NTRAC Final Study - Nebraska Department of Roads - State of ...

CHAPTER 5 – COMMUTER RAIL PLAN
Service Facility Expenses
These pertain to expense incurred at the two service facilities, i.e. the maintenance facility in
Lincoln and the layover facility in Omaha; these facilities are discussed in detail a subsequent
section of this chapter. These costs are unrelated to the maintenance of equipment performed in
Lincoln by the operating contractor. The largest cost item here is the routine cleaning of the one
train set that overnights in Omaha. The other train sets are washed in Lincoln overnight.
Station Services
These include contracted custodial services, revenue collection from Ticket Vending Machines
(TVMs) at the five system stations, and fare inspection. Tickets will be sold by mail, on-line, or
through TVMs located at all stations. The service will contract with local law enforcement
agencies for inspection of tickets. Fare inspectors will not check all tickets, for fare inspectors
will not ride all trains. Rather, inspections will be randomized. Under this proof of payment
system, those riders not holding valid tickets will be cited. The analysis assumes that the
inspection effort itself will require the equivalent of two full time persons, plus expenses.
Insurance
This will be the single largest expense of the commuter rail service. The Year 1 insurance
premiums of $1.8 million are based on the amounts charged to similar commuter rail operations.
In addition, the service will maintain a reserve of about $200,000 for payments to claimants;
these funds are a guarantee that the deductible or underlying self-insured retention (SIR) has
sufficient cash reserves to pay small claims. In Year 2, the service would pay the same sort of
premiums, plus the required replenishment of the reserve fund – that is, whatever of the
$200,000 that was not paid out in small claims. This level of insurance premiums will provide
for a combined single limit (CSL) of $250 million, which means each accident occurrence is
limited to $250 million total payout for all claimants combined.
General and Administrative Costs
These are costs related to the management of the commuter rail service. These include the costs
of the general manager, the controller, and clerical assistants. The agency staff will be limited to
four persons, who are all that are required, as the operations of the system will be the purview of
the contract operator. The role of the agency staff will in large part be the management of the
agency’s various contracts. Also included here are the costs for accounting, marketing, and
various consulting service, as well as for maintaining a small agency office.
Impacts to Local Transit
Integration of commuter rail service with local transit in Lincoln and Omaha may trigger cost
impacts for StarTran and MAT. Calculating these impacts is beyond the scope of this effort, yet
it is work that needs to be done prior to initiation of rail service. The issue should be addressed
in any future effort to define an integrated transit solution, combining rail with the existing
transit operations and delivering superior transit options for Lincoln and Omaha residents.
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NEBRASKA TRANSIT CORRIDORS STUDY
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WILBUR SMITH ASSOCIATES