Transit Finance Learning Exchange

Sharepoint website is available for members use TFLEx has created a new website in Sharepoint for its members. It is located at https://tflex.securespsites.com/ (Password required) At this time, we are not creating new accounts on the old site. If you are requesting a new account, visit New Account Registration (Sharepoint) to request an account on the new site.

Transit-Finance Learning Exchange Invites you to attend

Dealing with the Continuing
Economic Issues
(Field of Study: Finance)
October 18-19, 2010
October 19, 2010 - Business Meeting

Program Content/Learning Objectives

As transit agencies continue to deal with funding shortfalls from the ongoing economic slump, they are taking a hard look at operational areas (such as employee benefits) and making tough choices about what capital projects can be funded. This workshop will concentrate on 1) how agencies are dealing with continued cuts in operating funding; 2) how agencies are dealing with scarce capital funding by prioritizing capital projects; and, 3) what the economic outlook is currently and going forward. After attending this conference, participants will be able to:

1. Understand how transit agencies are dealing with the current economy by making changes in their benefit programs.
2. Understand how agencies are defining State of Good Repair and using condition assessments to prioritizne scarce capital funding.
3. Learn whether federal funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is actually creating jobs in Transit.
4. Learn how the Cleveland RTA is using Transit Stat to monitor performance measures.
5. Identify and share best practices through "Needs & Leads

Group-Live Delivery Method
Program Level: Advanced
Pre-Conference Reading Material Provided
No Prerequisites*
Earn 10 CPE credits

* This program is at an advanced level of continuing education. Although no prerequisite course or work experience is needed to participate in this program, working knowledge of finance and transportation practices and policies is required, as well as knowledge of the program topic.

Transit-Finance Learning Exchange (T-FLEx) is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit. Complaints regarding registered sponsors may be addressed to the National Registry of CPE Sponsors, 150 Fourth Avenue North, Suite 700, Nashville, TN, 37219-2417. Website: www.nasba.org

Housing: Hotel Information
Mayflower Park Hotel
405 Olive Way
Seattle, Washington 98101
Room Rate: $135/night

Call the hotel at 800-426-5100 or email at mayflowerpark@mayflowerpark.com and refer to TFLEx. They will extend the rate for pre/post nights depending on availability, so call early.

Fees: The registration fee for the workshop is $125.

For more information regarding refund, complaint and program cancellation policies, please contact Irene Demers at 214-749-2630.

REGISTER NOW (click here)

To complete your registration, mail a check for $125 per participant to:
Dallas Area Rapid Transit
Attention: Sharon Leary
POBox 660163
1401 Pacific Avenue
Dallas, Texas 75266-7243

Make check payable to "TFLEx" or you may use the PayPal link below:

Summary of TFLEx Spring Workshop
April 29-30, 2010
Cleveland, Ohio

The Spring 2010 TFLEx Workshop was held in Cleveland, Ohio, and was hosted by Loretta Kirk and the Greater Cleveland Regional Transportation Authority (GCRTA). Our sincere thanks go out to Loretta and her staff for the wonderful job they did in making this workshop a successful event. Five of the sessions were broadcast on the web and our thanks go to Ray Garton for setting up the webcasting and making sure it worked well during the workshop. Thanks again to everyone at the GCRTA. Thanks also to the Cuyahoga Community College for providing what turned out to be one of the best facilities TFLEx has ever had in which to hold a workshop.

The main topic of this workshop was New Technologies and Their Capital Impact on Operations. Joe Costello welcomed participants and gave an overview of the workshop objectives. After his remarks, Joe introduced Joe Calabrese, the CEO of the GCRTA who gave attendees an overview of the issues his agency has been facing with the current economy.

The first presenter of the workshop was Greg Kildare, LA MTA's Executive Officer for Risk Management. Greg gave an interesting talk on LA's use of technology and their experience with Smart Drive cameras in dealing with liability issues and related impact on the cost of insurance.

Two member agencies then discussed prioritization of capital projects and how life cycle costing can be used to aid in the process. Rick Harcum, from WMATA talked about their mid-life rebuild program WMATA uses to extend the life of their rolling stock. Using life cycle costing, WMATA has figured that it saves nearly $500,000 per vehicle by extending the life of each coach from seven years to fourteen.

Grace Gallucci, from the RTA in Chicago, gave an update on their capital prioritization process. They have made progress since Grace first detailed the new process at the Boston workshop in the fall of 2008.

On Thursday Brett Jones from the Cuyahoga Community College's (Tri-C) Logistics and Distribution Institute and Terry Cordell briefed members on the proposed partnership between the two organizations in updating the Transit 101 e-learning modules. Tri-C contacted TFLEx about working together to have their professional staff update the content of the modules to make them more current and more interesting for participants. Tri-C has submitted a proposal that will be reviewed at the business meeting.

Terry Cordell briefly detailed the results of the IT Survey that had been sent out to members prior to the workshop. Six agencies had responded and the results are posted on the web site (and included at the end of this summary). As more are received they will be added to the results. Irene DeMers then led the Needs and Leads session which wrapped up the day.

Friday morning's first session was an economic update from Dr. Edward (Ned) Hill, Dean and Professor at Cleveland State University, who proved once again that economics presentations can be fun and interesting. His presentation can be heard (and the PowerPoint presentation viewed) by going to the TFLEx web site. Some of his points:

• North America is leading the industrial world's recovery
• The recovery in employment growth will lag, compared to past recessions
• Average duration of unemployment is the highest it has been since the 1960's
• The economic disadvantage of the unskilled is growing and accelerating
• Consumer confidence is starting to pick up, but CFO's are more confident in their own firms than in the economy as a whole.
• For the federal deficit, current near term deficits are defensible; long term prospects are troubling
• Personal savings are beginning to recover; the financial burdens of households are recovering, but still high

This is the second workshop in a row with a presentation on the economy and it is a session that will probably be repeated at most future workshops. Attendees were very interested in what Dr. Hill had to say and there was a lot of discussion during the Q & A.

The workshop wrapped up with a rehearsal by Grace Gallucci of a presentation she will be giving at the APTA Bus and Paratransit Conference on May 3. TFLEx and the FTA have begun a dialogue about the possibility of working together to make improvements to the data gathering for the NTD.

The Fall 2010 Workshop will be held in Seattle, WA from October 18-19, 2010. The workshop will consist of sessions all day Monday and Tuesday until noon, with the business meeting to be held on Tuesday afternoon. More information, including topics, will be forthcoming.

The regular Business Meeting was chaired by Joe Costello on Friday afternoon. Minutes of this meeting are also available on the Sharepoint web site. All members are encouraged to attend the Business Meetings at the workshops.

Presentations from the Spring Workshop are available to members on the TFLEx Sharepoint website at http://tflex.securespsites.com.

TFLEx IT and Intranet Benchmarking Survey

The Transit Finance Learning Exchange (TFLEx) is conducting a benchmarking survey on IT technology and agency intranets. If your agency would be interested in participating in this survey, TFLEx will copy all participants the results. The results will be presented at our next conference. It is a short survey of two pages. Questions consist of total technology cost benchmarks, some policy questions, the features implemented on your intranet, and questions about what are your principal software solutions.

The survey is located at: http://www.tflex.org/TFLExITSurveyForm2010.pdf

Send the completed survey to: Terry Cordell at cordellconsulting@cox.net by April 7th, and the results will be posted back by April 28th.

TFLEx is a consorium of 23 transit agencies focusing on the finance function in the transit industry. It had it's inaugural workshop in March 1999. The conference shaped the ideas of a few leading finance professionals into an active nation-wide working group of transit finance professionals. T-FLEx enables transit agencies to share and exchange training materials, instructors, uniform procurement scopes of work, policies and procedures and best business practices.

T-FLEx membership totals approximately twenty-three organizations and approximately 250 participants. Members include: Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART), Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA), Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), Northeast Illinois Regional Commuter Railroad Corporation (Metra), Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA), Pace - Suburban Bus Division (PACE), and Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA).

TFLEx Accomplishments

Bi-Annual Workshops

TFLEx members meet twice annually to share best practices and "needs and leads," learn from industry experts and work together to develop and maintain the ongoing TFLEx Business Plan. These are facilitated workshops where all members are able to participate in roundtable discussions.

Training and Professional Development

TFLEx members identified a need to educate finance staff in the field of transit without extensive costs. Transit 101 was developed as a web-based instructional tool to bring information regarding the transit field to the desktops of staff members whether in finance or other departments. Modules deployed to date include Federal, State, and Local Funding; Procurement; Paratransit Operations: Fare Policy; and Regulatory Framework. Others are in development with a total of 26 planned.

Financial Operations Best Practices

Sharing management tools such as benchmarking, activity-based costing, process mapping, balanced scorecard, key performance indicators, and best practices has been an ongoing activity of members attending the bi-annual workshops. Transit systems taking the lead in these practices share their successes and "opportunities" with their fellow members.

Website Services

Membership in TFLEx provides access to entire TFLEx website. Here members share such information as:

• Posting of templates for finance policy and procedure manuals, RFPs, MOUs, etc.
• "Needs and leads" forum, members post questions that they are researching and request any available information from other members.
• Workshop agendas and presentations.
• Information directory of all TFLEx member contracts.
• Members have access to the complete website, while visitors may only view certain areas.

TFLEx Membership

TFLEx has a goal of 30-35 members. While membership is filling up fast, we still have room for additional members. Annual membership dues are determined by agency size

Membership includes attendance at the twice yearly workshops for a nominal fee. Click here for more information on how to join.