For more than a decade the subcommittee has been working to improve understanding of economic, technological, and regulatory factors defining the public transportation applications of self-propelled rail cars relying on-board sources of motive power. Over that period, the number of North America revenue applications of the technology has increased manifold with eight new systems in Dallas TX, Ottawa ON, Trenton NJ, Oceanside CA, Miami FL, Portland OR, Austin TX and Denton TX.
With these developments, empirical industry experience on the performance of this class of transit vehicles has greatly increased. But this experience is not well documented or widely communicated to inform future vehicle investment decisions. Information concerning the capital costs of the various systems is well documented. However, operating experience with respect to the cost of fuel, maintenance and operation is not. Similarly information concerning reliability and other service factors is also only anecdotal at best.
The proposed research program would work with the various organizations responsible for service to assemble and report data concerning Operating Costs, Service Statistics and Infrastructure Features. The report will provide an overview of each of the eight services and tabulate the range of values and metrics that describe the economic and service performance of the North American fleet including but not limited to Vehicle Maintenance Cost per Peak Vehicle; per Fleet Vehicle; and per Revenue Vehicle Mile; Mean Miles between Vehicle Failures; Fuel Consumption and Cost per Vehicle Mile and Total Transport Cost per Vehicle Mile and per Vehicle Hour
Click Here for a full copy of the proposed research needs statement. Comments are appreciated.
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