PEF Provides Cost Savings to DOT's Five-Year Capital Plan

ALBANY, NY (11/23/2009)(readMedia)-- The New York State Public Employees Federation (PEF) today provided examples of ways the state can save an estimated $90 to $108 million by reducing the number of private consultants who currently work at the state Department of Transportation (DOT).

Edward Lucas, PEF Executive Board Member and DOT Engineer, testified at a Senate hearing in Albany on DOT's five-year capital plan. Lucas provided cost savings to show how much the state can save by having state employees do the work currently being done at a much higher cost by consultants.

"We identified a minimum of $82.5 million in engineering savings, and up to $108 million in savings by reducing the use of private consultants in engineering and architect professions at DOT," Lucas said.

"The state can save millions by using state engineers rather than private consultants for bridge inspection, construction inspection, and road design work. We have found $82.5 million in savings if 90 percent of the engineering consultants for DOT were replaced with state employees. The average cost of a consultant engineer is $80.82 per hour. The average cost of a DOT engineer is $50 per hour, including benefits," Lucas said.

According to the DOT's capital plan, New York State ranks among the bottom 10 states for both highway and bridge conditions. More than one-third of the state's bridges are more than 50 years old. The closure of the badly decayed Champlain Bridge shows how costly it is to fail to maintain our infrastructure. Replacing the bridge has been estimated to cost $50 million.

"The state faces twin crisis of billion dollar deficits and crumbling infrastructure which is why we believe any five-year capital plan should include plans to reduce DOT's reliance on private consultants," Lucas added.

PEF is the state's second-largest, state-employee union, representing 59,000 professional, scientific and technical employees, including 4,000 in the New York State Department of Transportation.

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