In a recent legislative presentation, Administration Secretary Robert Ferguson bragged that, with the new Fleet Management Office, “I can tell you how many cars we have, and I can tell you who has them.”

A reader suggested, if that’s true, there should be a list available for public review … and sure enough, there is.

I requested a list of all passenger vehicles, and received a printout totaling 6,509 vehicles, broken down (no pun intended) by agency.

(The state has another 2,841 vehicles ranging from ATVs to heavy-duty equipment that don’t show up on the list I requested.)

While the list doesn’t show who the vehicles are assigned to, it provides an agency-by-agency list of makes and models assigned to each office.

For example, the governor’s office has nine vehicles, including a 2011 Dodge Caravan, two 2011 GMC Yukons, a 2007 Jeep Liberty, and three Ford Focuses and two Plymouth Neons.

The secretary of state’s office, by comparison, has only five vehicles, a 2010 Caravan, an ’08 Impala, ’07 and ’01 Crown Victorias, and a ’07 Jeep Liberty.

Because vehicles are ordered from state purchasing lists, there’s not a great deal of variety of makes and models, with the most exotic model being a 2008 Cadillac Escalade assigned to the State Police.

Most of the vehicles are relatively late-model, with only a few dating back to the 1990s or earlier.

In fact, the oldest vehicles in the fleet are assigned to West Virginia University (and actually were there when I was a student): A 1978 and 1983 Jeep CJ5s, and a 1975 GMC truck.

The only other state vehicle of that era, a 1981 Chevy truck, is assigned to RESA VIII.

Meanwhile, while Fleet Services currently knows how many vehicles it has and what agencies have them, in the near future it will know where every vehicle is located in real-time.

Bid openings are this week for two contracts to install GPS devices on all state vehicles.

Besides location, the devices will be able to track all kinds of data, including directions of travel, speed, fuel mileage, usage of vehicles at odd hours, and even whether seatbelts are in use.

The bid packages are

Article source: http://feeds.stateline.org/~r/StatelineorgRss-Transportation/~3/t26Iw4kGo5k/201202050086

MONTPELIER — Since 2006, Vermont has laid out more than $18 million for a Department of Motor Vehicles computer system that barely works.

The system was once touted as a state-of-the art solution. Instead, the state is largely relying on a 40-year system that lacks the ability to provide the immediacy needed in the world of driver records and auto registrations.

State officials said they are working to recoup the costs from the vendor, Hewlett Packard, the fourth company to hold the contract.

“We’ll try to get our money back starting with a settlement conversation, and if that’s not fruitful, the lawyers will take over,” said Rob Ide, state Department of Motor Vehicles commissioner. “We’re looking for a big check.”

“This is outrageous,” said Gov. Peter Shumlin, whose administration inherited the contract when he took office in 2011, but he was a member of the Senate Transportation Committee that oversees motor vehicle matters before becoming governor. “It’s unacceptable.”

Ide and Shumlin attribute the problem to the frequent change in vendors as each one is bought out by another.

Hewlett Packard officials contend the company expects to deliver a successful system

“HP is fully committed to the successful completion of the VT Drives project. The delay is unfortunate; however it is necessary to deliver a high-quality customized system and to implement additional changes as well as functionality that have been requested by the state,” Hewlett Packard spokeswoman Ericka Floyd said. “HP is fully focused on addressing the remaining technical issues, implementing the additional functionality requested and testing the application to bring the project to completion.”

Ide said the state considers the system that has been created to be fatally flawed, though a few of the new functions are working. “We do not believe the code as written will ever work as advertised,” he said.

Whether the state will recover its money or end up with a working computer system remains to be seen. The issue raises questions about the state’s antiquated computer network and its ability to keep pace with technology.

In the meantime, the Department of Motor Vehicles will maintain its old system, Ide said, with the worry that it

Article source: http://feeds.stateline.org/~r/StatelineorgRss-Transportation/~3/zBHZQr9tTRQ/-18-million-computer-system-fails-DMV

First, an I-35 recap.

• Integris Health Edmond opened last fall on the east side of the highway north of 15th Street, and another hospital, with Mercy Health System, is under construction cattycorner south of 15th on the west side.

• North of the Mercy Health site, Fox Lake Plaza and Shoppes at Fox Lake, with retail and office space — and a wellness park and trail planned to extend to Arcadia Lake — are under way by Tapp Development Corp.

• To the north, retail, office and a new Francis Tuttle Technology Center are in the works at Covell Road.

Those projects do command people’s attention, said Jeff Norman, president of JAH Realty, one of several developers and property brokers presenting information at the recent Edmond Economic Preview. But before long, a few spots west of the interstate will attract the spotlight.

Article source: http://feeds.stateline.org/~r/StatelineorgRss-Transportation/~3/oucfRAREeHo/3646086

BOISE, Idaho —

The Senate has overwhelmingly approved legislation to limit the number of Idaho’s specialty license plates.

The chamber voted 31-2 Friday to restrict future specialty license plates only for government purposes or foundations that support government activities.

The bill now moves to the House where a similar version died last year.

The bill’s champion is Sen. Jim Hammond from Coeur d’Alene. He says growth in the program has put government in a position to raise money for private organizations that have gotten clearance for special plates.

The state currently has more than 30 specialty plates that raise $1.6 million a year, with most of that raised by wildlife plates aimed at benefiting the Idaho Department of Fish and Game.

The bill would grandfather in existing special plates.

Article source: http://feeds.stateline.org/~r/StatelineorgRss-Transportation/~3/q2oOTDinYPQ/senate-passes-bill-to-limit-idaho.html

Legislative auditors have confirmed what everyone who was paying attention already knew: The Utah Transit Authority budget is stretched to the limit. The reasons are also no mystery. Just as the agency began construction of four new TRAX lines and an extension of FrontRunner through Salt Lake and Utah counties, the Great Recession sliced into its sales-tax revenues.

In 2010, according to the audit, sales taxes provided 63 percent of the UTA’s $275 million total annual revenues. Federal non-capital funds were the second-largest source, providing 22 percent. Fares contributed only 13 percent.

When the UTA built its first TRAX lines in the late ‘90s, Uncle Sam picked up 78 percent of the $1.1 billion construction tab. But for the latest $2.3 billion in projects, the federal government is paying for only 24 percent. That means UTA local resources have been stretched to make bond payments for construction capital.

At the same time, the sluggish economy has cut into the UTA’s local sales-tax receipts. The $172 million in sales tax the agency collected in 2010 is about $67 million below what the agency had predicted in 2007.

The auditors are concerned that the UTA’s predictions about growth in sales tax revenues, federal grants and fare receipts are too optimistic and that its projections of expenses are too conservative. That combination, say the auditors, could put the agency in such a financial bind that it might have to cannibalize bus service to keep its trains operating.

People who ride UTA buses, particularly routes in Salt Lake City, know that the agency already has cut bus service to live within its means and operate the new Green (West Valley) and Red (Mid-Jordan) TRAX lines. They may shudder at the thought of what may have to happen to bus service when the new Airport and Draper TRAX lines open in the next couple of years. FrontRunner South to Provo also is scheduled to open in that time.

So why not raise fares? UTA projects that its fare income will

Article source: http://feeds.stateline.org/~r/StatelineorgRss-Transportation/~3/zhsp5Kg_t8s/uta-agency-fares-percent.html.csp