JUNE 2018 | MassTransitmag.com | Mass Transit | 37
maintenance decisions. Studies
have shown that TAM can lower
maintenance costs over time,”
Williams explained. “TAM can
also provide safety benefi ts. We
encourage you to reach out to
transit agencies to learn about
their successes and challenges in
developing TAM plans.”
Curry said that Metro Transit
saw a direct correlation.
“What it did for us is we reduced
our whole operating and
maintenance costs by about 50
percent. Most of it was the labor
savings because it didn’t adhere
to the old programs. With our
parts there were some savings
there, in the sense that we were
able to identify where it would
failure and prevent a catastrophic
failure,” Curry explained.
Th is philosophy for Metro
Transit includes mapping out lifecycles
before the fl eet even arrives.
“Th ere is something that
is key,” Curry said, “it truly
begins with your purchasing of the
capital asset.
“One thing you don’t want to
do is buy a lot of the same assets
at the same time. Th e problem is
they all require maintenance at the
same time.”
He explained, “What we did
was we acquired capital assets so
we were able to balance our maintenance
eff orts. We’ve been able to
balance our capital cost and our
operating cost. Th at was really our
goal initially, getting away from the
reach and value, so to speak, so we
could forecast out into the future.”
He continued, “We always
maintain a maintenance program
into the future, so we know how
many vehicles we’ll need in the future.
We already know before the
vehicle arrives what the lifecycle
cost will be.”
Metro Transit saw that their
total lifecycle cost was reduced
and they also were able to lower
operating costs and plan component
replacements earlier on in
the assets life, keeping vehicles in
their fleet longer. Curry said that
speaks to the sustainability of the
program. They replace fleets at
1/15 at a time. Without bringing
in a large quantity of a certain
vehicle at the same time, Metro
Transit can replace the fleets in
a staggered fashion.
“This wouldn’t be possible
without having support from
the top, our board donations and
Ray Friem Executive Director of
Metro Transit, all the way down
to the people that are actually
preforming the maintenance,”
said Curry.
“Today we continue to adjust
and finalize our plan. That is
part of our culture.”
For more information, visit www.MassTransitmag.com/10065105
METRO TRANSIT’S
implemented
policies for TAM
means that
assets have
longer lifecycles
and remain in on
the roads longer.
TRANSIT ASSET MANAGEMENT
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