BOSTON - A dozen private bus operators from the Boston area have expressed interest in providing transportation services to delegates and others attending the Democratic National Convention in July.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority says the carriers filed responses to a "letter of interest" that it advertised last month in a search for private companies that would like to be considered for the convention business.

The DNC is expected to need about 125 air-conditioned and wheelchair- accessible buses for the convention, which will be July 25-30 at the Fleet Center in Boston.

The MBTA had asked the Federal Transit Administration for a waiver from federal charter service rules that would have allowed it to provide all of the bus transportation for the Democrats' convention. But the FTA regional administrator told the transit agency to work with private operators.

Now, both public and private carriers will provide the bus transportation services under a contract with the DNC.

RFP coming
Joe Pesaturo, a spokesman for the MBTA, said the transit agency will work with the DNC host committee in drafting a request for proposals that will invite the private carriers to formally apply for the service. He did not know when the proposal would be ready for publication.

It was not known if the request would be limited - as the "letter of interest" was - to operators garaged within the MBTA's 175-community service area in Boston and eastern Massachusetts.

Pesaturo said the replies to the letter came from virtually all of the carriers based within the service area. "Twelve is around the number of private carriers we have in the area, so it looks like pretty much all of them expressed an interest," he noted. "But I suppose some others could apply to the request for proposals."

He also said there is some question regarding the actual number of buses that will be needed for the convention, and the issue will not be settled until after the transportation plan for the event is written and formalized. "We don't know exactly how many buses we will need yet because we don't know how many delegates and convention attendees will be using our regular transit services, and how many will be using the (shuttle) buses," he said.

Houston a model?
Meantime, the Boston-area carriers are hoping things work out as well for them as they did last month in Houston where that city's public transit agency put together a public-private team of 300 buses to provide transportation services for the city's 21-day Livestock Show and Rodeo.

Nearly two-thirds - 190 - of the buses used in the operation belonged to 22 different private carriers. During the show that attracted more than 1.89 million people, 500,000 used shuttle-bus transportation.

"It was probably the finest example in my 22 years in the bus business of what a true public-private partnership should be," said Patrick Connors, president of Houston-based Sierra Trailways, which brought in about 70 buses from Trailways affiliates from throughout the country.

He said Houston METRO made it a point to contract with as many private coaches as were available before putting its own buses on the road. "The spirit here in Houston with the transit authority is that they try to work with us and not against us," Connors explained.

Houston METRO was able to be part of the transportation operation because the rodeo is considered a special event open to the public - a key requirement under current federal charter rules.

More praise
Houston METRO'S handling of the rodeo transportation service won praise from others as well.

"If there is a perfect example of how government transit and private sectors work, this is it," stressed Matt Carswell, president of Capital City Trailways in Atlanta, which sent two buses to the rodeo. "I don't understand how it works so well there and doesn't seem to work the same way in other places."

Private carriers frequently complain when transit agencies violate - or seek waivers from - federal regulations so they can provide for charter bus services. When that happens, private carriers are at a serious disadvantage because the transit agencies receive huge federal subsidies for their equipment and operations.

Over the years, transportation services for the livestock show and rodeo have been controversial but, according to Connors, the problems generally get settled. A year ago, he said, two companies caused a stir when they missed the deadline to sign up by a month, and then they demanded to still be able to take part.

Houston METRO also coordinated transportation services for the Super Bowl, which was played in Houston in January, and things worked out well then, as well, said Connors. "They worked the way they were supposed to work."
The transit agency initially sought a waiver for the football game, but later contracted with 26 private companies to help provide the transportation service.

Ken Connaughton, a spokesman for Houston METRO, said both events were a success. "We didn't have any problems. We used our buses, we used the contract buses and we used the light-rail system. And, we were able to get everybody to where they needed to go."