IMPLEMENTING COST-EFFECTIVE SERVICE INTERVAL PLANNING METHODS FOR BUS TRANSIT VEHICLES: A CASE STUDY

This report examines new methods for controlling maintenance costs and improving vehicle reliability. It is a published evaluation of systems failure data for selected components of 1975-76 GMC buses. The results indicate that optimal service intervals for major engine and drive train components can be established when accurate failure, replacement, and cost data are available. Analysis of incomplete data from a major transit property generates results that suggest current replacement intervals may not be optimal. This report reviews current literature on maintenance planning, demonstrates the type of maintenance planning possible with existing planning tools, tests the hypotheses that systematic planning of transit vehicle maintenance is warranted on the basis of available data, and evaluates an attempt to activate a reliability engineering-based maintenance planning model in cooperation with the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA). The report concludes with recommendations dealing with the institutional and research activities needed to breach the gap between theory and practice in the transit maintenance planning and policy area. Major recommendations included in this report are: 1) a forum for maintenance planning information exchange should be developed; 2) current maintenance planning procedures should be documented more thoroughly; 3) transit properties should be required to document procedures for planning and monitoring the effectiveness of their maintenance activities as a condition of federal grant assistance; and 4) a demonstration of systematic data collection and analyses procedures should be conducted. (UMTA)