Washington, D.C. –Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today named Rep. David Price (D-N.C.) Porker of the Month for requesting a $750,000 federal earmark that helped pay for electronic arrival-time signs now being deployed at several bus stops in his district in Chapel Hill.

The satellite tracking system, unveiled in late September, also lets riders check bus arrival times on their computers and cell phones, saving them the trouble of relying on printed schedules like millions of other commuters around the country. 

The project’s total cost is estimated to be about $950,000; with 14 bus stops, that’s roughly $67,857 per sign.  The same company that is installing the Chapel Hill system won a contract with Alameda-Contra Costa Transit in California that included 100 signs for $1,031,079, or $10,310.79 per sign.

The Chapel Hill Transit bus system, already partially subsidized by federal money, is fare-free for riders.  If the transit system introduced a modest $0.16 charge per ride, its 6 million annual commuters could pay for the signs within twelve months. 

The project was included in CAGW’s 2003 Congressional Pig Book for fulfilling several pork criteria:  not requested by the President; requested only by the House, and serving a local or special interest.  Rep. Price sits on the House Appropriations Committee, infamous for earmarking the lion’s share of pork for its members’ districts.   

Rep. Price made it a federal priority that public commuters in a single town can know the exact minute their bus is arriving.  If Chapel Hill commuters are unwilling cough up a few dimes for this luxury, federal taxpayers certainly should not be forced to oblige them. 

What taxpayers really need is a sign to let them know how long it will take for Congress to bankrupt the federal government.  For adding to the deficit with an unnecessary and ridiculous pork project, using the federal Treasury to make a free ride even easier for his constituents, and typifying the wastefulness of congressional appropriators, CAGW names Rep. David Price the October 2006 Porker of the Month.

The Citizens Against Government Waste is the nation’s largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.  Porker of the Month is a dubious honor given to lawmakers, government officials, and political candidates who have shown a blatant disregard for the interests of taxpayers.