CLIMATIC EFFECTS ON BUS DURABILITY. FINAL REPORT

A study was conducted to establish climatic peer groups that may be used, in combination with any set of Section 15 indicators, as a guide to understanding how climate affects participating transit authorities. Three climatic indicators were used to partition 203 transit authorities into "harsh," "intermediate," and "benign" climatic peer groups. The results are mapped and also displayed in tabular form. The hypothesis that bus durability is adversely affected in harsh climates was tested, using data from Section 15 indicators, to illustrate the method of employing these climatic peer groups. Section 15 indicators on "age distribution," "distance between roadcalls," and "vehicle miles per maintenance dollar," partitioned by climate class, provide support for this hypothesis. Implications resulting from the testing of this hypothesis suggest which climatic peer groups might benefit from additional evaluation of their maintenance strategy and which climatic peer groups might serve as maintenance models for others.

• Corporate Authors:

  University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute

  2901 Baxter Road
  Ann Arbor, MI  United States  48109-2150

  Urban Mass Transportation Administration

  University Research and Training Program, 400 7th Street, SW
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Arlinghaus, S L
  • Nystuen, J D
• Publication Date: 1986-4

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 31 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Buses; Climate; Cold weather; Durability; Operations; Vehicle maintenance
• Identifier Terms: Urban Mass Transportation Act
• Uncontrolled Terms: Bus maintenance
• Old TRIS Terms: Umta section 11; Umta section 15; Umta section 6
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Highways; Maintenance and Preservation; Public Transportation; Vehicles and Equipment; I94: Vehicle Corrosion;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00457354
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Urban Mass Transportation Administration
• Report/Paper Numbers: UMTA-MI-11-0008-03, UMTRI-86-10
• Contract Numbers: MI-11-0008
• Files: TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Jul 31 1988 12:00AM