Process Results <br /> To summarize,the Steering Committee considered using private contractors to mange and operate <br /> OPT/agency services, mainly looking at cost savings as a rationale for changing. The results were as <br /> follows: <br /> ' Oran e Public Transportation will continue its existing management arrangements. <br /> • Private sector operators will be utilized as part of the OPT program in two ways: <br /> -- For out-of-county trips or routes, and <br /> -- To supplement OPT operations with local taxi service,primarily for intra-County demand- <br /> responsive service. <br /> CAPITAL PLAN <br /> In order to operate the existing and planned services, vehicles will need to be replaced but no <br /> additional vehicles will be needed. This section presents a plan for vehicle replacement for the next four <br /> years. In Chapter 2, Table 2-2 presented an inventory of the vehicles currently in use in Orange County, <br /> including each vehicle's mileage, condition, and average annual mileage. This information has been used <br /> to determine the present and future vehicle needs for Orange Public Transportation. <br /> As shown in Chapter 2, there are four vehicles which are expected to be replaced within the next <br /> 12 months,with four of those vehicles already out of service. The four-year vehicle replacement schedule <br /> shown in Tables 4-1 and 4-2. Table 4-1 do not include those eight vehicles expected to be replaced in <br /> the next year. <br /> -45- <br />