Beginning the Dialogue - Report on SGR - Federal Transit ...

Preventive Maintenance
Number of maintenance department employees is
also typically second only to vehicle operations (see
chart below, again derived from NTD data over <strong>the</strong>
period 1995 to 2006). Here again, <strong>the</strong> same
proportions of agency operations (as distinct from
capital) resources have been devoted to <strong>the</strong>
maintenance of both vehicle and non-vehicle assets
over <strong>the</strong> decade.
Finally, not including fuel, materials and supply costs
represent 11.3% 8 of a transit agency’s budget. Note
that all of <strong>the</strong>se statistics have remained relatively
consistent for <strong>the</strong> past decade.
Transit Agency Operating Staff: By Share
Administration
10%
Non-Vehicle
Maintenance
9%
Vehicle
Maintenance
18%
Vehicle
Operations
63%
The nature of public transit agency operations
requires that transit agencies continually strive to do
more with less. Tight operating budgets force transit
agencies to continually look closely at productivity
improvements without compromising safety and
quality. In order to have a meaningful impact on
reducing expenses, without cutting service, transit
agencies frequently look to realizing greater
efficiencies in maintenance. The maintenance
budget, <strong>the</strong>refore, is a frequent target for cost
reductions.
The question remains <strong>the</strong>n as to how increases or
decreases to maintenance budgets and resources
can be expected to impact <strong>the</strong> reliability, safety and
overall quality of transit services. Moreover, as
discussed below, reduced resource availability for
8 2006 National Transit Database
32
maintenance activities – in particular those relating to
preventive maintenance – can result in cost
increases for o<strong>the</strong>r agency activities, including
unscheduled maintenance, operating costs (e.g., fuel
consumption) and even capital costs (e.g., in <strong>the</strong> form
of reduced asset life expectancy).
r APPROACHES
There are important similarities among infrastructure
intensive industries. The airlines, trucking, utilities,
etc., industries all share something in common:
critical extensive assets that must be maintained in a
state of good repair. Maintenance productivity
concepts, in varying forms, have always been
around. Early on, to realize savings and greater
efficiencies <strong>the</strong>se industries were compelled to set
time standards for repetitive maintenance tasks,
preventive maintenance programs, and repair
functions. Repair times and written procedures for
maintenance tasks were established and provided as
productivity improvement tools.
Maintenance activities can be classified in two
general categories: scheduled or unscheduled.
n Scheduled maintenance consists of planned
activities including Preventive Maintenance
inspections, planned component repair or
replacement, driver defect cards, and o<strong>the</strong>r
planned inspections.
n Unscheduled maintenance activities result from
breakdowns caused by component failures and
from defects found during scheduled inspections.
Although unscheduled maintenance can never
be eliminated, its frequency and duration can be
controlled.
Moving maintenance into <strong>the</strong> scheduled category
gives managers greater control and improves <strong>the</strong>
structure of <strong>the</strong>ir operations. The key to reducing
unscheduled maintenance activities is having good
data and using it to make decisions. Reducing
unscheduled maintenance can save money.
Replacing components before <strong>the</strong>y fail reduces <strong>the</strong>
incidences of unscheduled maintenance; however,