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Work PortfolioSimple Search | Advanced Search | List All | Help Analyzing Altoona's Bus Testing Program As part of a federally mandated program, public transit vehicles purchased using matching grant funds from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) must be tested at the Bus Testing and Research Center in Altoona, Pennsylvania. This testing requirement applies to every new or significantly re-designed vehicle model and includes the majority of transit buses purchased each year in the United States. The Pennsylvania Transportation Institute (PTI) in State College, Pennsylvania, has managed the bus testing program since its inception in 1987, and has tested 135 vehicles as of March 30, 1999. In 1998, the FTA asked the Volpe Center to conduct a review of the bus testing program to assess the program's effectiveness, including the level of use of its test reports by the transit industry, and to determine if the test procedures provide an accurate prediction of revenue service performance. The Volpe Center's Advanced Vehicle Technologies Division, using support from Technology and Management Systems, Inc. and Vincent R. DeMarco (FTA, retired), conducted an in-depth review of every facet of the program, including acquiring and analyzing data from all of PTI's tests, interviewing transit operators and bus manufacturers, visiting test facilities, and interviewing PTI staff. The Volpe Center found that PTI has been doing an excellent job of managing the test program, but that the program is at a turning point. Transit operators and bus manufacturers across the nation agree that the program must change to better reflect transit agency needs and to keep pace with the changing requirements of the transit industry. Additional study is needed to determine how accurately the tests predict revenue service performance. A final report on these findings is currently being published. Customer: Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Key Words: STURRA ; management oversight review Mode(s): Bus DOT Strategic Goals: Human And Natural Environment ; Mobility Point of Contact Contact Person is not available |
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