Transit agencies: complex and battle-hardened organizations facing new challenges at every turn in the road, track, or rail. Asset-intensive, capital-intensive and labor-intensive, they are forever engaged in the effort to balance long-term spending, operating costs, asset management, and the risks involved in moving large numbers of people through all kinds of terrain and weather safely, quickly, responsibly and profitably.
Federal funding is growing only minimally, and transit needs are outpacing it significantly. In 2014, according to the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), “…people took a record 10.8 billion trips on public transportation — the highest annual ridership number in 58 years.” This increase took place in cities and towns of all sizes, and continued even when gas prices dropped considerably. Clearly, the only way to resolve the gap between funding and growth and to keep the business on track — literally — is to become more efficient and make better decisions about how to invest limited resources. The old standby of needing to “do more with less” has never been more fitting than when applied to the transit sector.
Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act that was signed into law in 2012, known as MAP-21, was a U.S. milestone — not only because it was the first long-term highway funding authorization enacted in seven years, but because it created performance-based guidelines for most efficiently investing those funds to spur the growth and development of the transportation infrastructure. Transportation authorities must now use funds to support federal goals, which include “improving safety, maintaining infrastructure condition, reducing traffic congestion, improving efficiency of the system and freight movement, protecting the environment, and reducing delays in project delivery.”
Technology’s role in helping organizations streamline while complying with federal mandates will only continue to expand. Predictive maintenance and a systematic approach to asset risk management are two ways that agencies of all sizes are using technology to help keep pace with maintaining a state of good repair, replacing aging infrastructure and fleets, and managing the growing demand for service. Determining the condition of in-service equipment to predict when maintenance should occur instead of adhering to routine or time-based maintenance yields cost savings by performing tasks only when warranted — while supporting the stated goals of MAP-21.
Remaining unaware of how technology can transform efficiency simply isn’t an option for any agency competing for federal funding and rider loyalty. In the current environment, it is impossible to improve operations to the point of enabling fast, informed decisions without technological intervention. Consider the case of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). After a series of snowstorms this past winter played havoc with equipment and schedules, an APTA report revealed that the MBTA had failed to take basic steps practiced by other cold-weather transit agencies. The report’s findings seemed to support the claims of critics who have said MBTA focuses too much on expansion projects and not enough on maintaining its existing system. For example, the agency didn’t have enough or the right kind of snow-clearing equipment, and the interim director acknowledged that such equipment had been on hand 20 years previously but hadn’t been maintained. Additionally, the report stated that the MBTA’s “budgeting process hindered the agency’s ability to maintain infrastructure unless it breaks. ‘Preventive maintenance, predictive maintenance and reliability centered maintenance practices are needed to serve the complexity of the systems and support the asset lifecycle,’ the report said.”
The MBTA couldn’t do anything to change the record snowfall and severe temperatures that derailed its operations—but the presence of a systematic asset maintenance program supporting the goals of MAP-21 would have improved the outcome significantly.
Kevin Price has more than 17 years in Infor's asset management business, holding roles in sales and service, as asset solutions director for the Infor Public Sector group, and now product director for Infor EAM, MP2, Spear Technologies, and Infor Energy Performance Management.
