Modern and well-functioning vehicles and equipment enable RTAs to provide efficient, comfortable, and safe transit services to its passengers. The FTA requires all transit agencies to develop a transit asset management (TAM) plan that outlines how an agency plans to address asset management policy and goals, provides visibility, and supports planning, budgeting, and communications with interested parties. The measures in this section describe the age and condition of RTA vehicles and facilities relative to targets set by them in their TAM Plans. As of publication, asset management data from GATRA and MeVa is outstanding.
FTA guidelines for useful life benchmarks for revenue vehicles are set at 12 years for articulated bus and bus, 10 years for minibus, 7 years for cutaway bus, 4 years for minivan, and 13 for trolleybus.
Each RTA sets a target for each type of its revenue vehicles that indicates the proportion of those vehicles that may be at or beyond their useful life benchmark. For example, an agency that operates both buses and vans in revenue service may have different targets for proportion of buses and vans that may be at or above the applicable useful life benchmarks.
Facility conditions are assessed using a standardized scale ranging from 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) which reflects the age of the facility, its current operating condition, and the quality of maintenance it has received.
Most RTAs are responsible for a small number of facilities, usually bus garages and administration or maintenance buildings. In FY23, most facilities were in generally good condition and targets met or exceeded. Only FRTA and SRTA registered performance above 0% of facilities below 3 on the condition scale (this is nominally on-target for FRTA (50% target). However, as part of MassDOT’s group plan, FRTA’s targets are inclusive of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, which does not report to NTD until April 2023, so FRTA’s FY22 performance is not currently reflective of the tribe’s fleets.
