Saying the commuter van pool program shouldn't be government-run, the state is about to cancel a lifeline for many cash-strapped downtown workers. However, it has authorized up to $2 million in subsidies to private van pool companies that charge passengers more.
"It's going to put a hardship on all of us, not just one or two but all of us," said Debra Barnes-Homer, who rides a state van from Discover Mills in Gwinnett County. "That's the reason we're able to make ends meet."
The exact cost of running the state's 50 or so van pools is hard to pin down. Georgia Regional Transportation Authority officials said the program lost $267,000 last year, although that also included payments for state personnel and overhead that were devoted to the private van pool program. It also included part of the cost of buying new vans years ago.
State and federal subsidies to the private van pool companies, VPSI and Enterprise Rent-a-Car, may go up to $2,059,200 this year. VPSI has received them for years, but the state added Enterprise this year. In return for the money, the private van pool passengers report basic data about their commutes for a federal survey. There are about 338 private vans right now subsidized at $300 a month each, said GRTA spokesman William Mecke, but that number could grow.
GRTA director Dick Anderson said he hoped the addition of Enterprise to the subsidy program would help competition drive down prices.
Anderson said that the state's van pool system was "managed on a shoestring" and should be upgraded, which would cost money he didn't want to spend on a state service. "We offer a low-cost and low-support level of service," said Anderson, a former executive with AT&T.
"To me, it was a classic business decision in terms of build versus buy," he said. "Also, I think it was a good public policy position of, if we have alternatives to privatize services that we're providing versus doing them ourselves, the taxpayer's better off."
Anderson said that if he had to keep the state van pools, he would want to buy a new billing system and buy new vans. He acknowledged that the state had about $2 million in leftover van pool funds it could use for those costs, but he said it could accomplish more if that money went to private companies' subsidies. The state pays 20 percent of the subsidy, and the federal government pays the rest.
Some state van pool customers say the shoestring operation and its low fares are just what they want.
Where the state's cheapest van pool would now charge $56 per month to ride in a full van with a round trip of 30 to 59 miles, VPSI would charge $65 to $85, according to VPSI Atlanta project manager Wendy Wishard.
Barnes-Homer said that when she and her fellow van passengers chose the state van over VPSI last year, VPSI's price was nearly double that of the state.
VPSI has long complained about competition from the state's van pool service, but GRTA officials said that had nothing to do with shutting it down. Enterprise and VPSI officials said they provided high-quality vans, and the state gets a break on gas prices that private companies can't match.
Anderson noted that passengers can try GRTA's Xpress buses.
Sheila Smith, who takes a van from Griffin, said that would be a problem for her because arthritis in her knees would make it hard to walk the longer distance from the bus stop.
In any case, she says she's glad to pay a bit more if that will keep the GRTA service going.
"Having options is a very good thing," she said. When the GRTA board meets June 10 to make its final decision, she plans to tell them just that.
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