Improving
Asset
Management
HE FEDERAL TRANSIT
Administration introduced
the transit asset management
(TAM) rule to maintain transit
fl eets, keeping assets in fl eets
longer and be more aff ective.
“TAM is a business model
that prioritizes funding based on
the condition of transit assets to
achieve or maintain transit networks
in a state of good repair. In
2015, U.S. DOT estimated that 40
percent of buses and 23 percent of
rail transit assets were in marginal
or poor condition, with a backlog
of $90 billion in deferred maintenance,”
34 | Mass Transit | MassTransitmag.com | JUNE 2018
explained FTA Acting
Administrator K. Jane Williams.
“In July 2016, FTA issued a fi nal
rule requiring transit agencies to
maintain — and document —
minimum TAM standards. Th e
TAM rule aims to address the
SGR backlog by requiring transit
providers to create TAM plans that
help them prioritize maintenance.
“Implementing a TAM system
requires transit providers to collect
and use asset condition data,
set targets, and develop strategies
to prioritize investments to meet
their goals,” she said.
T
Th e response to the mandate
has brought agencies together to
share best practices.
“Many transit agencies
already recognize that an asset
management plan is a best practice
for any organization by calling for
goal-setting and setting targets to
reach those goals. FTA has provided
extensive information and
technical support to transit agencies
since the law was enacted in
2012, and for many years before
that. Agencies also are learning
from one another. More than a
dozen agencies have contributed
case studies to FTA’s peer library.
FTA also hosts an annual TAM
roundtable and regularly provides
updates to grantees at industry
meetings,” said Williams. “Most
smaller agencies already have the
basics of their TAM plans underway,
and transit agencies have
reported their vehicle inventories
to the NTD for many years. Th ose
reports can be the start of asset
inventories for the TAM plans.”
Setting the philosophy
One such agency that has focused
on keeping asset management in
the forefront of its program is Bi-
State Development, which oversees
Metro Transit, in St. Louis.
In 2016, Metro Transit was recognized
by the FTA as a model
for transit asset management.
One of the main highlights that
was focused on was Metro’s bus
maintenance program.
Darren Curry, Metro Transit
chief mechanical offi cer, explained
how Metro Transit began restructuring
its program. “We introduced
that maintenance program back in
2002. In 2002 we sat out on changing
our traditional maintenance
where you set out to fi nd things that
are broken and or wait for something
to fail to a more proactive
predictive maintenance program.
We mapped out the entire lifecycle
of a vehicle including the kinds of
failures and we pulled component
replacement throughout the lifecycle
of the vehicle.”
METRO TRANSIT
was recognized for
successful asset
management by
the FTA.
With the transit asset management rule introduced, how
can agencies work to meet this new mandate? The FTA
has information in place to assist agencies, including
best practices and program examples.
By Maile Bucher
Photos by St. Louis Metro
DARREN CURRY,
Metro Transit,
chief mechanical
officer explained
how Metro
Transit utilizes
a working
philosophy to
keep it’s program
moving.
/MassTransitmag.com