Report 06 Ground Transport

INTERNAL AUDIT REPORT 

Ground Transportation at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport 

Comprehensive Operational Audit 

January 1, 2013  December 31, 2014 

ISSUE DATE: MAY 7, 2015 
REPORT NO. 2015-06

Ground Transportation at Sea-Tac International Airport                           INTERNAL AUDIT 
January 1, 2013  December 31, 2014 


TABLE OF CONTENTS 


TRANSMITTAL LETTER.................................................................................................................................................. 3 
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................................. 4 
BACKGROUND ............................................................................................................................................................... 5 
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS .............................................................................................................................................. 5 
HIGHLIGHTS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS ..................................................................................................................... 5 
AUDIT SCOPE AND METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................................................ 5 
CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................................................................ 5 










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Ground Transportation at Sea-Tac International Airport                           INTERNAL AUDIT 
January 1, 2013  December 31, 2014 

TRANSMITTAL LETTER 

Audit Committee 
Port of Seattle 
Seattle, Washington 
We have completed an audit of the Ground Transportation Department at Seattle-Tacoma International
Airport. We reviewed information for the period January 1, 2013  December 31, 2014. 
We conducted this performance audit in accordance with Generally Accepted Government Auditing
Standards and the International Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing. 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. 
We extend our appreciation to the management and staff of the Ground Transportation Department for
their assistance and cooperation during the audit. 


Joyce Kirangi, CPA, CGMA 
Internal Audit, Director 

AUDIT TEAM                      RESPONSIBLE MANAGEMENT TEAM 
Jack Hutchinson, Manager             Jeff Hoevet, Senior Manager, Landside Operations 
Brian Nancekivell, Senior Auditor          Vicky Ausbun, Manager, Landside Operations 






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Ground Transportation at Sea-Tac International Airport                           INTERNAL AUDIT 
January 1, 2013  December 31, 2014 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 

AUDIT OBJECTIVES AND SCOPE 
The purpose of the audit was to determine whether management controls are adequate to ensure that: 
All applicable tariffs are accurately and completely recorded, 
Concession revenues are accurately and completely recorded. 
We reviewed information for the period January 1, 2013  December 31, 2014. Details of our audit's
scope and methodology are on page 6. 

BACKGROUND 

The Ground Transportation Department at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport is a department of 15+
FTEs.  The Department is responsible for managing a variety of ground transportation operators
consisting of taxis, limousines, courtesy vehicles, airporters, charter buses, shuttle buses, crew vans
and parcel carriers. In 2014, there were some 2.4 million outbound trips from the airport to various
destinations. The Department processed over $8 million in transportation fees (non-aeronautical
revenue) in 2014. 

AUDIT RESULT

The Ground Transportation Department has adequate controls to ensure all applicable tariffs and
concession revenues are accurately and completely recorded. 







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Ground Transportation at Sea-Tac International Airport                           INTERNAL AUDIT 
January 1, 2013  December 31, 2014 

BACKGROUND 
The purpose of the Ground Transportation Department (GT) at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport is
to promote high quality, safe, and convenient ground transportation services for the traveling public.
The Department has 15+ FTEs, and manages over 2 million outbound trips each year, with taxis and
courtesy vehicles accounting for 90% of the trips. Ground Transportation generated $8.3 million in
airport transportation fees in 2014. Airport transportation fees are non-aeronautical revenue for the
airport. 
All GT activities are monitored by ten controllers. They  oversee the operations of the upper drive,
lower drive, commercial lanes on the third floor of the parking garage, cell phone lots, and airport
roadways. The controllers are responsible for inspecting taxies and limos, as well as monitoring
commercial vehicles that utilize the airport. The inspections ensure that all vehicle operators follow
state, county, and Port of Seattle regulations. From the Ground Transportation Center (GTC), the
controllers dispatch limos and charter buses. They also  assist phone-in and walk-up customers. The
GTC is located in the center of the third floor of the parking garage. 
Transportation fees are generated as follows:  1) On-call taxis and on-call limousines are under
concession agreements with Minimum Annual Guarantees (MAG), payable monthly. 2) Courtesy vans,
airporters, door-to-door operators (shuttle buses), and crew vans are invoiced monthly based on pertrip
fees. An automated vehicle identification system monitors and records each trip into Gatekeeper.
3) Charter buses are invoiced monthly based on dispatch logs. 4) Bell-in taxis, pre-arranged limos, and
parcel carriers purchase annual permits. 

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTSFINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS 
Department Revenues - 2014 Actual 
Type            Revenue        Charge Method 
Taxi - Yellow Cab             $3,637,214  Concession agreement 
Courtesy cars/vans; crew vans    2,437,657  Per trip 
On-call limos                  943,112  Concession agreement 
Pre-arranged limos             513,583 Annual permit 
Shared ride vans               227,108  Per trip 
Charter buses                 179,261 Per trip 
Airporters                    108,646  Per trip 
Belled-in taxis                   56,212  Annual permit 
Parcel carriers                  21,538  Annual permit 
Other                      172,951
TOTAL                 $ 8,297,282 
Data Source: PeopleSoft Financials 


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Ground Transportation at Sea-Tac International Airport                           INTERNAL AUDIT 
January 1, 2013  December 31, 2014 

HIGHLIGHTS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS 
During the course of the audit, we observed the following effective and efficient management
practices:  Per-trip numbers by company for courtesy vehicles, the largest provider of trips, are
automatically uploaded to PeopleSoft, increasing billing efficiency and reducing the risk of  input
errors. 

AUDIT SCOPE AND METHODOLOGY 
We reviewed information for the period January 1, 2013  December 31, 2014. We utilized a risk-based
approach from planning to testing.  We gathered information through research, interviews,
observations, and data analysis, in order to obtain a complete understanding of the Department
operations. We assessed significant risks and identified controls to mitigate those risks. We evaluated
whether the controls were functioning as intended. 
We applied additional detailed audit procedures to areas with the highest likelihood of significant
negative impact as follows: 
1.  To ensure all applicable tariffs are accurately and completely recorded: 
We tested a sample of three months for each year (2013 and 2014). We validated the pertrip
fees by operator type for courtesy vehicles, airporters, and charter buses. We
validated the per-trip fees by operator type and verified the number of trips billed in the
accounting records. We checked the accuracy and completeness of total charges. 
We tested the accuracy and completeness of permits by operator type. For pre-arranged
limos, we reconciled permits issued to the accounting records for six months of each year 
(2013 and 2014), which accounted for over 60% of applicable revenue. For belled-in taxis
and parcel carriers, we reconciled 100% of permits issued for both years to the accounting
records. 
We reviewed the violations log to ensure all violations were accounted for. 
2.  To ensure that concession revenues are accurately and completely recorded: 
We tested all concession payments (some $9 million) within the audit period and verified
the accuracy, completeness, and timeliness of concession payments. 
We verified that any additional trip fees for the concession year for the Seattle-Tacoma
International Limousine Association (STILA) agreement were appropriately paid. 

CONCLUSION 
CONCLUSION 
The Ground Transportation Department has adequate controls to ensure all applicable tariffs and
concession revenues are accurately and completely recorded. 


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