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Huntington Park officials question shuttle contractor after data show steep ridership decline
Summary
City finance staff told council that National Transit Database data and contractor-supplied reports indicate long-term ridership declines for the fixed-route shuttle, averaging about 0.8 passengers per vehicle operating hour in recent years, and noted missing monthly/hourly data and unresolved documentation under review by the city attorney.
City finance staff on Tuesday told the Huntington Park City Council that the city's fixed-route shuttle program has seen a steady decline in riders and that contractor reporting gaps raised questions about contract compliance and cost effectiveness. The briefing prompted council members to direct staff to pursue accountability options, including a closed-session discussion of the contract.
Finance management analyst Woodford Marine and administrative analyst Chandler Nguyen presented National Transit Database (NTD) figures and internal analysis showing long-term declines in average passengers per revenue hour. "Based on the number of vehicles operating ... recent reports indicate an average of 0.8 passengers per vehicle operating hour," Nguyen said, summarizing the data the city used in its presentation.
The presentation traced the route design to 2004 and said ETS was awarded a six-year fixed-route contract in November 2023. Staff said the city had reduced the FY26 fixed-route budget from about $1.3 million to $325,000 and that the city lost an estimated $200,000 in Metro incentive funding when annual NTD reports were not submitted for fiscal years 2017 and 2018.
Council members pressed staff on missing hourly and monthly ridership detail — data that would show when buses are full and when they operate essentially empty. "The NTD report does not specify any available data to determine trend base. It is only by aggregate and that is the data we've been provided by ETS," Nguyen said, describing limits of the submitted reports.
Staff also said there are currently no mechanisms for city staff to independently verify contractor-provided ridership data and that some documentation is "in dispute" and under review by the city attorney. The lack of line-level reporting made it difficult for the city to determine whether service hours were used efficiently or whether the contract met performance requirements spelled out in the RFP.
Council members urged aggressive follow-up. One councilmember noted the possibility of empty vehicles operating long hours and asked staff to present options for bringing service in-house, stronger contract enforcement, or a different service model: targeted trips rather than maintaining the same number of operating hours regardless of ridership.
City staff recommended further examination of the contractor's documentation and a closed-session discussion about contractual remedies. The mayor directed staff to place the matter on a future closed-session agenda to discuss options and next steps.
The presentation is part of an ongoing review; staff said some data were submitted to the city on Nov. 16, 2024, but that ETS has not provided the monthly or hourly logs that would support more precise analysis.
