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97 <br /> Chapter 6:Summary and Conclusions <br /> Chapter 6 : Summary and Conclusions <br /> This report documents the finding that there have been significant improvements in the <br /> administration and management of OPT over the past several years. OPT management <br /> has been restructured and with significant planning assistance, a number of issues have <br /> been addressed. OPT now has written policies in place that address federal requirements, <br /> including an adopted Americans with Disabilities (ADA) policy and an adopted Title VI <br /> policy (covering equity in service provision). Other compliance issues identified as part of <br /> NCDOT oversight as part of OPT's Safety and Security Program Plan (SSPP) have been <br /> addressed, and the system is in compliance. Recordkeeping and reporting are now <br /> ridership and operations data appropriately. One effect has been the realization that <br /> actual ridership is significantly lower than what had previously been reported. OPT is <br /> now operating out of offices housed in a permanent structure, next to the fleet parking <br /> area,with sufficient space and appropriate conditions for scheduling and dispatch, <br /> administration and driver reports. The vehicle fleet is being updated to replace overage <br /> vehicles and right-sized to address near-term expansion. <br /> Earlier efforts to consider options for consolidation were hampered by widely varying <br /> estimates of the costs of OPT service. Staff efforts since then have provided data that <br /> supports much more solid estimates of operating costs,which are included in this report. <br /> Overall based on FY 2014 data, the combined operating and administrative cost of OPT <br /> service was $1,o88,112, or$66.6o per service hour. This number includes budgeted <br /> administrative and operating costs, allocated county indirect costs and staff time spent by <br /> Planning and Inspections Comprehensive Planning staff on OPT. Of that total, <br /> approximately$550,000 or 50% of the costs were covered by federal or state grants, fare <br /> revenue or contract income from human service agencies. In addition, there are capital <br /> costs primarily for vehicles, which vary year to year depending the number and type of <br /> vehicles. The overall cost per service hour is not the best estimate of the cost of additional <br /> services because the administrative expense base can be seen as fixed unless there is a <br /> large increase in service. For estimating the incremental operating cost of new services, <br /> administrative costs were removed from the overall budget and the resulting incremental <br /> cost per service hour for FY 2014 was $44.28• <br /> This information is useful as OPT makes a shift from being primarily demand response <br /> service for agency clients and special needs passengers (seniors and persons with <br /> disabilities) to a transit system that also provides service open to the general public on <br /> fixed routes or route deviation services. Application of a cost allocation model to the <br /> current services reveals that Orange County funds are subsidizing (to varying degrees) <br /> each of the programs utilizing OPT services. In the past OPT was not generally perceived <br /> KFH <br /> NCDOT Orange County 81 <br /> Transit Assessment Study <br />