Federal shuttle bus services could face shutdown

If federal agencies can't find a way to make their in-house shuttle services more efficient, federal employees may soon be providing their own agency-to-agency transportation, officials said at a hearing Wednesday.

At the hearing, members of the House Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations and Emergency Management raised questions about the expense and redundancy of the Federal Shuttle Bus Service.

Several government agencies operate shuttle services in the Washington downtown area, transporting federal employees from agency to agency at an annual price tag of approximately $15 million, according to the General Services Administration (GSA). Of the 139 shuttle buses or vans running, 123 have overlapping routes, said Martin Wagner, an official with GSA.

In fact, a color-coded grid showing the overlapping shuttle routes sent Rep. James Traficant, D-Ohio, over the edge during the hearing.

"Why is that we have this grid here with all of these overlapping lines?" Traficant asked. "It makes government look foolish, stupid, wasteful and [like it is] taking money for granted!"

Traficant suggested that the agencies share shuttle services, rather than each running their own and duplicating services, but Wagner said legal restrictions sometimes prohibit the agencies from being able to share resources.

"I thought you were going to come up with some real sophisticated, James Bond type plan for why they couldn't share," said Traficant in response to Wagner's brief explanation for the lack of agency coalition on the shuttle service. "I think it's time to get your shuttle in order and get your act in order," he said.

Rep. Tillie Fowler, R-Fla., posed several questions about the effect the shuttle services have had on the Metro system.

"Some of these stop right beside Metro stops, but they operate a shuttle rather than encourage using the Metro," Fowler said.

"Metro rail is an excellent system for getting people to town, but it's not the most effective route for getting around town," said William Dowd, director of office plans and review for the National Capital Planning Commission. Dowd went on to explain future plans for the shuttle service, including expanding it to a light rail system, but Fowler insisted sufficient management of the current system was needed before expansion discussions could begin.

Exasperated with what he described as a waste of taxpayer money, Traficant began pelting Wagner and Dowd with questions.

"Why do we really need the shuttle system? Why can't we just scrap it all and save the money? How many people would it really affect? Who was it designed to serve?" he asked, leaving little time for responses. "Since they cost $200,000 to $300,000, how many seats are on the average shuttle and when do they ride, what is the percent of vehicle occupancy?"

Traficant demanded that the committee request a passenger vehicle occupancy accounting, adding one last comment before the hearing adjourned: "Does this need to be improved or does it need to be removed?"

A commissioned independent study examining the shuttle service is expected to be ready by 2001.