St.
Germain Amendment: The Rationale
Tuesday,
March 20, 1973
Statement by Congressman Fernand J. St Germain
Subcommittee on Transportation of the Committee on Public Works
United States House of Representatives.
MR.
CHAIRMAN, Members of the Subcommittee, I am appearing before you today to
advocate an amendment to Section 142 of the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1973.
This
amendment is necessary, I am convinced, to give some protection to private
school bus operators, the people who run approximately one-third of the nation's
school buses. At issue, are at least 4,000 businesses which are threatened-and
I expect that you will be surprised at this-threatened to pass into extinction
as a result of Federal subsidies granted by the Urban Mass Transportation
Administration. Even today many shiny new yellow school buses are sitting
idle, unable to operate and deteriorating because Federally subsidized transit
authorities have forced them out of business.
Here
is the problem. Public transit authorities, using Federal grants, are buying
equipment which is used for periods during the day exclusively to transport
children to and from school. As a result, the local private school bus operator
finds himself out of business or with his business sharply curtailed. The
public transit buses take over the routes which the privately run yellow school
buses had earlier operated for years and to everyone's satisfaction. The private
bus contractors without the benefit of federal subsidies have built up a successful
business returning a profit. The public transit systems are operating in the
red.
So
a sick industry hoping to get well is making inroads on a healthy industry,
and the Federal Government is unwittingly encouraging what is going on by
providing Federal subsidies for the intruder without any concern for the private
businessman.
Gentlemen,
I submit that it was not our intention to put private bus companies out of
business when we appropriated these monies.
Supposedly,
the Urban Mass Transportation Administration puts language in its contracts
to protect the school bus entrepreneur-language to the effect that funds from
the grant may not be used to purchase equipment for the exclusive use of transporting
children to and from school. This is not being followed or enforced, however,
and the small school bus operator simply does not have the power to fight
city hall and win.
Accordingly,
my amendment would cut off Federal funds to any state or local government
which engages, through its transit authority, in transporting children to
and from school in competition with a private transportation company. The
conflict centers around transit buses, off certified routes, stopping and
starting in neighborhoods with no identification that the vehicle is in fact
serving as a school bus. They are generally marked "Special", "Charter",
"Out of Service", or carry a particular school name. The amendment
does not affect the transporting of school children, along with other paying
passengers, as part of the regular operations of a public transit authority.
This has in fact been the practice for many years in most major cities and
my amendment does nothing to change that situation. The amendment has a twelve-
month grandfather clause, to wit, "this subsection shall not apply with
respect to any State or local public body or agency thereof if it (or a direct
predecessor in interest from which it acquired the function of so transporting
such children and personnel along with facilities to be used therefor) was
so engaged any time during the twelve-month period immediately prior to the
date of the enactment of this subsection."
The
essence of the issues, as I see it, is the preservation of small businesses.
The majority of the private school bus companies are small operations. It
would be a great mistake to let these private companies be eliminated, and
in fact be eliminated with the help of Federal subsidies to the public transit
authorities. It would certainly be ironic for Congress, which has a Select
Small Business Subcommittee and which created the Small Business Administration
for the very purpose of helping the small businessman, to authorize funds
which are administered so loosely that they will effectively put an entire
class of small businesses out of business.
In
an attempt to justify their action, some public transit officials have tried
to claim that considerations of economy and vehicle safety explain their decisions.
Such arguments cannot bear up in the light of day.
National
statistics over many years show that the school bus is still the safest vehicle
on the road. The safety record of 260,000 school buses ins 1.1 accidents per
hundred million miles compared to 3.4 accidents per hundred million miles
for commercial buses. Indeed, as a result of performance tests leading to
construction advancements, an even safer yellow school bus is on the way.
Moreover,
safety inside the bus should also be considered. Public transit drivers, unlike
the yellow school bus driver, disavow any responsibility for student behavior
and discipline. The number of crimes and misdemeanors committed while going
to and from school on public transit buses is increasing and a cause of deep
concern to many parents.
While
no standees are allowed on the yellow school bus, generally public transit
authorities observe no such restriction, and as a result, as many as 105 students
are sometimes found on a single transit bus.
Regarding
economy, it should first be noted that in the great majority of instances
the private school bus operator is not being underbid by the transit authority
for a contract with the school board. There is no procedure of bidding involved.
The local Government simply gives the business to the transit authority. The
transit company has higher costs since it utilizes a $40,000 bus, pays for
full-time employees, and carries public liability insurance in the millions,
while the private contractors utilize a lower cost bus with part-time and
lower paid employees, and pay lower insurance costs for the same coverage.
In
the very few instances where bidding is involved and the public transit company
bids the contract for less money, someone, somewhere is making up the difference
by some form of subsidization. In some cases the transit authority receives
Department of Education reimbursement, in other cases it is Federal Urban
Mass Transportation grants or tax monies from City, State, or County, or partial
fares paid by the student riders, or a combination of the above.
One
economy move by public transit companies has educators concerned. Transit
authorities have asked several schools to change their daily schedules to
meet the needs of the transit company because the peak general passenger loads
occur at the same period when school children are being transported.
Another
so-called economy move becoming common is the use of discarded transit buses
for school runs: Joliet, Illinois; St. Louis, Missouri; Tucson, Arizona; San
Diego, California; and, Portland, Oregon; are some of the cities which have
adopted this practice. Critical parents take a different view of the situation.
A single accident with one of these old 1940 and 1950 vintage transits with
a load of 100 students would change economy into tragedy very quickly.
Conclusion
When
Congress approved the UMTA Capital Grants to aid the transit authorities,
I am sure our intent was not to put thousands of private bus operators out
of business. We must now put safeguards in the legislation to prevent that
from happening.
My
amendment would not restore the irreparable damage already done by the transit
industry encroachment into pupil transportation systems, but it does at least
correct the situation for the future by preventing private industry from being
swallowed up by Government takeover.
Mr.
Chairman and Members of the Committee, I hope that you will be able to agree
with me on the importance of this amendment. In one way this may not stand
out as a truly momentous matter-the national security is not a stake; on the
other hand a whole philosophy of Government is at issue here. Thus, I hope
that you will look approvingly on this amendment. It will save thousands of
small businesses from going down the road to extinction.
I
ask unanimous consent that the proposed amendment attached to my statement
be made a part of the record at this point.
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