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 Worcester Regional Transit Authority (WRTA) for the period October 1, 2019 through September 30, 2021.
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.
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Objective |
Conclusion |
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Yes |
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No; see Finding 1 |
To achieve our audit objectives, we gained an understanding of WRTA’s internal control environment related to the objectives by reviewing applicable agency policies and procedures, as well as interviewing WRTA’s staff members and management. We evaluated the design of controls over ADA‑required paratransit services and ADA paratransit complaints.
We performed the following procedures to obtain sufficient, appropriate audit evidence to address the audit objectives.
On-Time Performance for ADA-Required Paratransit Services
To determine whether WRTA delivered ADA-required paratransit services on time, we analyzed 100% of the 106,011 trips conducted during the audit period. We divided the trips into two strata. Stratum 1 included 53,353 Appointment and General Pick-Up trips, where the 20-minute on-time pickup window is split with 10 minutes before and after the scheduled pickup time. Stratum 2 included 52,658 Pick-Up No Earlier Than rides, where the 20-minute on-time pickup window is 20 minutes after the scheduled pickup time. For all trips in both strata, we calculated the late trips by comparing the actual pickup times to the scheduled pickup times.
To determine whether WRTA met its ADA-required paratransit service on-time performance standard, we compared the actual on-time performance percentage to the on-time pickup rate in WRTA’s memorandum of understanding with the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.
ADA Paratransit Complaints
Using the list of the 254 ADA paratransit complaints that WRTA received during the audit period from WRTA’s complaint database, we divided the complaints into two strata. For stratum 1, we inspected all 35 complaints that took more than 10 days to resolve. For stratum 2, we selected a random, nonstatistical sample of 20 complaints out of the 219 complaints that took less than 10 days to resolve. For each selected complaint, we reviewed the complaint database to verify the date the complaint was submitted and the date the complaint was resolved, and we reviewed the reason why the complaint was not resolved within 10 days.
We used a nonstatistical sampling method for our audit objectives and did not project the results from the samples to the populations.
Data Reliability Assessment
Transit Scheduling and Dispatching System
To determine the reliability of the data from the transit scheduling and dispatching system, we conducted interviews with WRTA officials who had knowledge about the data. We tested selected information system controls (configuration management, contingency planning, and segregation of duties). We tested the application control over trip scheduling to determine whether the transit scheduling and dispatching system calculated a 20-minute on-time pickup window. We tested the data for missing and duplicate records, as well as records outside of the audit period. For trips that occurred during the audit period, we also compared the ADA‑required paratransit service riders’ client identification numbers listed in the system to a master list of ADA-required paratransit service riders provided by WRTA.
Complaint Database
To determine the reliability of the data in WRTA’s complaint database, we interviewed WRTA officials who had knowledge about the data. We also tested selected information system controls (configuration management, contingency planning, and segregation of duties). We tested for missing and duplicate records, as well as records outside the audit period. To determine whether gaps in the sequential numbering of ADA paratransit complaint tracking numbers were due to the removal of non-ADA paratransit complaints, we chose a random sample of 40 complaints from these gaps and verified that they were not ADA paratransit complaints.
Based on the results of the data reliability procedures performed above, we determined that the data were sufficiently reliable for the purpose of our audit.
| Date published: | August 24, 2023 |
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