Tags: city services | budget | transportation
Tags: city services | budget | transportation
July 1, 2007
Tags: city services | budget | transportation
Streets Facts
What is the Streets Department?
The Streets Department addresses everyday maintenance of the city streets through two sub-departments, Sanitation (responsible for refuse collection and clean streets) and Transportation (responsible for keeping streets in good repair).
Mission/Vision Statement
“The mission of the Streets Department is to provide clean and safe streets.”
-Mayor’s Report on City Services FY 2005
The General Fund’s FY 2008 budget for the Streets Department totals $129 million, with another $31 million in spending covered by grants and dedicated revenue from taxes on gasoline and other liquid fuels. Spending on Streets has been virtually flat with an average increase of 0.03 percent in the General Fund between FY 2004 and FY 2008. In contrast, overall General Fund spending has increased 27 percent over the same time period.
In the Streets Department, the greatest increase in funds from FY 2006 to FY 2008 is in the Grants Revenue fund where $2.7 million from the Commonwealth was added to create recycling programs.
Just as spending has been relatively flat in recent years, performance of the Streets department has ranged little on several key measures. Measurements include such criteria as potholes repaired, miles of streets cleaned annually, and percentage of on-time refuse collection. Although these examples represent outputs, rather than outcomes (such as how clean or smooth the streets are), they remain useful for gauging the efficiency and effectiveness of departmental efforts.
Potholes. After a jump in potholes repaired from FY 2002-03, the number of potholes repaired declined. In the current fiscal year, pothole elimination efforts have been stepped up following the inception of Mayor Street’s Operation Smooth Streets. This program is intended to remove the 10,000 potholes and 3,200 ditches that are expected this winter. Once fully implemented, this program will cost $2.3 million to continue, plus $1.15 million for new equipment.
Street Cleaning. The number of street miles cleaned by the Streets Department has fluctuated over the years from 80,000-90,000 miles cleaned annually, with its peak in FY 2004. Philadelphia has just 2,363 miles of streets, suggesting that some are cleaned more than once and some not at all.
Garbage Collection. Collecting refuse on time is a revealing measure on how efficient and dependable waste collection is. On-time collection may reflect not only the performance of Sanitation Division, but other city offices as well. If the trash trucks are unavailable due to maintenance issues, or streets are blocked due to ongoing repairs, on-time trash collection can suffer. Rather than improving over time, this service, too, has seen fluctuation over the years. Currently, the FY 2007 forecast is at 95 percent on-time pick up.
With the exception of Chicago’s Sanitation Department, Philadelphia allots less per capita than do other large cities. Without adequate outcome measures, such as percentage of streets in good condition, it is difficult to determine whether Philadelphia is more efficient than other cities or is providing lower service levels.
The Streets Department is divided into six units: Surveys and Design, Highways, Street Lighting, Traffic Engineering, Sanitation and General Support. In FY 2004, the Sanitation Department had the largest share of the budget at 69.9 percent. In the FY 2008 budget, its share increases to 76.1 percent of the total Streets budget. This increase has resulted in less money for Street Lighting and General Support. The Street Lighting unit has fallen from 9.2 percent in the FY 2004 budget to 6.7 percent in the FY 2008 budget. The General Support unit has also declined from 9.2 percent (FY 2004) to 4.2 percent (FY 2008) of the total Streets budget. The Highways Division has increased its share of the budget from 4.9 percent (FY 2004) to 7.3 percent (FY 2008). Survey Design and Traffic Engineering have both stayed relatively steady over the years.
This unit designs city streets, highways, bridge tunnels and roads.
This unit constructs and repairs city streets.
This unit designs, installs and operates street lights.
This unit determines the location of all signs, signals, markings, and devices to manage vehicular and pedestrian traffic.
This unit monitors the collection of refuse and recycling efforts to achieve an effective street-cleaning program.
This unit supports the administrative services to reach the goals of the Streets Department.
Questions to AskSource Data
2005 American Community Survey from US CensusBaltimore City Strategic Transportation Plan 2003
Baltimore Office of the Mayor
Baltimore Performance Report – Public Works 2006
Baltimore Public Works website
Boston About Results - Performance Goals 2007
Boston City Budget FY 2007
Chicago Streets and Sanitation Dept/Department of Transportation 2006 Program and Budget Summary
City of Chicago 2005/2006 Budget
City of Philadelphia Budgets FY 2002-FY 2008
Mayor’s Report on City Services FY 2005 (Philadelphia)
New York City Department of Transportation Citywide Accountability Program
New York City FY 2005 Capital Budget
New York City Independent Budget Office- Inside the Budget: Issue Number 150
Philadelphia Quarterly City Managers Report FY 2005
San Francisco Energy, Air and Waste Performance Report 2005
San Francisco Mayor’s Budget 2007
San Francisco Performance Measures by Department 2006
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