GoRaleigh is currently managed by a 3rd party management company called TransDev which has overseen the deterioration of working conditions and scaled back the quality of benefits available to GoRaleigh Transit Workers. Raleigh City government seeks to hire 3rd party for-profit businesses such as TransDev at the lowest possible cost to the city. The issue with this strategy is that those low costs come at the expense of the Transit Workers’ benefits (paid sick leave, fair wages, and good working conditions) so that management companies like TransDev can turn a profit. The current management contract between the city and TransDev ends in December, representing an opportunity for GoRaleigh transit services to transition to a more just style of management.

  Currently, the Raleigh Transit Authority board is considering alternatives to the management contract GoRaleigh currently has with TransDev. One option could be to seek a management contract with a different 3rd party company, but that would require the ability of said company to incur up to $5 million in expenses before being reimbursed by the city; a risk most companies aren’t willing to take on. Alternatively, the city could seek a different type of contract, an Operations and Maintenance contract, with a third party company which would mean ceding nearly all public control of transit services to said 3rd party company not outlined in the initial contract. This could result in a decrease in quality of not only working conditions, but public services to residents. There is, however, one other alternative that might provide better benefits and working conditions for Transit Workers, as well as maintaining top notch service for Raleigh residents.

  GoTriangle is currently a publicly owned not-for-profit company which is not beholden to private shareholders to turn a profit. As such, GoTriangle is capable of entering into a management contract with the city of Raleigh to manage GoRaleigh as a 3rd party company. If the Raleigh City Council were to approve a management contract with GoTriangle, residents of Raleigh could rest assured that any increase in cost to the city would directly benefit the Transit Workers of GoRaleigh services and not increase the profits of a 3rd party multi-national company such as TransDev (a company that does not face the same level of constraint on freedom of movement as the workers it seeks to exploit).

With this in mind, we ask that you please consider sending a letter to Raleigh Transit Authority Board and GoTriangle Board of Trustees requesting that a management company be created through GoTriangle to fairly manage GoRaleigh services.