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Audit of the Franklin Regional Transit Authority Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

An overview of the purpose and process of auditing the Franklin Regional Transit Authority

Table of Contents

Overview

In accordance with Section 12 of Chapter 11 of the Massachusetts General Laws, the Office of the State Auditor has conducted a performance audit of certain activities of the Franklin Regional Transit Authority (FRTA) for the period July 1, 2015 through June 30, 2017.

We conducted this performance audit in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives.

Below is a list of our audit objectives, indicating each question we intended our audit to answer; the conclusion we reached regarding each objective; and, if applicable, where each objective is discussed in the audit findings.

Objective

Conclusion

  1. Did FRTA maintain a cost maintenance log for each vehicle to ensure that preventive maintenance for vehicles and equipment for transporting passengers with disabilities under the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 was up to date per Federal Transit Administration (FTA) guidelines?

Yes

  1. Did FRTA submit all required financial records to the Commonwealth for inclusion on the Commonwealth’s searchable website as required by Section 14C of Chapter 7 of the General Laws?

No; see Finding 1

  1. Did FRTA properly manage the use of its non-revenue-producing vehicles?

No; see Finding 2

To achieve our audit objectives, we gained an understanding of FRTA’s internal controls that we deemed significant to our audit objectives through inquiries and observations, and we evaluated the design of controls over cost maintenance logs, financial reporting to the Commonwealth, and non-revenue-producing vehicles.

In addition, we performed the following procedures to obtain sufficient, appropriate audit evidence to address the audit objectives.

  • We analyzed the data in the Ron Turley Associates, Inc. (RTAI) Fleet Management Software maintained by FRTA, which documents all vehicle fleet maintenance and repairs, to determine whether all vehicles used and vehicle maintenance performed during the fourth quarter of 2017, after FRTA began using this software, were recorded in the database.
  • We compared records of the mileage traveled per vehicle to records of oil changes performed during the audit period and tested to determine whether FRTA followed specific vehicles’ manufacturer guidelines and the required FTA preventive maintenance guidelines. We used a fleet inventory list extracted from RTAI for the fourth quarter of 2017 and original physical maintenance work orders recorded during the rest of the audit period. We randomly selected a nonstatistical sample of 10 out of 48 vehicles. Since we used a nonstatistical sampling approach, we could not project the results of the test to the entire population.
  • We extracted from the RTAI software a fleet inventory list and maintenance records for the fourth quarter of 2017. We used original maintenance work orders, as well as copies, as evidence to verify the information in the RTAI software–generated report. We reviewed a nonstatistical random sample of 31 of the 90 vehicle work orders from the fourth quarter of 2017, which we compared to the data in the RTAI software. We verified attributes of the work orders pertaining to the maintenance work performed and maintenance costs. Since we used a nonstatistical sampling approach, we could not project the results of the test to the entire population.
  • We asked FRTA management about the use of non-revenue-producing vehicles and the process of lending a non-revenue-producing vehicle from the motor pool.
  • We asked FRTA management whether the keys to non-revenue-producing vehicles were in the possession of the general manager of First Transit, Inc. or FRTA personnel or were left in the vehicles.
  • We requested and reviewed the sign-in/sign-out log for non-revenue-producing vehicles.
  • We examined the state’s publicly available, searchable website, as well as FRTA’s website, to determine whether they included data for FRTA expenditures, including payroll, to ensure transparency with regard to the agency’s spending.

We analyzed the RTAI Fleet Management Software by performing validity and integrity tests, including testing for missing data and scanning for duplicate records. We performed a source documentation review of the original hardcopy work orders to ensure that they matched the information in the RTAI software. We determined that the data from this system were sufficiently reliable for the purposes of our audit.

Date published: October 5, 2018

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