Airporter owner protests shuttle bus service

YAKIMA, Wash. -- The operator of a private shuttle is protesting a grant-funded bus service that recently started taking riders between Yakima and Ellensburg.

Richard Johnson, the owner of Central Washington Airporter, is waiting to have his appeal heard by the state Utlities and Transportation Commission, which regulates bus service.

Johnson says the Yakima-Ellensburg service run by Yakima Transit and the HopeSource social services agency of Ellensburg overlaps too closely with his shuttle runs between Yakima and Seattle. The shuttle makes a stop in Ellensburg.

He says the Yakima-HopeSource arrangement is unfair because the agencies are using taxpayers dollars to undercut private industry.

"Government shouldn't be competing against the private sector," he said. "That's not the role of government. ... They should be supporting us; they're not, and they're refusing to cooperate with the private sector."

The two agencies relied on a 2009 law that excuses the transportation commission from regulating such services if they are found to be in the public interest and are funded by the state Department of Transportation.

Commission staff said that was the case with the Yakima-Ellensburg run, which started late last month and carried more than 1,000 riders in its first four weeks of operation.

A state DOT grant is providing about half of the $528,000 needed for the two-year project. The rest of the money comes from the two agencies and Central Washington University. Officials say they would like to continue the program if they can find funding and if use remains consistent.

HopeSource sought the UTC's permission to qualify under the 2009 law, said HopeSource executive director Geoff Crump.

"We took all of the necessary steps we needed to be able to provide this wonderful service to these two communities," he said.

Dave Gomez, the UTC's deputy assistant director for solid waste and transportation, said the commission will tentatively hear Johnson's complaint at a January meeting.

This is the first time the commission has dealt with such a complaint, Gomez said, declining to speculate on possible outcomes.

The UTC regulates public transportation in Washington under the theory that a controlled market provides better service to users. An open market could theoretically lead to unlicensed operators who aren't as safe or only operate during peak periods when profits would be higher.

Carriers such as Central Washington Airporter, a Ferndale-based company that has operated the Yakima-Seattle run for several years, accept UTC's authority on rates, schedules and profits in exchange for a guaranteed independent territory.

The 2009 law exempts qualified DOT-funded transit services from that oversight.

Johnson had approached both HopeSource and People for People, a Yakima-based social service agency, about operating a similar service. He partnered with People for People to submit a competing application. Both were considered this year by DOT but the Airporter/People for People application did not score as high as Yakima Transit and Hope Source.

Yakima Transit had been pursuing the same grant for several years.

Johnson said he's concerned that the government agencies might have scored better in the process because they have more revenue to support the program.

A DOT representative said the amount of matching funds contributes to the overall grant score.

* Mark Morey can be reached at 509-577-7671 or mmorey@yakimaherald.com.