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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Lopez

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1/21/08

HB

SHORT TITLE 9-County Regional Transit Call Center

SB 304

ANALYST Propst

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY08

FY09

$150.0

Non-recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Department of Transportation (DOT)

Department of Finance and Administration (DFA)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 304, Making an Appropriation for a Regional Transit Call Center Covering Nine

Counties, appropriates $150.0 thousand from the general fund to DFA for the purpose of

providing a technical plan for a regional transit call center.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $150.0 thousand contained in this bill is a non-recurring expense to the

general fund. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY09 shall

revert to the general fund.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

DFA noted that with all of the mass transit system initiatives being implemented throughout the

mid region of the state, having a regional call center that would provide local residents with one

central place to call for route and connection information would be beneficial and may actually

increase the number of commuters that would take advantage of the transit systems.

Senate Bill 304 – Page

2

Currently, the Mid Region Council of Governments (COG) is acting as both the fiscal and

administrative agent for the independent Mid Region Transit District. According to the Mid

Region COG, all transit operations within the nine counties involved (Taos, Rio Arriba, Santa

Fe, Sandoval, Bernalillo, Valencia, Torrance, Cibola and Los Alamos) will be invited to

participate in the technical planning of the call center. It is anticipated that the participating local

transit agencies would determine how the recurring costs of the call center will be funded.

DOT notes that a “one-call" call center (866-551-RIDE) has been in operation by Santa Fe Trails

for two years covering the North Central Regional Transit District boundaries (Santa Fe, Los

Alamos, Rio Arriba, and Taos Counties). The call center handles all Santa Fe Trails and rural

transit related calls within these boundaries. The call center also handles all NMDOT Park and

Ride service related calls in the northern part of the State, which includes service in Bernalillo

County and Albuquerque, as well as connections to the RailRunner. NMDOT partially funds the

call center through Federal Transit Administration grants.

The technical plan proposed by SB 304 should address the existing 4-county (plus Park and

Ride) call center by including measures to coordinate with it, gather information and otherwise

learn from its 2-years of operations. Coordination of operations (i.e., a single phone number that

guides the caller to an options menu and then directs the call) between the already established

call center and a new one covering the remaining 5 counties should be thoroughly explored.

Additionally, the Mid-Region Regional Transit District should coordinate with NMDOT and

Santa Fe Trails through their planning process in development of the plan.

WEP/mt