Pittsburgh, PA
ATTENDEES
Claudia Allen, Chair, Port Authority of Allegheny County
Terry Cordell, Vice Chair, RTC of Southern Nevada/CAT
Sol Barth, Sol Barth
James Beach, PNC Capital Markets
Julia Clark, Moody’s Investors Service
Jonathan Davis, Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
Dale Feldpausch, Flint MTA
Thomas Johnson, Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
Charles Matthews, Public Financial Management
Murphy McCalley, McCalley Consulting
Robert McCully, Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein
Kim Paparello, NY Metropolitan Transportation Authority
Steve Psaledakis, Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein
Edward Roche, Moody’s Investors Service
Milford Spreeh, SAP
Sam Kerns, Staff Advisor, American Public Transportation Association
Welcome and Introduction
Chair Claudia Allen called the meeting to order at 3:30pm. Ms. Allen welcomed the committee members in attendance and self-introductions were made.
Approval of Minutes
A motion was made, seconded, and unanimously adopted to approve the minutes of the Financial Management Committee’s September 22, 2002 meeting.
Legislative Update
Ms. Allen noted that Peter Benjamin from WMATA was unable to attend but that APTA had prepared a brief one-page summary that has been included in each member’s folder. In short, TEA 21 Reauthorization is in full gear and APTA proposal has been distributed to every member of Congress:
- Grow program to $14.3 billion by FY2009
- Maintain the guarantees
- Expedite program delivery
Murphy McCalley noted that Congress recently almost passed a bill that would restrict certain financing and leasing options that are currently available. In large part due to efforts of APTA and the leasing companies, the section of the bill dealing with this was removed before passage.
MTA Debt Restructuring Program – Kim Paparello
Ms. Kim Paparello gave a PowerPoint presentation on the recent debt restructuring at NY-MTA. The MTA was able to take advantage of historically low interest rates and issued $13.5 billion in bonds in 18 separate transactions. The MTA was able to meet its capital program funding target by creating $4.1 billion in new funding capacity.
Rating Transit Agencies in the Current Economic Environment – Julia Clark
Ms. Julia Clark from Moody’s Investors Service presented the rating agency’s perspective on the future outlook for mass transit. Despite the difficult economic times, most ratings for transit agencies have remained stable due to fundamental credit strengths (gross revenue pledge, strong security features and essential service). Future rating will continue to focus on these credit fundamentals.
Technology and Procurement of New Fare Collection Systems – Jonathan R. Davis
Mr. Jonathan Davis presented an in-depth review of the MBTA’s entire procurement process in developing and implementing a new fare collection system. He noted that it was imperative to learn from other transit agencies and to seek input from those in the industry. The MBTA is scheduled to begin installation of the new Smartcard system in August 2004 with project completion expected in August 2005.
Sam Kerns noted that APTA had just recently initiated a Fare Media Standards program that would possibly help standardize fare collection systems among transit agencies.
Roundtable
Current Budget Issues
There was a consensus that the majority of transit systems were implementing some type of fare increase to cope with reduced revenue caused by diminishing sales tax receipts or reduced ridership. Some agencies are trying to institute some type of indexing system that would increase fares each year automatically based on inflation. Most agencies collect between 40-60% of their operating revenue from the farebox.
T-Flex Update – Terry Cordell
The T-Flex last met in March, which focused on insurance cost management and service planning models. The next meeting is scheduled to be held in August 2003 in St. Louis.
Calendar of Event/APTA Activity Update
Sam Kerns, APTA staff advisor, reviewed the calendar of upcoming APTA events, making special note of the next FMC meeting to be held in conjunction with APTA’s Annual Meeting in Salt Lake City on September 28, 2003.
Mr. Kerns also noted that one of APTA’s major initiatives over the last several years, the Public Transportation Partnership for Tomorrow initiative (PT)2, has been highly successful. The latest survey show that the general public’s view with respect to public transportation has increased 5-6% since the program started. The program has also raised $11.9 million of its 12.0 million dollar goal for the first two years of the initiative.
Next Meeting
Chair Allen adjourned the meeting at 5:00 p.m. The next meeting of the Committee will be in Salt Lake City on September 28 at APTA’s Annual Meeting.
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