Back in the 1980s, squeegee men would go after cars, usually at red lights, go through the motions of cleaning a windshield and then (sometimes menacingly) demanding payment for a service that the car driver never requested. Is this the model for Southwest Community Services in providing bus service and THEN demanding money from the towns it serves? Unasked?
I’ve never been a fan of such “public transportation” as it is basically a waste of money when you compare it to just hiring a taxi for the person needing a ride. All the capital and maintenance costs, the wages, and the admin overhead never make it a going proposition. I used to write about the “service” here in the Lakes Region of NH, commenting on fact that these mini-buses often tooled around empty most of the time and only occasionally had one or two people in it.
I noticed after I submitted a RSA 91-A for their budget and computed the cost/ride, they tinted the windows.
So, what did Southwest Community Services do? From the Union Leader (reformatted, emphasis mine):
#1 – First, give them the stuff for free and get people hooked!
Southwestern Community Services is asking the City Council to contribute $30,000 toward the Sullivan County bus service that the organization began operating in the city three weeks ago.
#2 – Then cry “poor mouth” on bended knee and throw the victim card
John Manning, CEO of Southwestern Community Services, asked the City Council Wednesday night for the funds in order to keep the bus service afloat. The City Council intends to respond to a request for $30,000 at its Dec. 14 meeting, City Manager Guy Santagate said Monday.
Normally if there was a vacuum in the marketplace, an entrepreneur (with his own money + investors) would reason out a plan and see if they had the money to begin. Hey, somebody almost dependent on taxpayer monies – no problem! SwCS went in where others had failed – I guess they believed they could rent-seek better than the previous leech:
Community Alliance Transportation Services had been providing the community with bus service in Claremont, Newport and Charlestown, but shut down in early September. Seeing the community need for public transportation, Southwestern Community Services stepped in, Manning said Monday. After assessing finances, Manning is asking Sullivan County, Newport, Charlestown and Claremont to make up an expected annual $60,000 shortfall. The program is expected to cost $618,000 to run annually, Manning said.
Ayup, let’s go with a project on “expectations – certainly a recipe for success but wouldn’t you think that this NGO (Non-Government Organization) would ASK first instead of assuming?
State and federal funds , with some funding from the NH Charitable Trust, are expected to fund the majority of the program. “We took it over and the issue with local transportation in New Hampshire is that it requires local support … the state contracts require a local match,” Manning said, because there is never adequate funding from the state, he added.
There a couple of words that could be used here; dumbass being one of them. Seriously, you didn’t tie up all the loose ends BEFORE going ahead with this? Don’t you run a biz plan to eliminate that type of risk? Seriously, who starts up something like this ALREADY knowing they’re in the hole?
Manning said it was made clear when Southwestern Community Services took over the bus service in October that they didn’t have the funds to make up for any budget deficits. “We could take it on as long as we were able to add adequate revenue to operate,” he said. “We’ve made a commitment. We put a team together of staff to pull all the parts together. We’ve donated a lot of staff time to it.”
Hey, isn’t this applicable – if I was the Claremont guy signing the check, I’d be running a whole lot of numbers after getting the same set from the already vanquished bus service for capital, wages, maintenance, mileage, and passengers carried (passenger miles would be real good but doubtful it would be available). Run those numbers and I bet it would be cheaper to give out taxi vouchers:
Since the bus service runs primarily in Claremont, and the majority of riders are Claremont residents, Manning said Claremont is being asked to contribute half of that shortfall. Santagate said he had no knowledge of Claremont contributing funds to the service in the past.
Gee, do you think that THIS might be a big old Red Flag? With “FULL STOP” written all over it?
Santagate said he was interested to learn what issues led to Community Alliance Transportation Services’ demise. Manning said Wednesday night it was mismanagement and a lack of revenue support from the communities it serves led.
So let me see if I get this straight:
- Earlier, Manning of SwCS said ” Seeing the community need for public transportation“
- Then he says “a lack of revenue support from the communities it serves led“
Something ain’t adding up as #1 is not supported by #2. So what what is his answer to a “lack of revenue support” you ask? Ah!
Become a squeegee man:
Manning said Monday that Community Alliance Transportation Services didn’t seem to go after needed funding aggressively.
Squeegee men also were aggressively going after “revenue support“. They also were mean about it as well as they felt they were entitled to other peoples’ money even if providing the service without being asked.
Last year, Charlestown donated $14,000 to the bus service, which Manning has asked the town to renew. Newport gave $5,000 last year, which Manning has asked them to increase to $10,000 this year. Sullivan County is being asked to make up the rest of the shortfall.
Guess Manning is showing his inner “aggressive” squeegee.
