Exclusive: 95 VTA taxpayer-funded vehicles left to depreciate 4+ years, some targeted by thieves
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- Опубликовано: 6 янв 2024
- After the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) retired nearly 100 paratransit cars and vans, NBC Bay Area's Investigative Unit found the agency left the vehicles in parking lots for years. Candice Nguyen reports.
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Because many people who work for our cities actually dont give a shit about our citites
Or....just pay for transit on your own and stop asking the government to give you free stuff.
Why would they care about disabled people when their own family don't?
@jumboshrimps4498 they are taking it. That's what "taxpayer funded" means. I don't remember voting for wars or anything like that.
@@evanraynovic no, you just vote for the politicians that promise free stuff
@@jumboshrimps4498 if voting really mattered we wouldn't be able to do it.
@@evanraynovic no, if voting didn't matter they wouldn't tell you to do it. You'll be in a dictatorship, like China. People in the U.S. get exactly what they voted for.
The real question should be who sold the cars to them and how are they related to the officials spending the money?
Bingo
Who sold them in the first place is not real question. It should be who is responsible to RESELL them at the end of a useful life span, instead of them just collecting dust for several years. If they had been sold, then the cat thieves wouldn't be a problem either.
public records request
Agencies that squander public funds must be exposed and their administration be held accountable. Future funding to such agencies should be restrictive so that they are forced to be frugal with tax payers' money.
Fake News by the GOP , to make Newsome look bad , #Pelosi2024
wow you're so smart now the world doesn't have problems anymore. thanks for sharing you genius solutions!
$A 34,000,000,000,000+ National Debt, proves there is a huge segment of the public too stupid to be allowed to vote, as they vote for more government.
That would be the state of California
Instead--here in Commifornia, all problems are 'solved' by more taxes, more waste and worst of all, more restrictions.
I feel like someone or a few someone’s should’ve lost their job(s) over this negligence. How can someone who mismanages funds in this way be allowed to continue their duties???
Well, it is called a "public agency" ,or in other words Government. No surprise that this happened or that anyone in VTA leadership would not be willing to interview.
Oh, I’m very familiar with government agencies being disorganized! Similar issues happen where I work, too…
Ask mancy pelousy. She has your answers.😊😅😅😅
Yet Californians will still continue to vote DEMOCRAT. SMFH! 🤡🤡
@@chrisperry9002 your comment confuses me? But clearly you know something I don’t
Hire the most unqualified people and this is what you get. People don’t take government jobs because of the service, it’s all about benefits… if you have a pulse you get hired. They know it.
thats so much bullshit you have no fucking idea.
It’s essentially a customer service role at this point. The issue is, the customer isn’t always right. The NIMBYs aren’t as informed as the educated experts but the experts get ignored to make NIMBYs happy, do that for decades and then nothing gets built right.
I wonder if it pays better than construction? Seems my half wit of a brain might be usefull in a new idustry.
Elect the most unqualified people and this is what you get, From dog catcher to POTUS!
It sounds like morons are running their Para-Transit service. My local transit operation picks up passengers with disabilities and takes them to specific locations they book ahead of time then takes them home. Their service runs routes which makes no sense. The point of the ADA is to give people with disabilities the same freedom to move around as everyone else. It doesn't sound like this service is meeting that standard. It's no surprise all those vehicles have been overlooked for four years.
It’s government. It’s waste. It’s inevitable.
It’s not THEIR money.
Calculate how much is spent per passenger mile by VTA. It’s like $17 a ride, if you just consider the annual budget and ignore past investments.
Since you hate government so much why not move to Somalia where there is no government. Survival of the fittest. Byeeeeee! 😂
Fake News by the GOP , to make Newsome look bad , #Pelosi2024
It’s not the government that’s the issue, it’s politicians who don’t listen to experts saying that trains and busses are needed but they instead listen to NIMBYs to maintain their position. Populist politicians need to be removed and replaced with politicians who will push for the needs of the entire public and not a small select few.
If government = bad, than why does government work in other areas? Why is our local governments not doing as well as others local governments? The only answer is politicians
@@AshAshAshAshAshAshAshAshAshAsh are you kidding? This project wasn’t blocked by NIMBYs. It exists.
@@albeit1 the better alternatives where blocked by NIMBYs sweety. The politicians let the NIMBYs win instead of listening to educated professionals.
Horrible...theres my property tax..they need to do an audit and the manager or director needs to get fired...oh yes, blame it on covid, as always.
@@dixienormus1619 , you are a product of your parents being cousins.
Not their money, why should they care?
Exactly!!!
Fake News by the GOP , to make Newsome look bad , #Pelosi2024
In California, incompetence is rewarded, not punished.
I am all for investigative journalism and reporting. Good reporting!
When will these companies ever stop blaming covid for everything I am so sick of hearing because of COVID-19
I was sick of it long before China and our media colluded to change the name to COVID-19 after hiding the source.
100k miles on a Prius really isn’t much. We all know people with over 200k miles on their Priuses. 😂
when the people in charge who are writing the emails can't even spell 'stolen' correctly - what makes anyone think they're competent at resolving complex and multi-faceted issues
Well I have 34,000,000,000,000+ reasons for KNOWING as FACT, government IS THE PROBLEM. As our language is so convoluted with absurd spellings for all too many words, I'm not about to focus on spelling when GOVERNMENT is robbing us blind.
I remember a story just like this in a parking garage full of municipal owned Priuses in like Florida 10+ years ago. The city bought them, stored them and forgot about them. Batteries had degraded and everything.
VTA is an unaccountable governmental agency!! They make excuses for their inept mismanagement of their vehicles!! What is the supervisor of this department doing??? A hundred vehicles were lost in the system????!!!!! Employees need to be disciplined or fired!!!!
these people just sit in their offices and drink coffee and surf the internet.They probably have second jobs.
At all levels of government we in a wash of thousands of agencies which are NEVER touched by the ballot box.
Auctioned vehicles would / could have helped every person who bought those vehicles. Auctions are competitive (sometimes more so than they should be).
The real question is which dealer sold them the vehicles; and who owned that dealership. How was the dealer related to the procurement official?
Those cars are usually purchased directly from the manufacturer. The manufacturer would do the paperwork to obtain a registration and a licence plate. The vehicles will be under the warranty, and that is usually handled by a local dealership. The vehicles IE cars, vans, trucks, etc, are through fleet sales and are purchased at cost.
Democratic party government in California demonstrates continuous huge incompetence
How things happens here in Africa, every-time there is a big contract, someone from the city gets a bribe. Officials don't have to save money, it it no theirs. As long as they get their bribe, they are happy. I never thought the US will become Africa.
VTA is such a lost cause for people those who are really in need of help. Abolish VTA.
Excellent investigative reporting!
Fake News by the GOP , to make Newsome look bad , #Pelosi2024
It hard economic times…keep up the great work on taxpayers losses… this is not just neglect but municipal fraud! I’m so happy you guys are top of this!
And Big Gav wants to raise Taxes even more on Californians. Residents of California need to vote with their feet and leave this place to rot until they get an Administration that actually cares about it's residents.
During the COVID19 used car priceappocolypse, they could have gotten more than they paid for those Priusii even with 100k on them!
+1
There’s always room for excuses when caught in corruption. 🤔🙄🙂🤣😂
They could've sold for sooo much more 3 years ago when used car prices were crazy.
A lot of government auctioned vehicles sit for years, or are stripped for parts before sale. I've been buying auctioned vehicles for years. Some sellers are honest, some are not. Some sellers are held back by used car dealers, to keep competition off the market and push up used car prices.
Fake News by the GOP , to make Newsome look bad , #Pelosi2024
I could use one of those, especially after the $400 a month I pay in taxes.
The should give you one.
At least it’d be in use.
95 unused cars is CRAZY.
They can absolutely sell and recoup A LOT of money.
If the EUL passes, you sell the vehicles. Morons.
They're not unused , most of the cars have 100,000 miles on them, they just didn't go to auction due to a delay caused by Covid
@@markbajek2541
"none of these cars have moved in 4 YEARS"
0:12
Covid was 4 Years ago bud.
These cars should have gone to auction a couple years ago when a used Hybrid could fetch a 'small fortune' due to the supply issues.
But let me go ahead and apply for a job at the VTA since they're keen on giving away money.
Typical.
Don't worry, they will just ask millions more dollar to cover the cost of replacing these vehicles just so the new vehicle can just be left in the yard to depreciate. Rinse, and repeat.
Great reporting and putting accountability on VTA
Its pretty easy to fix this !
Just make a new law holding people in power that control your tax dollars accountable for negligence and could be fined or lose their job. You vote them in do something about it !
People need to be fired and sued, and thrown in prison for this.
Knowing where someone is taking you and what time you will get there helps.
*forgets 100 cars in a parking lot for 4 years
"that damn cov!d"
Why is the public taxpayer paying for this service to begin with? There is so much waste involved. It’s probably cheaper for the agency to just foot the bill for Uber and Lyft bills for these few people.
same with AC transit their budget is 500 million a year and only 6% comes from ridership.
It’s not, footing the bill has been done in other cities and failed. The cheapest route is to have a public service that helps as many people as possible. The best route would be to have an automated system that services many people in a single vehicle.
Calling it a public transportation makes it sound like it's free and it is not we pay for the ride whatever's happening with the ones that are being sold not sold that has nothing to do with the service I don't know what I'd do without it.
Once worked at VTA, many years ago. Very dysfunctional place. By the time I'd been there 30 days, felt like I had been there 20 years, and not in a good way. Escaped before the 90-day mark.
Government has no accountability. Thats why you keep the government small.
WOW! 😯 eye opening!!!
NO OVERSIGHT!!! Pure , simple GREED!
This is so ridiculous! There are people who need reliable cars so that they can get a headstart. VTA should sold these vehicles, not let them rot in parking lots.
Shes so mad about this she flipped us all off 😂 1:37
Revealing the truth. The media actually doing their job here. Thank you. Could it be that VTA is doing this intentionally.
I believe that VTA (Valley Transportation Authority) is being mismanaged. Some of the transit agencies in cities like Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Chicago, Washington DC, and San Francisco are involved in ongoing investigations on things such as conferences being held in Las Vegas, Disneyland, Walt Disney World, and other venues. Senior employees were staying in suites, eating in fancy restaurants, and accepting gifts. There are also projects such as new rolling stock, new projects, extensions of current systems dealing with cost overruns, glitches, defects, and other issues.
Were the vehicles tagged, insured? That sounds like a waste on many levels. Did they submit billing for maintance on vehicles?
Company I used to work for were in talks for some time about providing real time vehicle tracking a few years ago. This kinda explains why those plans fell through. Interesting.
So the short version is getting rid of them was not a priority until a spotlight got put on them because you will never convince me that they could not have sold those at auction during Covid
This is money and investments that should have went to trains and light rail. With rail you are not only supporting the disabled and elderly but helping children gain independence at a younger age (like 13 instead of 16yo), helping lower income individuals from having to go into debt to buy a vehicle, decreasing DUIs, and ultimately helping everyone in the community. Experts who are educated on the subject say rail should be done, decades ago at that, but the uninformed will continue to push these car centric policies instead of going multimodal.
I see that every times I drive by the yard it’s okay it’s not there money they don’t mind spending it. They probably a kick back like Ron Gonzalez with Wast Management !
Depreciation is the least of the problems here. How about kickbacks to politicians, manufacturers, ect? Someone needs to go to jail for this.
Such a disgrace. Someone needs to be fired. Good on NBC Bay Area for actually doing journalism.
What a shame
Spending money like drunken sailors because it’s not their own😢
Fake News by the GOP , to make Newsome look bad , #Pelosi2024
Thanks for exposing their incompetent corruption!!! Great investigative journalism!
Someone should be going to prison for this!
Thanks Camdice for your awesome work! Expand the waste and priorities of these agency.. VTA board.. should answer questions. The ones like Cindy Chavez who also has vested interest in this and headed it
Taxpayer money is cheap and you can never run out of it.
If you’re curious, the video explains that these are decommissioned vehicles which were delayed in being auctioned off (as opposed to the implication that they were sitting for 4 years having been new and never used at all).
Still not great, but also not 100 cars being bought for no reason.
Liar. Waste of money. You know it and we all know it
Decommissioning 100 vehicles when your service stinks seems odd. Why were they decommissioned? Meanwhile the catalytic converter thefts should not have been a surprise.
Who delays for 4 years? At the very least all of the tires will have to be replaced along with the batteries, neither take well to sitting for years, there's probably plenty of mechanical issues as well now.
What is wrong with you?
I take it you either don’t pay taxes or you are a city worker there.
@@kenneth9874engines need to be started if sitting.
After a year, rust and corrosion can and will seize an engine.
After 4 years? Well whomever buys one is a fool and deserves what they get……
A big fat lemon
Anyone else notice how ALL of these news shows have the closed captioning on a 10 second delay so it's almost impossible to follow the story line? On most other videos the captions are very close to the dialog. Why is this only a problem on news clips?
such a waste of tax payer moneys.
“Something went wrong,” yeah, government employees aren’t held liable, even for serious crimes, so the chances anyone will be held liable for incompetence and negligence.
Not to mention this type of behavior never costs anyone but the taxpayer.
Im just laughing how she actually said '10 grand' at 4:28 LOL
We have to waste money so we receive more funding next year
This happens in a VERY high percentage in local, state, and federal government businesses. Oh and it happens in most large private businesses because they have million and billions of assets. This happens on a slightly smaller in small towns/cities, and a much larger way in big cities, states, and federally.
This is absolutely ridiculous!
Crazy. Someone needs to be fired.
No this will lead to promotions lol
Thank you county supervisors!
Absolutely sickening
Why can't they just subsidize Uber shared rides? I bet it would be better and cheaper.
This!
improving security, but u see her next to fence that is NOT FIXED
Now investigate Santa Cruz hydrogen bus scam!
Sounds like someone got a kickback.
They say "TaxPayers" as if they're not "TaxPayers"
Great reporting
As James Cagney said in a movie whose title I can't recall, "Don't steal the catalytic converter, steal the car."
Shut the whole money pit down.
excuses! they love wasting your money and then asking for more.
Odometer readings from every car must some how be recorded. I hope that each car has been used 100,000 miles but doubt it.
Folks out here struggling and all those nice cars sitting there and rotting. If you don’t drive those cars, they will go bad.
"You will own nothing and be happy"
Nothing more upsetting than millions of taxpayers dollars wasted. Some or all the VTA board should be financially held liable. 😠
Imagine if they'd sold them off back in 2021.
Maybe the people who run the place will get an award and bonus for now doing their job!
Crazy that that schedule sounds like the handicapped bus service in my area!!
I believe that there should have been consequences, such as termination of employment, for those responsible for this act of negligence. Numerous individuals employed by our municipalities exhibit a lack of concern for the well-being of our cities.
I used to drive and dispatch for that kind of service.30 years experience tells me whoever is running this service is incompetent ,careless and should be fired!!
California needs to raise taxes
Those vehicles need to be given back to the public
Well, it's not like they care about the people they are supposed to help.
It's just a way for government departments to get more money and hire more workers.
This is why it makes more sense to make public transit good and accessible to everyone, instead of trying to run a separate special service for disabled people. It just wastes more money and makes things worse for everyone.
They just missed an opportunity to sell everyone of these vehicles for probably more than they paid for them. So stupid.
" left to depreciate" you mean "left to rot in a parking lot"
Someone got a nice kickback for buying all those unnecessary cars I bet.
Typical government efficiency
100K miles is barely broken in for a Toyota. What a scam.
These vehicles should be sold to public but VTA should be held accountable.
VTA is short for lack of accountability..
I am glad that I pay for this everyday when I go to work.
If they ever get to the place where they need a wheelchair, their high state pensions, and insurance, they will be able to pay for private service.
this is pretty much what happens when any business or gov't agency are allowed to reap whatever amount of revenues they need via the form of increased taxes or monopoly (see BART, any CA agency, and PG*E). unlimited spending and no consequence!
Failure is always an orphan but success has many fathers.
Property tax should be illegal
It's California! What do you expect.