TRANSIT GARAGE PLANNING GUIDELINES. A REVIEW

The purpose of this project was to develop guidelines for planning bus maintenance garage facilities useful to the transit industry. This is a State-of-the-Practice report that documents a review of 33 modern bus maintenance facilities, i.e., facilities built after 1975. It includes procedures used to plan the facilities and the space allocated to various functions in the facilities (administrative, transportation and maintenance services). Data was obtained through site visits, telephone interviews, and mailouts to 17 single facility maintenance garages, 11 multiple facility garages, and 5 heavy maintenance facilities. (Appendix A of this report charts the floor plan layouts, floor space data, architectural data, and operations data for the bus maintenance facilities selected.) This report is organized into 9 chapters including the Introduction. Chapter 2 discusses the approach used to develop space allocation data for various functions and data limitations. Chapters 3,4, and 5 present data on space allocation for administration, transportation, and maintenance services as well as distinctions between single and multiple facility operations and systems. Chapter 6 discusses size and space requirements for bus storage, circulation, inspection, and servicing, and details for bus parking space, bus maneuvering space, and service lane space. Chapter 7 discusses functional space allocation in heavy maintenance facilities. Chapter 8 covers the methods used by transit systems to select the best facility alternative. Two economic analysis methods are discussed along with methods to select the best location for maintenance facilities.