April-May_2022 - 18

IN JUNE of 2021,
CapMetro and
its partners
celebrated
delivering one
million meals
to community
members.
" Nothing matters if you're not financially stable.
Fiscal responsibility is sustainability, " said Clarke.
" CapMetro has concentrated on proper fiscal management
for the future, and we are fortunate to have
a financial plan that no one in the industry has. "
This wasn't always the case with Clarke describing
the agency as " fundamentally underwater " in
the not-so-distant past with the work to rectify the
situation beginning with his predecessor. Clarke
says financial stability has been achieved through
transparency, not accruing debt and even efforts
such as not having a State of Good Repair backlog.
" We prioritize budgets to make sure all our asCAPMETRO
WAS
one of
the first transit
agencies to start
transporting
food to residents
shortly after the
pandemic began.
sets are [maintained]. We have a reserve account
that is statutorily required, a board-driven reserve
account and a sustainability capital fund for all our
agency green initiatives. We have a sustainability
reserve account, a special facility reserve account
for non-Project Connect facility expansions and we
have a long range plan for staffing and staff adjustments
- all these things are covered, " said Clarke.
The Project Connect expansion program is
also funded sustainably with the voter-approved
tax financing the program's capital,
operational and maintenance needs.
Clarke noted there was some level of
pushback from some stakeholders
who wanted a bond measure that only
covered capital costs, but he said CapMetro
leadership held firm against
this option by offering a simple but
direct response, " don't build a house
you can't heat. "
" One of the most important things
you do at an institution is leave someone's
long-term finances better and
their infrastructure assets better, " added
Clarke. " And I am confident to say
we have one of the best financial models
of any transit agency in America. "
18 | Mass Transit | MassTransitmag.com | APRIL/MAY 2022
Eye to the Future
CapMetro has developed a strong foundation upon
which to grow its organization, network and services
for decades to come. When asked what the
measure of a successful future will be, Travillion
identified three situations he wants to see made possible
with CapMetro's system: For the community's
aging population to have access to the healthcare
facilities they need; for a child who wants to attend
a magnet school, the ability to travel to that school
no matter where it is located; and for an individual
who wants to work, the ability to travel to any job
in the community.
" We have built a team of people who understand
mobility, who understand transit, but who also understand
this community, love it, and want to make
sure it works well for all of us. CapMetro has this in
its current team, led by Randy, " explained Travillion.
And that leads back to the topic of values and how
the commitment of the agency and its staff to equity,
safety, sustainability, innovation and transparency
are driving the organization and the community
toward a better-connected future.
" We have a little bit of Athenian Code, " said Clarke.
The reference is to the civic oath taken by citizens
of Athens two millennia ago, but which remains relevant
to modern public servants. The oath ends with
the following words, " ...we will transmit this city not
only, not less, but greater and more beautiful than
it was transmitted to us. "
" You have to leave this place better than how you
found it, " added Clarke. " And better isn't about ribbon-cutting
events - the institution must be better.
Initiatives come and go; programs, projects and people
come and go, but values create and enable culture
to grow; culture to sustain and evolve. It's why we
do what we do. "
References:
1. U.S. Census Bureau
2. 2021 INRIX Global Traffic Scorecard
http://www.MassTransitmag.com
April-May_2022

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