THE MBTA SAID an incorrect computer setting at its Haymarket parking garage resulted in nearly $41,000 in credit card transactions going uncollected over 14 days in late May and early June.
T officials say their parking lot operator, Republic Parking System of Chattanooga, Tennessee, ate the $40,900 loss and reimbursed the transit authority for the lost funds. The T disclosed the snafu and the recovery of the funds on Tuesday after inquiries from CommonWealth.
Republic took oversight of parking operations at the T in April. The authority put the business out to bid last year after parking receipts were allegedly stolen by employees of the previous operator, LAZ Parking Ltd. The MBTA sued LAZ on May 4, with officials estimating the authority is owed millions of dollars. The two parties are currently engaged in settlement talks.
T officials said the situation with Republic is very different from the problems with LAZ. The officials said no money was stolen at the Haymarket garage.
What happened, T officials say, is a point-of-sale unit at the Haymarket garage was inadvertently placed in demo mode, which is typically used for training purposes. The demo setting made it appear that payments by people using credit cards to pay their parking fees during the last seven days in May and the first seven days in June were being processed normally. In fact, the transactions were never completed and customers were never charged.
T officials say the problem was corrected as soon as it was discovered and they plan to implement new procedures to avoid such situations in the future.
The MBTA has a five-year contract with Republic that pays the firm $9.8 million a year. In a presentation to the T’s Fiscal and Management Control Board in February, MBTA officials highlighted Republic’s technological sophistication. The presentation also said the contract with Republic included “strict penalties for revenue discrepancies.” Officials said no penalties were assessed in connection with the Haymarket situation because it was an error discovered during the reconciliation process and not a revenue discrepancy.
I see… so because it is a Baker picked agency that took over the parking it’s all good? Wow, this guy ruins the state’s credit rating, hasn’t improved MBTA service (North Station Melts down yesterday) and outsources prison guards (Oh yeah safety sake!), and this idiot gets applauded by it!
The first good news here is
the amount.
Instead of a $41 million mistake – and out of a $2 billion budget,
that’s not so hard – it’s only $41 thousand mistake.
The second is that the vendor agreed to ‘eat’ the charge.
This is a net positive for Mass.
They are required to eat the charge as part of the agreement.