Birmingham Jefferson County Transit Authority

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The Birmingham Jefferson County Transit Authority, also called MAX (Metro Area eXpress) or BJCTA is the public transit authority of the Birmingham District. The authority provides bus service throughout Jefferson County including the municipalities of Birmingham, Bessemer, Center Point, Fairfield, Homewood, Hoover, Midfield, Mountain Brook, Tarrant and Vestavia Hills. Its headquarters offices are located in the Birmingham Intermodal Facility at 1801 Morris Avenue in Downtown Birmingham.

As of 2022 the authority serves a population of 541,852 people across a 186 square-mile service area. That year it completed 9,645,625 passenger miles. Regular MAX bus service is along 18 fixed routes, most of which are run hourly Monday through Saturday from 5:00 AM to 10:00 PM. Additional on-demand and paratransit services are also available from MAX.

In 2024 the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) presented the BJCTA with its "Outstanding Public Transit System Award".

History

The BJCTA has its origins in Birmingham's earliest mass transit operator, the Birmingham Street Railway Company established in 1884. By 1890 multiple private transport carriers had emerged in the rapidly expanding city resulting in the consolidation as the Birmingham Railway & Electric Company. They would operate Birmingham's first electric streetcar in 1891 and put into operation Birmingham's first motor buses in 1921. In 1948 transit ridership reached an all time peak at 93 million passengers.

In 1951 the company changed its name to the Birmingham Transit Company and began the process of dismantling the remnants of the once expansive streetcar network. The privately-owned system saw profits drop as more commuters took to driving personal cars to and from suburban enclaves. John Jemison sold the assets of the transit company to the newly-created Birmingham Transit Authority in 1971. That same year, the Alabama State Legislature passed 1971 Act of Alabama No. 993, authorizing the Jefferson County Transit Authority to convene and issue bonds for investment in transit.

The two were combined in 1977 into the Birmingham Jefferson County Transit Authority following passage of 1977 Act of Alabama No. 232, which provided revenues from ad valorem taxes from the county and participating municipalities based on residency. The initial BJCTA system served eight municipalities (Bessemer, Birmingham, Brighton, Fairfield, Homewood, Irondale, Mountain Brook and Tarrant) each of which paid a 10% ad valorem tax, which was added to a 6% county-wide tax. In 1982 an additional $2 million in annual revenues, from a tax on the sale of beer sponsored by Rep. Earl Hilliard, was made available to the BJCTA.

Federal grants have also been available to match approximately 20% of the system's budget. The state of Alabama, in compliance with Amendment 93 to the Alabama Constitution of 1901, provides no funding to public transit. Opposition to funding for transit is widely viewed to be rooted in racial prejudice.

In 1974 the BJCTA experimented with making ridership free in a downtown "Green Zone". It was successful in stimulating commercial activity downtown, but was discontinued, partly due to complaints from Homewood and Bessemer, where related slumps in shopping were reported.

The BJCTA has struggled throughout its existence to plan routes with the agreement and financial support of the county's numerous independent municipalities. Cost-cutting in any one city can imperil routes depended on by residents of several others. Act No. 232, passed during the 1977 Alabama legislative session, provided for ad valorum taxes to be turned over to the re-named Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit Authority (BJCTA).

Due to reduced revenues, the board voted 5-3 to shut down the BJCTA system in February 1981. Birmingham became the largest city in the United States without a bus system for three months before service was resumed in June. Former riders who had relied on buses were forced to find alternatives during the shutdown, and when service resumed, only 18,000 of the system's previous average of 30,000 riders returned. Additional revenues for public transit were provided through a special tax on beer sponsored by State Senator Earl Hilliard in 1982.

The ad valorum tax pool was reduced by Act of Alabama 1987-449, limiting transit proceeds to 5.5% of the first $18 million collected by the county commission, and reducing the municipal tax contributions to 2.5%. No other tax revenues for public transit have been approved. In 1991 executive director Phil Gary cut half of the system's routes and laid off half of its employees while raising fares. He was fired by the board in 2001.

The 1998 Metropolitan Area Projects Strategy proposal would have turned over 25% of the revenues from a 1% sales tax increase to BJCTA for bus and shuttle services. That referendum failed in August. A separate referendum for just the 0.25% sales tax increase for transit was held in November, and also failed.

In 1999 U.S. Senator Richard Shelby secured an $85 million federal funding package for Birmingham transit, with the possibility of additional money. Local leaders were unable to provide the 20% match required to qualify for the funding, however.

Representative George Perdue introduced several bills between 2004 and 2005 expanding the BJCTA board to 14 members and proposing a variety of sources for transit funding that would also allow for the matching funds for the appropriation offered by Senator Shelby. The bill changing the board passed as Act of Alabama 2004-500, but would only be triggered if the funding was available. None of the bills introduced over the next several sessions to provide funding for the system succeeded, however. They were opposed by some Birmingham representatives in the Jefferson County Legislative Delegation on the basis that it would trigger Birmingham losing a majority of the board seats. That law was repealed by Act of Alabama 2013-380 sponsored by Rod Scott in a bill that also created a "Transit Citizens Advisory Body" for counties with more than 600,000 residents.

By 2011 the Brookings Institution found that only 32% of Birmingham-area workers had access to public transit, far fewer than in all other cities it had surveyed. That year, State Senator Cam Ward introduced a bill to create a statewide transportation commission within the Alabama Department of Transportation. Representative Patricia Todd also introduced several bills aimed at turning loose a small portion of fuel taxes to be used for public transit.

Prior to 1999 riders had to use an extensive and confusing system of loops made by each route around the central business district to make transfers. The routes still made the loops, despite the fact that Birmingham Central Station was designed as a transfer hub. New hub and spoke routes were implemented with the completion of the Birmingham Intermodal Facility in 2017.

Since 2005 BJCTA has used "Fleet-Net" software to manage accounting, payroll, human resources, fleet maintenance, asset management, inventory, planning, scheduling, procurement, operations management, and statistical reporting. In 2017 the authority added the "MyAvail" package from Avail Technologies to improve fleet management, dispatch, vehicle location, passenger counting, and automated vehicle announcements. The system allowed the BJCTA to add real-time information to its website and to Google Transit, as well as by text and through the "MAX MyStop" smartphone app, which was launched that September.

The BJCTA was awarded a $20 million Federal Transit Authority (FTA) grant in October 2015 to plan and construct a Bus Rapit Transit system.

False Claims suit

In April 2018 a former employee and former board member filed a federal lawsuit under the False Claims Act accusing BJCTA director Barbara Murdock and several contractors of sending false records to the FTA relating to the 2015 grant. In 2022 a trial jury found that the defendants' activities had defrauded the FTA of approximately $360,000, a figure which represented the difference between $1.44 million of federal funds paid out minus $1.08 million in "value" that the government received in return. That amount was then tripled as penalty under the FCA's terms, with 1/4th of the resulting $1.08 million due to be awarded to the whistleblowers who brought the suit. U.S. District Court Judge Corey Maze ruled that the entire $1.44 million should have been repaid and dismissed the claims against the BJCTA's co-defendants. The resulting penalty to the BJCTA was increased to $4.3 million, plus a civil penalty of $14,000 for each of 22 counts, and reimbursement of plaintiff's attorneys' and court fees. The authority remitted an initial payment of $2.5 million to the United States in 2023, with a plan to retire the obligation in 2028.

Murdock, meanwhile, was suspended and fired in May 2022 for misuse of a BJCTA credit card. In June, based on a recommendation from Mayor Randall Woodfin, the Birmingham City Council cut its appropriation to the BJCTA from $10.8 million to $5 million in the 2019 Birmingham budget, but held the remaining $5.8 million in reserve for "future transit projects" once the board responded to Woodfin's demands.

Recent developments

In 2019 the Jefferson County Commission voted to fund service to several municipalities (Adamsville, Forestdale, Brighton, Lipscomb, Fultondale, Gardendale and Fairfield) that had not paid for MAX service. The funding ran from June to October 2019. At the same time, BJCTA began to address shortfalls in the rate it had charged to the City of Birmingham by consolidating routes and cutting service hours. The authority scheduled public hearings on those proposed changed in July and requested that Mayor Randall Woodfin try to "close the gap" in the 2020 Birmingham budget. With no additional funds made available in the city's budget, the BJCTA began planning for an approximately 30% cut to services along with a fare hike from $1.25 to $2.00 beginning on September 23. The BJCTA board rejected those proposals at their September 4 meeting, then passed the budget on a 4-2 vote on September 18.

In November 2019 the former MAX Transit Route 502 and MAX Transit Route 504, serving Cherokee Bend and Hermitage, were replaced by a MAX-DIRECT on-demand microtransit shuttle providing customized service to any location in Mountain Brook from Central Station. The service was powered by TransLoc, a subsidiary of Ford Smart Mobility.

In May 2020 the BJCTA was awarded a $21.4 million grant from the federal "CARES Act" economic relief program for the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic. The funds were applied to ongoing operations and maintenance to offset revenue losses and prevent service cuts. An additional $13.6 million grant from the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act was awarded to the BJCTA for investment in a maintenance facility and electric buses in 2022.

In 2021 the BJCTA undertook a Comprehensive Operational Analysis with the expectation that it would update services and routes in states between September 2021 and May 2022. In June 2022 it began operating the Birmingham Xpress bus rapid transit service.

In 2023 the City of Birmingham increased its annual appropriation to BJCTA from $10 million to $14 million. In October of that year, the authority launched MAX On-Demand as a complement to the city's Birmingham On-Demand ride-share service, adding evening hours. That was followed in early 2024 with the MAX Executive ride-hailing service in a limited area. It also planned to launch a new mobile app with more options for planning and tracking trips. In 2024, following changes to MAX Transit Route 20, MAX On-Demand expanded to cover Kingston and to provide service to Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport.

In 2024 MAX rebranded its bus and van fleet with new graphics.

Ridership

  • 2004: 4,000,000+
  • 2012: 2,734,046
  • 2021: 2,656,250
  • 2022: 1,856,500
  • 2023: 5,800/day (weekdays)

Leadership

Directors

Board

Main article: BJCTA Board

The BJCTA board, by 1971 legislation, is comprised of a nine-member board with five representatives from Birmingham, one appointed by the Jefferson County Commission, and one each from the three other participating municipalities with the biggest populations. For many years, the three seats based on population were occupied by representatives from Bessemer, Mountain Brook, and Homewood. Despite populations having shifted years before, it wasn't until 2012 that the rule was rediscovered, resulting in the Homewood and Mountain Brook seats being cleared for representatives from Hoover and Vestavia Hills.

Following the resignation of Joyce Brooks in September 2014, the board was comprised of Andrew Edwards, Patricia Henderson, Reginald Jeter, Johnnye Lassiter, Bacarra Mauldin, Patrick Sellers, and Adam Snyder. Sellers succeeded Lassiter as chair following a vote on January 5, 2015. Tameka Wren was appointed to the board in October 2017 and was elected chair that November. She resigned in February 2018 and was succeeded by Ruby Davis. Davis was replaced by Darryl Cunningham as chair in April of the same year.

In October 2018 Ted Smith succeeded Cunningham as chair, LeDon Jones became vice-chair, and Kevin Powe became secretary.

Fleet

Almost all of the BJCTA's transit vehicles are purchased with 80% federal funds awarded by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Transit Administration (FTA) under its Grants for Buses and Bus Facilities program (49 U.S.Code §5307 & 5339, 2015 FAST Act §3017). BJCTA revenues, as well as one-time grants from Jefferson County or the City of Birmingham, have provided the 20% local match. The State of Alabama does not fund public transit. Additional federal funds have been awarded as part of economic stimulus and relief legislation.

During the early and mid-2010s the BJCTA has moved from diesel-powered buses to vehicles powered by cleaner-burning compressed natural gas (CNG).

In May 2021 the BJCTA purchased its first two battery electric buses from Anniston's New Flyer North America. The purchase, along with funds for training, charging station and electrical power infrastructure, were funded by a grant from the FTA.

In 2022 BJCTA was awarded a $13,654,636 grant from the FTA's Low- and No-Emission Bus and Bus Facilities program, authorized by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 (IIJA). The authority plans to use the grant to construct a new maintenance facility and to purchase CNG, hydrogen fuel-cell and battery electric buses and charging equipment.

The BJCTA currently operates 70 fixed-route transit vehicles for revenue service:

  • No. 2101-2112: 12 North American Bus Industries CNG transit buses, purchased in 2010
  • No. 300-329: 30 New Flyer Industries Xcelsior XN40, 41-foot CNG-powered transit buses, purchased in 2013.
  • No. 600-608: 9 New Flyer Industries Xcelsior XN40, 41-foot CNG-powered transit buses, purchased in 2016.
  • No. 609-611: 2 New Flyer Industries Xcelsior XN40, 41-foot CNG-powered transit buses, purchased in 2017.
  • No. 1900-1910: 11 New Flyer Industries Xcelsior XN35, 35-foot CNG-powered transit buses, purchased in 2019
  • Flyer Industries Xcelsior ChargeNG 35-foot battery electric transit buses, purchased in 2021.

The authority also operates an on-demand paratransit service using 40 24-foot vehicles:

  • No. 201-206: 6 Ford E-550 paratransit vans, purchased in 2014
  • Ford Transit paratransit vans, purchased in 2018–2019

The authority also operates a number of vehicle maintenance, facilities maintenance, and supervisors' vehicles.

Former fleet vehicles

  • 10 Flxible 45096-6-1 35-foot diesel-powered transit buses, purchased in 1974
  • 5 Transportation Manufacturing Corp. RTS-08 diesel-powered transit buses, purchased in 1993
  • 22 AM General "Metropolitan Series" 9635-6 35-foot diesel-powered transit buses, purchased in 1975
  • 30 General Motors TH-7603 35-foot diesel-powered transit buses, purchased in 1979
  • 28 Grumman-Flxible 870 40-foot diesel-powered transit buses, purchased in 1981
  • 46 Gillig "Phantom" 40-foot diesel-powered transit buses, purchased in 1987
  • 5 Transportation Manufacturing Corp. RTS-08 diesel-powered transit buses, purchased in 1993
  • 14 Blue Bird "Q-Bus" diesel-powered transit bus, purchased in 1995
  • 43 OBI Orion Bus Industries Orion VI CNG-powered 40-foot transit buses, purchased in 2000
  • 11 Chance Coach/Optima Bus Corp. AH-28 CNG-powered "American Heritage Streetcar" coaches, purchased in 2001–2002
  • 22 Optima Bus Corp. "Opus" LFB-29 low-floor 30-foot diesel-powered midibuses, purchased in 2004
  • 2 Optima Bus Corp. "Opus" LFB-35 low-floor 35-foot diesel-powered midibuses, purchased in 2004
  • 10 Orion Bus Industries Orion VII low-floor suburban buses, 2005 model year, purchased in 2015 from Gwinnett County, Georgia
  • 12 North American Bus Industries 31-LFW, 31-foot low-floor transit buses (built in Anniston), purchased in 2010
  • 15 Goshen/Ford Econoline CNG Paratransit Vans, purchased in 2010

In October 2006 the BJCTA, UAB and Innovation Drive, an Alexandria, Virginia company, received a $5.6 million federal grant to develop a 37-seat hybrid hydrogen-powered bus. The project was set to last for three years, during which time the team would construct and demonstrate the vehicle. (Bryant-2006)

Using federal grants along with matching funds from the Birmingham Economic and Community Revitalization Ordinance, which became effective in January 2008, the authority made plans to replace the 75 buses in the fleet with 100 new CNG buses. They hoped to launch the new fleet by October 2009, but city funds were never budgeted. On August 20, 2009 the U.S. Department of Transportation announced that the BJCTA would be awarded $8.7 million in stimulus money for five 40-foot buses and twelve 31-foot buses.

Heritage streetcars

See main article at Heritage streetcars

Shortly after taking office, Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford asked the BJCTA board to put together a proposal for a downtown streetcar system. The board suggested a 2.5 mile route that would connect the Birmingham Central Station to the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex. They estimated that such a system could be provided for around $33 million.

In April 2008 the BJCTA announced that it would solicit bids for the design and construction of the suggested system. Board members also made plans to travel to Milan, Italy to shop for streetcars which would be used on the route.

Facilities

The BJCTA's administrative offices are located in the Birmingham Intermodal Facility at 1801 Morris Avenue. The authority's BJCTA Maintenance Facility is located at 3105 Reverend Abraham Woods Jr Boulevard in the Central City neighborhood.

In 2023 the BJCTA began discussing a proposal to construct a new "state of the art" maintenance and training facility. The larger campus would include hydraulic lifts, washing equipment, a hydrogen fueling station, and a workforce development training center for mechanics and drivers. A portion of the proposed $75 million budget would come from the $13,654,636 Federal grant awarded in 2022.

See also

References

External links

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