MANAGEMENT TOOLS FOR IMPROVING MAINTENANCE PERFORMANCE: RESOURCE PAPER

Transit maintenance costs nearly $1.8 billion annually and is increasing at the rate of $400 million each year. The transit maintenance staff typically constitutes 15 to 20 percent of the work force and represents about 25 percent of total operating costs. Management information systems to date have usually made possible only development of broad generalities concerning maintenance; even more elusive is the cost of not maintaining transit vehicles--deferred maintenance. It is estimated that the current accumulation is a figure far higher than a current year's maintenance expenditures. Deferred maintenance is also the primary contributor to unreliable performance. Cost controls and performance measures involving materials, labor and use of maintenance equipment must be implemented if transit systems are to manage properly their maintenance and inventory operations. A survey of 54 transit properties accounting for approximately 65 percent of the total vehicle fleet in the U.S., showed 28 have automated information systems for fleet maintenance, and 23 are using MIS for materials management and inventory control. Critical to establishment of a general MIS are system environment, system costs, and project commitment. Because U.S. transit systems differ substantially with respect to operation environment, organization and service characteristics, no single performance measure will be universally applicable. Measuring performance of transit maintenance requires realistic goals. The major aims are reduction in system maintenance costs, improved vehicle reliability, and improved maintenance performance.