MANAGEMENT DECISION MODEL FOR LIGHT RAIL VEHICLE SERVICE: DEVELOPMENT AND APPLICATION

A vehicle reliability methodology to aid in the determination of an operating service policy or maintenance schedule for a light rail transit system is presented. A decision-theoretic approach is developed to balance the costs of troubleshooting and regular maintenance against the risks of breakdown, repair and passenger delay. The reliability of a vehicle is compared with a critical vehicle reliability obtained from the decision-theoretic approach to determine the suitability of a vehicle for service or to determine the optimal scheduling of the next regular maintenance to minimize expected cost. This expected cost includes the cost of passenger delay in addition to operating and maintenace costs. To provide an example of how the methodology is used, reliability distributions were fitted to the miles between discrepancies for the propulsion, electrical, brake, and door subsystems based on data from the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Flexibility in applying the technique is illustrated in a sensitivity analysis. Changes in the decision process are shown with respect to changes in five key parameters. (Author)

• Record URL:
  • http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/trr/1981/817/817-003.pdf
• Summary URL:
  • https://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?title=MANAGEMENT+DECISION+MODEL+FOR+LIGHT+RAIL+VEHICLE+SERVICE%3A+DEVELOPMENT+AND+APPLICATION&author=R.+Scranton&author=S.+Stark&author=J.+Schoon&publication_year=1981
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/030903258X
• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper appeared in Transportation Research Record No. 817, Rail Transit and Terminals. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
• Authors:
  • Scranton, Richard J
  • Stark, Stephen M
  • Schoon, John G
• Conference:
  • 60th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board
  • Location: Washington District of Columbia, United States
  • Date: 1981-1-12 to 1981-1-16
• Publication Date: 1981

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Figures;
• Pagination: pp 12-14
• Monograph Title: Rail transit and terminals
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Record
  • Issue Number: 817
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0361-1981

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Decision making; Light rail transit; Light rail vehicles; Maintenance management; Maintenance practices; Management; Mathematical models; Operating costs; Performance; Reliability; Transportation operations
• Identifier Terms: Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
• Uncontrolled Terms: Maintenance costs; Management systems; Operation and maintenance; Performance analysis
• Old TRIS Terms: Transportation administration
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Highways; Maintenance and Preservation; Operations and Traffic Management; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00348006
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 030903258X
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Feb 27 1982 12:00AM