THE Bus Budget Breakdown

BROOKSVILLE - One dollar will get you a seat on THE Bus.

But it takes a whole lot of those dollars to pay for the county's annual operating costs for the mass transit system. To be precise: $600,000 in property tax revenues.

Actually it costs a lot more to operate, but that's the county's local match after deducting about 69 percent of state and federal grants.

But what are the actual costs of Hernando County's mass transit?

It breaks down this way:

• The total annual operating costs for fiscal year 2007 for providing the fixed-route (bus) service is $1.67 million, according to a county transit update report.

• The average operating cost per passenger comes out to $65.72 per operational hour, based on 2006 statistics.

• Then there are the vehicle maintenance costs, which for 2007 were $250,000. That includes the additional cost for equipment upgrades, such as wheelchair lifts and bicycle racks.

As for the future, capital costs will vary depending on rising costs of vehicle replacement and any additions of new bus routes.

Over a five-year period, the county estimates a capital need of $451,000 annually and $269,000 annually for any enhancements to the current level of service.

Any capital costs are 100 percent grant-funded and don't require local funds.

County transportation planner Steve Diez said the capital improvements don't mean much if there isn't enough money in the operational budget to fund the service.

How The Survey Was Done

Tampa-based Tindale-Oliver & Associates Inc. performed the ridership survey for about $20,000.

The firm spent one day - Thursday, April 24 -- in Hernando County and handed out surveys to riders on each of the four bus routes. Of the 625 total riders counted that day, 447 completed the survey.

Bill Ball, an associate with Tindale-Oliver & Associates Inc., said his firm sent one person to Hernando County the day before the survey and trained about three county staffers and about one or two volunteers on how to conduct the survey.

The day of the survey, one of the firm's associates was here to supervise the proceedings and to occasionally help out county staffers and volunteers, Ball said. The associate spent about 11 hours riding buses that day.

Ball said he received a 72 percent response rate from survey participants, which he said was enough to make it scientifically valid.

Diez believes the survey provided a good cross section of riders. It was done on a Thursday, which is typically a higher use day than Monday or Friday and the weather was ideal, he said.

County Commissioner Jeff Stabins said he assumed the consultant would have spent more than one day here.

"I was surprised when I heard it was going to be one day, but they assured us that it was enough to make it scientifically valid," Stabins said.

Stabins said the survey-takers also had to trust that the people interviewed were telling the truth.

"Based on what they were asked to do, I think they probably did as good a job as could be done," he said.

Stabins said the survey is only part of the equation.

"While it is an important piece of information, it certainly isn't the whole picture of what we should evaluate the bus on," he added.