A new report from the Eno Center of Transportation details how transit agencies are exploring innovative ways to engage with private partners to address challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, including workforce management issues, fluctuating ridership and revenue declines.
The report, “Success Factors in Private Contracting for Public Transportation,” shows that service contracting is a tool that governments can use to deliver transit services for riders, as nearly two-thirds of transit agencies in the U.S. already contract all or part of their operations. The report says that when contracting is implemented effectively and strategically, it can yield service improvements that benefit the riding public and, in some cases, lower costs and can enable governance overhauls whose impacts may go far beyond increased service reliability by creating more adaptable, sustainable public institutions.
According to the report, previous work on contracting consistently points to the need for positive, healthy relationships between the public agency and the private contractor to achieve the best outcomes for both parties, their workers and the riding public. The report notes when there is public and private alignment, the public interest is protected.
The report finds the current state of public transit in many regions makes the need for positive relationships even more acute. The report says public transit agencies should be tightly aligned and collaborate with the contractor on workforce issues to ensure good transit service and outcomes. However, contracts should allow the private contractor the flexibility to innovate to solve new problems.
The full report can be found here.
