COTA seeks $900K local budget

The Commonwealth Office of Transit Authority is seeking a $908,556 budget for fiscal year 2015 from the Saipan and Northern Islands Legislative Delegation.

COTA administrator Thomas Camacho said the funding will be used to operate the first-ever public transportation system on the islands.

Camacho said the request was based on COTA’s actual budget analysis.

“Unfortunately, COTA’s 2015 local budget submission to the Office of Management and Budget was not included in the governor’s submission, so Gov. Eloy S. Inos recommended we write a letter to the Saipan and Northern Islands Legislative Delegation for financial assistance,” he said.

Camacho said the financial support will help recruit 21 transit operators and cover other operating costs such as fuel, repairs, and maintenance, which are essential to “smoothly implement Saipan’s public transit system.”

Camacho’s letter to delegation chair Rep. Ray Tebuteb (Ind-Saipan) also gave lawmakers an overview of the Saipan Fixed-Flex Route and Paratransit Feasibility Study Report.

“The report provided a five-year operating budget with the first year initial budget of $937,655 and capital budget for the first year of $2.9 million. While COTA is applying for federal grant to fund the $2.9 million capital equipment and infrastructure for the initial implementation of the fixed-flex route and paratransit systems, COTA needs the support and assistance locally thus is the purpose of the letter,” Camacho said.

According to him, the $900,000 is the “initial or seed money” request that will eventually be lower per year since COTA will be generating revenue from its farebox collections, advertisements in bus stop shelters and benches, and concessions fees. Also included in future revenues are from parking meter fares.

“Eventually dedicated local funding from vehicle driver’s license and registration fees and fuel tax. These dedicated local funding source will provide the CNMI a sustainable public transportation system,” he said.

Camacho noted that the local funding support for the initial operation “is a good investment and is a welcome partnership and commitment by our federal grantor and grant reviewers.”

COTA recently submitted a Capital and Planning Grant application to the U.S. Department of Transportation for a TIGER grant worth $4.7 million.

That grant application and the $908,556 that COTA is asking from the local delegation “complements each other. Both projects will be funded from federal and local funding resource critical in starting and sustaining the CNMI’s first-ever and properly planned public transit system,” Camacho said.

He said that no federal grant alone could support the capital and operating costs of an agency such as COTA.

“That is why it is essential that our leaders support this new public service beneficial to our residents, especially those who do not have access to a private vehicle of their own and those who can’t afford buying their own car to get around the island,” he said.

As mandated under Public Law 17-43, COTA is the agency charged with the authority to develop, establish, and oversee a transportation system for the CNMI. COTA is also mandated, in collaboration with the Commonwealth Public Transportation Advisory Board, to assess the CNMI’s transportation needs and develop a viable public transportation system.