Staff Report #6
June 26, 2024
To All Commissioners
Re: Financial Update – Conventional Transit Services – Operating Budget – May 31, 2024
Recommendation
That the report be NOTED and FILED.
Background
Set out in the table below is the Statement of Operations for Conventional Transit Services for the five-month period ending May 31, 2024. The statement sets out actual to budget performance for the period.
London Transit Commission Statement of Operations – Conventional Transit Services Five Months Ending May 31, 2024 (000’s omitted)
| Description | Actual | Budget | Amount Better (Worse) | Perfect Better (Worse) | |
| Revenue | |||||
| Transportation | $ 16,917.8 | $ 16,936.8 | $ (19.0) | (0.1)% | |
| Operating | 1,270.4 | 835.6 | 434.8 | 52.0 % | |
| Transfers from reserves | 508.5 | 667.6 | (159.1) | (23.8)% | |
| Province-provincial gas tax | 4,666.9 | 4,666.9 | – | 0.0 % | |
| City of London | 14,658.0 | 14,658.0 | – | 0.0 % | |
| Total revenue | 38,021.6 | 37,764.9 | 256.7 | 0.7 % | |
| Expenditure | |||||
| Personnel cost | 25,641.6 | 25,905.1 | 263.5 | 1.0 % | |
| Direct bus maintenance | 3,983.8 | 3,913.6 | (70.2) | (1.8)% | |
| Fuel | 3,955.1 | 4,396.0 | 440.9 | 10.0 % | |
| Facility costs | 1,423.5 | 1,481.9 | 58.4 | 3.9 % | |
| Insurance | 308.7 | 467.8 | 159.1 | 34.0 % | |
| Contribution to reserves | 565.0 | 312.0 | (253.0) | (81.1)% | |
| All other material expense | 1,317.1 | 1,288.5 | (28.6) | (2.2)% | |
| Total expenditure | 37,194.7 | 37,764.9 | 570.2 | 1.5 % | |
| Net favourable/(unfavourable) | $ 826.9 | $ – | $ 826.9 | 2.2 % | |
As indicated in the above table, the conventional service has a net favourable operating budget performance to-date of 2.2% or $826,900. An explanation of the variances is set out below.
Revenue
- favourable operating revenues of $434,800 due mainly to higher interest income earned, noting $253,000 relates to interest earned on reserve funds and is highlighted below as an unfavourable contribution to reserves; and
- unfavourable transfers from reserves of $159,100 as the required contribution to cover insurance claims is less than budgeted, noting this decrease is offset below as a favourable insurance cost.
Expenditures
- favourable personnel costs of $263,500 due primarily to the timing of filling vacant positions;
- favourable fuel costs of $440,900 due mainly to lower than budgeted diesel fuel prices;
- favourable insurance costs of $159,100 due to lower than budgeted claim costs; and
- unfavourable contributions to reserves of $253,000 due to the increase in interest income earned on reserves, noted above in operating revenue.
Ridership
The table below sets out actual to budget ridership performance as well as a comparison to the same period in the previous year.
Ridership Performance – Actual vs. Budget
Five Months Ending May 31, 2024
(000’s omitted)
| Description | Actual | Budget | Variance | % Variance | 2023 Actual | % Variance |
| Total Passengers (000’s) | 8,515.3 | 8,444.3 | 71.0 | 0.8 % | 7,561.1 | 12.6 % |
| Average Fare | $ 1.987 | $ 2.013 | $ (0.026) | (1.3)% | $ 1.976 | 0.6 % |
| Revenue Service Hours | 295.8 | 298.6 | 2.8 | 0.9 % | 278.6 | 6.2 % |
| Rides/Rev Service Hour | 28.8 | 28.3 | 0.5 | 1.8 % | 27.1 | 6.1 % |
Administration will continue to monitor the operating budget performance, including ridership, on a monthly basis.
Recommended by:
Mike Gregor, Director of Finance
Concurred in by:
Kelly S. Paleczny, General Manager