2015 Bus Maintenance Survey:
Issues with Engine Technology,
Staffing Are Growing Trends
One hundred percent of respondents say filters are the parts
they buy most often, while both diesel and alternative-fueled
vehicle usage is growing, compared to last year.
Lane Transit District
By Alex Roman, Managing Editor
While diesel usage is up at transit agencies, so is the amount of alternative-fueled vehicles, according to respondents
to this year’s METRO Bus Maintenance
Survey.
Overall, 92% of respondents report
using diesel — up 15 percentage points
from last year — with hybrid vehicles
(53%) being the top choice of alterna-
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< mETRO mAGAZINE May 2015
tive fuels, followed by biodiesel and natural gas, which are tied at 28%. Gasoline,
a new selection for this year’s respondents, came in at 53%.
Electrical (issues/training) remains
the biggest issue in shops, followed this
year by exhaust gas recirculation systems and staffing, each jumping 2014’s
No.2 issue engines/transmissions,
which comes in this year at No. 4. Onehundred percent of this year’s respondents reported filters as the parts they
buy the most.
When asked what questions an agency should ask when exploring the possibility of adding alternatively propelled
vehicles, the top answers were “How
much training will be necessary and
metro-magazine.com
who will deliver that training? “What
are the true costs associated with implementation?” “What is the true cost per
mile to operate?” and “What is the expected timeframe until true return on
your investment is realized?”
METRO sent out its survey to hundreds of maintenance shops, spanning
a wide demographic consisting of large
metropolitan to small and rural transit
agencies as well as university-focused
systems. Questions covered topics ranging from fleet size to average age of their
fleet, hours-of-training-provided per
year and how that training is delivered,
and the top issues in their shops to what
parts they buy most often.
Agencies varied in fleet size, with the
largest maintaining 2,200 buses and the
smallest 27, with the mean boasting a
fleet of 288 buses.
The Ride
Electrical (issues/training) remains the biggest issue in shops, followed by exhaust gas
recirculation systems and staffing, which each jumped 2014’s No. 2 issue engines/
transmissions.
Top Issues/Parts
What are the top 10 biggest issues
in the shop?
1 Electrical (issues/training)
Top 5 Parts you buy
the most of?
1. Filters
2 Exhaust Gas Recirculation Systems
3 Staffing
4 Engines/Transmissions
2. Fluids
5 Training
Tech equipment (fareboxes, GPS,
6
destination signs, etc.)
7 Parts
3. Brakes
4. Tires
8 HVAC Systems
9 Brakes (changes/failures)
10 Leaks
Electrical issues/warnings continue to be the top issue faced in the
maintenance shop, followed by exhaust gas recirculation systems and staffing.
Engines/transmissions dips from No. 2 last year to No. 4 this year, with parts
also jumping up two spots from 2014 to No. 7.
5. Batteries
One hundred percent of this year’s
respondents say they purchase filters the
most. The rest of this year’s list remains
about the same as 2014, with lights falling
out of the top five.
May 2015
mETRO mAGAZINE >
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2015 Bus Maintenance Survey
The Fleets
Size of Fleet
49 vehicles
or less
50-99
100-300
301 or more
This year’s respondents varied in fleet size, with the largest
maintaining 2,200 buses and the smallest 27.
Type of propulsion
The average fleet size was 288 vehicles, just a bit more than last
year’s 285 vehicle average. The largest amount reported was
2,200, with 27 vehicles the least amount reported.
100%
80%
What is the average age of
your fleet?
60%
Today
Five years ago
40%
7.3
7.7
20%
years
92% 57% 53% 28% 28% 10%
7%
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e
H
yb
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The average age of fleets continue to go down over the last five
years, with the oldest fleet today reported to be 12 years compared
with 16 years just five years ago. Today’s youngest fleet is 3.5
years, with the youngest fleet five years ago 2.2 years old.
G
as
ol
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od
ie
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al
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as
0%
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el
years
METRO asked what type of propulsion mechanics are seeing the
most in their shops, with diesel again topping the list followed by
hybrid and gasoline — a new choice for respondents this year.
Diesel jumped 15 percentage points from 2014, with electric —
another new choice in 2015 — coming in at 10%.
What are the average miles you run
your vehicles annually?
30,000 or less . . . 45,000 or less . . . 60,000 or less . . . 11%
43%
39%
7%
Tri-Delta
60,001 or more . . . . .
Seventy-five percent of respondents report they do in fact hire
from within — a slight decrease from 2014.
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< mETRO mAGAZINE May 2015
More than 40% of this year’s respondents run their vehicles
45,000 miles or less, annually, breaking a tie from last year with
over 60,000 miles. Very few agencies continue to run their buses
more than 60,001 miles, with the number shrinking by two
percentage points compared with 2014’s responses.
metro-magazine.com
CATA
15% 32% 28% 25%
2015 Bus Maintenance Survey
In The Shop
How many full-time mechanics do
you have on staff?
How many hours do you budget for
mechanic training per person?
36%
20 or less . . . . . . . 25%
40 or less . . . . . . . 21%
41 to 80 . . . . . . . . . 7%
81 or more . . . . . . 11%
Not budgeted . . . .
78%
80 or less . . . . . . . . 7%
120 or less . . . . . . . 4%
121 or more . . . . . 11%
40 or less . . . . . . .
A large majority of this year’s respondents have 40 or less
mechanics on staff, jumping 19 percentage points from 2014, with
all of the other responses shrinking. Very few respondents
reported having part-time mechanics on staff. The average amount
of mechanics on staff from this year’s survey totaled 127.
Thirty-six percent of respondents report they cannot budget
training — a slight drop from 2013’s 45%. Twenty-one percent
report they are training mechanics 40 hours or less and 11% report
they are training more than 80 hours — a slight uptick from 2014.
Lane Transit District
What sources do you use to deliver
that training?
Suppliers/Vendors
71%
In-House
68%
OEMs
57%
College/school
29%
Dealers
29%
State, local or
national associations 25%
0
20
40
60
Suppliers/vendors takes the top slot this year, jumping OEMs,
which dropped 25 percentage points from 2014. In-house training
programs also climbed significantly, 23 percentage points, while
college/school jumped 15 percentage points.
(Note: Transit agencies were able to provide several answers so there is
some overlap.)
Do you promote from
within?
Yes
No
No
Sometimes
Not sure
0%
25%
Seventy-five percent of respondents
reported they hire from within — a slight
decrease from 2014. The number of
agencies who only sometimes promote
from within also shrank a bit.
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< mETRO mAGAZINE May 2015
100
Tires rank as the fourth most bought part in this year’s
survey, with an overwhelming 100% of agencies
reporting they purchase filters the most.
Are you buying more
parts due to older buses?
Yes
75%
80
From where do you
source your parts?
50%
43%
7%
Fifty percent report they are indeed buying more
parts — a decrease from 2014 — while more
respondents report they are not buying more
parts due to older buses and 7% saying they are
not able to tell if they have to buy more parts
because their fleets are getting older.
OEMs . . . . . . . . . . . . 48%
Third-party . . . . . . . . 36%
Manufacturers . . . . . 16%
OEMs come out on top, but at a
significantly lower rate than
2014’s 65%.
(Note: Transit agencies were able to provide
several answers so there is some overlap.)
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