Title
Approval of the Regional Transit System (RTS) Transit Asset Management Plan for FY 18/19 (B)
This item involves a request for the City Commission to approve the RTS Transit Asset Management Plan (TAM) for FY 18/19.
Explanation
To maintain eligibility for Federal Transit Administration (FTA) funding, RTS must develop and maintain a Transit Asset Management Plan. FTA requires agencies to update their TAM annually; this is the first year that the TAM Plan has been required. The TAM outlines the maintenance of transit assets.
The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) released a final rule outlining Transit Asset Management (TAM) requirements on July 26, 2016 in accordance with the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21) transportation bill. The final rule requires every transit agency to develop and adopt a TAM Plan no later than October 1, 2018 and to update this plan every four years. RTS requested and was granted a 90 day extension on the deadline. The TAM Plan is the transit agency’s commitment to effectively manage its capital assets and maintain a State of Good Repair (SGR) to support safe, efficient, and reliable transit.
The Transit Asset Management (TAM) Plan provides a “blueprint” of how RTS intends to implement the requirements of Transit Asset Management. TAM requires RTS to ensure its capital assets remain in a “state of good repair” (SGR) by monitoring and managing those assets to enhance safety, reduce maintenance costs, increase reliability, and improve performance. RTS is required to set SGR performance measures and develop performance targets based on those measures. RTS’s capital investment priorities must reflect these SGR targets. The preparation of the TAM Plan is the first step in what will be an ongoing process that requires continuing attention to achieve and maintain RTS’s safety performance targets. In accordance with the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21) transportation bill, passed in 2012, a national performance measurement system for transit programs has been enacted with the final rule outlining TAM requirements. As a result, staff has devised SGR targets, per each asset category.
Under the TAM rule, all transit agencies are categorized based on the number of the fixed-route revenue vehicles operated during peak periods. Agencies that operate 101 or more fixed-route vehicles at peak periods are “Tier 1” providers; those that operate 100 or fewer are at peak periods are “Tier II” providers. RTS is a Tier I provider. As a Tier I provider RTS is responsible for ensuring the following elements are incorporated into its TAM Plan: (1) Asset Inventory Portfolio: An inventory of the number and type of capital assets to include Rolling Stock. (2) Asset Condition Assessment: A condition assessment of those inventoried assets for which RTS has direct ownership and capital responsibility. (3) Decision Support Tools & Management Approach: A description of the analytical processes and decision-support tools that RTS uses to estimate capital investment needs over time, and develop its investment prioritization. (4) Investment Prioritization: RTS’s project based prioritization of investments, developed in accordance with 49 CFR S.S. 625.33. (5) A TAM and SGR policy: RTS’s policies governing the TAM and SGR practices and procedures. (6) A TAM Plan implementation strategy: An outline of how RTS will initiate and engage its TAM Plan components. (7) A description of key TAM activities that RTS intends to engage in over the TAM Plan horizon period (the fixed period of time within which a transit provider will evaluate the performance of its TAM plan). (8) A summary or list of the resources, including personnel, that RTS needs in order to develop and carry out the TAM Plan. (9) An outline of how RTS will monitor, update and evaluate, as needed, its TAM Plan and related business practices, to ensure the continuous improvement of its TAM practices.
The TAM Plan includes all the required elements to comply with the TAM Plan final rule and is attached to this agenda item.
Fiscal Note
There is no fiscal impact for production of the TAM Plan.
Recommendation
The City Commission approve the RTS Transit Asset Management Plan for FY 18/19.