Caltrans box needs a good blowing up.

WHEN Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said in his State of the State address that he didn't want to reorganize government simply by moving boxes around, but by "blowing them up," he identified the real challenge facing California's state officials as they grapple with California's structural financial deficit. It is not just a question of a budget cut here or some extra revenue there.

The real challenge is for the state to fundamentally change its basic ways of delivering public services.

The administration is floating an idea that is catching the eye of even the most jaded observers of our state government: greater use of the private sector, with appropriate safeguards, for more efficient provision of certain types of public services. Schwarzenegger's team supports a constitutional amendment to allow greater use of private companies to help the state meet its needs while saving tax dollars.

There is a tried-and-true practical guideline for every agency, developed by former Indianapolis Mayo," Stephen Goldsmith. He said that if you can find it in the yellow pages, there is no need for an agency to try and reinvent the wheel and do it itself.

Right here in California, a model has been developed.

Over the past 19 years, 16 counties have created small, local transportation agencies funded by locally approved half-cent sales taxes. These agencies have been a huge success, delivering some $20 billion in transportation projects. Meeting budgetary and project delivery deadlines has been the norm, not the exception.

These local agencies have achieved their record with very small staffs, often just a few people. They have proven that the efficient delivery of transportation projects does not require a massive, permanent and costly bureaucracy. The local agencies plan, gather resources and regularly procure from the private marketplace the materials and services they need, at the time they need them and in the amount they need. The agencies obtain environmental studies, project design, construction, quality control services, etc. When a particular need ends, so does the contract and so does the cost to the agency and the taxpayers.

Record of success

Accountability is simple and strong. If a firm does not deliver as promised, the firm does not get paid.

Using this method, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority completed the new Route 85 in seven years, instead of Caltrans' estimate of 17. The Orange County Transportation Authority completed the Golden State (5) Freeway-San Diego (405) Freeway interchange in four years instead of seven and for $105 million, 55 per cent less than the original estimate. The 101 interchange improvements in Santa Barbara were upgraded years ahead of the state's schedule. And the San Diego Association of Governments designed and built new Route 52 five years ahead of Caltrans' schedule.

The state has shown that it can also use this flexible model once it sets its mind to it: Just look at the dramatic rebuilding of the Santa Monica (10) Freeway by Caltrans, utilizing private-sector resources following the Northridge Earthquake.

Unfortunately, Caltrans has moved in a different direction: to about 10,000 in-house employees designing and managing projects today from about 6,500 five years ago. In the engineering world, thai is a very large number. The average engineering company in California has just 20 employees. And added together, California's private-sector engineering, surveying and construction management firms, which deliver the vast majority of fixed works in the California economy--from housing, commercial, industrial, school and water projects to and a variety of local, federal and other state agency projects--employ about 25,000.

The public understands the value of public-private partnerships. When Proposition 35. a measure to overturn court rulings and bureaucratic rules that had severely restricted public-private partnerships involving engineering, architectural, surveying and environmental firms, appeared on the November 2000 ballot, voters approved it by a wide margin.

Public-private partnerships in transportation have been overwhelmingly positive and cooperative.

Schwarzenegger, clearly a leader who stays ahead of the curve, is to be applauded for supporting broader utilization of a proven, valuable idea.

Paul J. Meyer is executive director of Consulting Engineers and Land Surveyors of California.