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UPDATE:
According to the County Auditor’s office, Metro needs a software upgrade. Today’s big items identified for potential savings according to the auditor’s briefing:

• Metro could save $16 to $23 million per year by implementing scheduling tools — ie, improved scheduling software
• Included in this is an up to $19 million savings by improving the ‘efficiency’ of how bus wait times are handled. The auditor’s reports says that 29% of a Metro bus round-trip is wait time and posits that software could better plan factors like driver breaks to reduce wait time.
• Also included is a potential $3.7 million savings from using the scheduling software to determine ways to optimize bus use across the entire Metro system. An example of the potential improvement are the empty buses that return to route bases empty. The auditor’s report suggests a better planned system could better deploy those buses so that a bus might serve another route instead of returning back to route bases before being deployed again.
• Additional recommendations included using software to determine driver route assignments, replacing the electric trolley fleet with cheaper-to-operate hybrid buses and cutting back the discount programs offered to riders.

The auditor’s report will be split into multiple sessions — the next is planned for September 15th.

Additional coverage from the Seattle Times here: “In other areas, the report says millions more dollars might be collected by offering riders fewer discounts, and by creating fare-income goals. Fares cover only one-fifth of operating costs currently. On the other hand, higher fares limit ridership.”

Original Report:
We’ll learn more about cuts coming for the Metro transit system to cover its forecasted $213 million deficit after a ‘Transit Performance Audit’ is presented at this morning’s session of the King County Council’s Government Oversight and Accountability Committee. You can watch the session live here.

Council committee to hear of opportunities for cost efficiencies in Metro Transit operations

Briefing on Transit Performance Audit before Government Accountability and Oversight Committee

The King County Auditor’s office will begin presenting the findings of its performance audit of Metro Transit, which faces a projected $213 million deficit, THIS MORNING to the Metropolitan King County Council’s Government Accountability and Oversight Committee: 

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9:30 a.m.

Council chambers

10th floor, King County Courthouse

Third and James Streets

The Transit Performance Audit looked for cost-saving opportunities and efficiencies in the areas of financial and capital planning, bus and trolley service, staffing, paratransit, data and technology, and vehicle maintenance.

The first report from the Auditor will focus on service development and efforts to increase the efficiency of the transit system. It will also include analysis of capital and financial planning, trolley replacement costs, and fares.

The audit is bullet point #8 in King County Executive Kurt Triplett’s 9-point ‘Metro budget action plan.’

Action 8 – Implementing operating efficiencies from the forthcoming transit performance audit recommendations. There is a Metro performance audit currently underway that is likely to identify operating efficiencies that the auditor and Metro staff believe will help the agency achieve some of the efficiencies indicated, particularly in how service is planned and scheduled. To the extent Metro can achieve these efficiencies over the next few years, these savings are likely to offset or “buy back” a portion of the anticipated service reductions. However it is premature to assign a dollar savings to these efficiencies today.

You can read more about what Triplett’s office is considering to keep Metro running here: Metro cuts coming: Budget shortfall, cutbacks detailed at public hearing