Did you know, not long ago, MATA had a cost sustainable in range average trip cost, on fixed route buses, of $7.94 per rider? Not anymore. MATA needs one time bailout funding, but not more RECURRING funding for fixed route, empty and unreliable buses. 

Anyway, I had a glorious 4th of July weekend with new discoveries in the Federal Transit Database (FTD).

I love Me and I love the Federal Transit Database.

Unlike other cities after COVID, ridership never returned to MATA. And worse for the taxpayer, MATA never course corrected to cost optimize the transit network to minimize public losses. Lacking course correction is best historically documented, over time, through MATA average trip costs on fixed route buses, that grew higher into a data dislocated range and never recovered (See above historical chart and table).

The above chart and below table city peers include: Birmingham, Concord, Indy, Kansas City, Little Rock, Louisville, Milwaukee, Nashville, New Bedford, New Orleans, Oklahoma City, Omaha and St. Louis. See above chart and below table where MATA is compared to regional cities and the peer average. And know, Councilors and MATA Board members dont have to go far to see well run public transit systems. Think Nashville and Little Rock. 

As captured in the above chart, all peer cities experienced a spike in average trip costs during COVID, then recovery. But despite what the Greater Memphis Chamber says, Memphis ridership never recovered from COVID to lower average trip costs.

Prior to COVID, in 2019,  MATA achieved in range average trip costs on fixed route buses of $7.94 per trip. But today that average trip cost is data dislocated at an excessively high $18.39. And sadly, the MATA Board and Activists, live in the past and routinely reference the 2019 Transit Vision as a basis for increased funding. The Transit Vision was written at a time when MATA had 5M+ bus ridership and in range average trip costs.

Today Transit Vision is dead with ridership plummeting by 60% in the 2M+ range, all while the MATA Board and Activist scream for more unneeded recurring bus funding to fund a dead plan. Transit Vision is a dead plan facilitated by “transit advocate” Innovate Memphis, which has been publicly funded to sit there and watch MATA implode, while being publicly ripped off by punk elitists.

Innovate Memphis is a pro-elitist, fake transit advocacy organization. As is MICAH and as is the Downtown Memphis Commission (DMC) for transit or a better downtown. After all, if the DMC was a true downtown advocacy organization they would be demanding the restoration of the real trolley, lobbying for MLGW recurring trolley funding and demanding the construction completion of City Hall and cleanup of the Mud Island Garage Gateway. Chamber is another corporate elitist but fake business advocacy organization that fails, through policy, to advocate for the large majority of their members. 

Really, per the Activists, $20M more recurring for MATA? Ridciulous when no increased RECURRING funding is needed. Obviously, neither MATA Board nor the Activists have studied this issue, while knowing Transpro has yet to deliver any transit peer city comparisons as contained in their $2.2M contract. This collective does not even know how many people ride the bus !

Anyway, does MATA need more funding? Yes. One time funding to stabilize the publicly ripped off MATA agency. But MATA does not need more recurring bus operating funding. Other than the Taxpayer Justice Institute, there is no advocacy in Memphis to police elitist led public ripoffs. Just know Innovate Memphis, the Activists and MATA Board have historically been pro-elitist public ripoffs and anti-taxpayer.

So what do average trip costs, by route, look like in the new proposed MATA/Transpro FY26 plan? Let’s take a look....

First, with data compiled as shown above, as former Councilor and MATA Commissioner John Vergos has said, figuring out MATA is just not that hard.

Next, the above table was derived from the proposed FY26 MATA route plan, FY23 operating costs and FY24 ridership data. It should have been derived from MATA releasing public data. But either Transpro and MATA Board are incompetent or they are Cockblocking the release of the data. 

I do know, Emily Greer’s MATA Board continues to lay Cockblocks on public information requests that go back years, like for example with the ERP system. So, the above table is the best that I can derive to project per route average trip costs. Routes with FY26 projected average trip costs of above $30 have been highlit.

Bottom line, the Airport, Southeast Circulator, Perkins and Central/Walnut Grove routes need to be eliminated, with frequency reduced on the Madison and Shelby/Holmes routes.

The $3.4M operational savings from eliminated routes would go to support more reliable on-demand public transportation to drive network cost equilibrium and optimization, while saving $750K. $40 per on-demand ride, used in this analysis, is conservative and in excess of the last $31.31 per ride reported by MATA. As far as the reduced frequency on the Madison and Shelby/Holmes route that pockets another $1.7M in MATA savings for a grand total of $2.45M in annual savings through route optimization, while bringing average trip costs into a cost sustainable range under $15 per trip vs. an $11.73 peer average.  

Then there are so many questions that hopefully the Forensic Audit will answer. And what about the ERP system and AllWorld? What did AllWorld really deliver for $5M+ relative to Bus Electrification, Trolleys, Procurement and Software that helps MATA and the public today? And how much does the fake trolley cost to operate? How much does MATA actually save over the real trolley? With bunkers of public cash, MLGW could sponsor the real electrical trolley. That would be a public relations coup for MLGW. 

And I do get the Activists call to prioritize funding for public transit after the MATA ripoff. The Activists have been cheated as have taxpayers. But throwing money at MATA, with grossly insufficient ridership, wont result in a cost sustainable system.

The forthcoming MATA Forensic Audit should confirm a local culture of systemic elitist led corruption that squandered $60M in COVID funds. $60M could not be the work of MATA public bureaucrats. We will see how its released, studied by the Council, covered by the media and if the "Activists" care.

As far as answering ALL public information requests, things will get allot better locally if public transparency is taken seriously. But it’s not. Cockblock here, Cockblock there, everywhere a Cockblock....