OCTA to Hire Private Firm to Take Over Van Services

Orange County transit officials decided Monday to turn over van services for seniors and the disabled to the private sector and to consider a change in policy toward outside contractors that could save $15 million on any agreement reached for the service.

In looking to the private arena, the Orange County Transportation Authority specifically rejected a request from two agency board members to study the costs of keeping the services in-house, which would have required hiring 460 people.

Board member Mike Ward called the decision to award the five-year, multimillion-dollar contract to a private company a “no-brainer.”

“As an elected representative . . . it is imperative to look at anything that saves taxpayers a considerable amount of money,” said Ward, who is also an Irvine councilman. “I like the idea of outsourcing. I do not like the idea of hiring [nearly] 500 more employees at taxpayers’ expense.”

The board is scheduled to select a private contractor at its Aug. 9 meeting.

The transportation authority has been trying to find ways to cut spending on the costly operation, which it runs now with the help of private contractors providing drivers and some dispatch services.

An independent consultant found that hiring one private company to provide van services for disabled people and another for senior citizens would save the agency $6.35 million over five years.

But one company handling both the elderly and the disabled could save the county $15.8 million, according to the consultant.

Board policy forbids relying solely on one contractor because it would be too risky in case a service failure or other emergency occurs. Directors indicated that they probably would change that policy.

“The cost savings are too compelling,” said board member Susan Withrow, a Mission Viejo councilwoman.

The board also asked the eight private companies that had bid on the separate services to submit a bid for providing both services.

Previously, Greg Winterbottom, an alternate public member from Villa Park, had voiced concerns about quality control if the service is privatized. But at Monday’s meeting, the objections were more bureaucratic.

Winterbottom and Anaheim Mayor Tom Daly, another board member, voted against the proposal because the consultant’s financial analysis estimated the cost of an in-house operation, yet the board never sought a bid from the public sector. The consultant used that estimated cost to derive the savings that private companies could give the agency.