no one fired....people just pay
CharlieCard contract wasted millions, auditor says
(Patricia McDonnell/ File)
By Martin Finucane
Globe Staff / February 25, 2009
The MBTA wasted $15.4 million because of inadequate planning and oversight of the design of the CharlieCard automated fare collection system, state Auditor A. Joseph DeNucci's office said yesterday.
The system's original contract with Scheidt & Bachmann USA Inc. was for $75 million. The authority paid $19 million more for change orders authorizing work that was not originally specified in the contract, said Glenn Briere, a spokesman for the auditor. DeNucci's office questioned $15.4 million of the change orders, authorized between 2003 and 2008. It also said the change orders had delayed the implementation of the system by a year, losing the MBTA the opportunity to save $2.9 million in revenue by eliminating fare evasions.
"This is another example of a multimillion-dollar project costing more than it should because there wasn't enough oversight," DeNucci said in a statement. "The taxpayers and the MBTA's riders are paying for that extra cost. In the future, the T management should provide more oversight of the design process and make sure that its contractors live up to their obligations."