THE ENGINEER IN TRANSIT LITIGATION

Recent U.S. transit projects have often culminated in lawsuits determining whether customer or client must meet the costs of correcting errors in specification, design, manufacture or installation. Generally these actions are about hardware and equipment design rather than contractural matters. The author observes that litigation is part of the price which the transit industry has had to pay for three decades of inactivity which deprive the U.S. of expertise among operators, manufacturers and consultants. Described are actions involving New York City Transit Authority suits against Pullman-Standard and Rockwell for truck failures which required complete replacement under 754 rapid transit cars; Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority against Boeing Vertol concerning deficiencies in light rail vehicles (settled by arbitration); Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority vs. Rohr over rapid transit car design and warranty; Bay Area Rapid Transit and its consultants and suppliers over a variety of areas. There are comments on specification preparation and use of data bases for documenting information on litigation.