Volume 13, No. 2, 2002 IN THIS MDT rail rehabilitation needs assessed ISSUE In March 2000, Miami-Dade Transit (MDT) 104 million passenger miles of service were pro- 5 In search of contracted with CUTR to assist MDT in docu- vided in 2000 with an operating staff of 422. excellence at menting its rail re- transit Metromover is an habilitation needs agencies electrically-powered, and developing fully-automated 7 USF fall plans to address people mover sys- transportation them. The study, classes tem connecting with completed in two scheduled Metrorail at Govern- phases ending in ment Center and 8 Security January 2001 and Brickell Stations and considerations January 2002, re- with Metrobus at in viewed the cur- transportation various locations rent condition of planning throughout down- the Metrorail and town Miami. 12 CUTR Metromover sys- Metromover was welcomes tems, compared completed in two new research the systems with Miami’s Metromover is an 8.8-mile system providing phases, with the final faculty other heavy rail service to 21 stations, with 29 vehicles serving more phase completed in and people mover 13 US Census than 14,000 daily passengers. May 1994 at an origi- data for systems, and rec- Florida ommended a plan Continued on next page released of action to carry MDT forward into the next five years. The assessment included estimated 15 Access Management funding needs, a review of outsourcing prac- NCTR selected for Manual tices, recruitment issues, and manpower needs. available soon reauthorization System Overview 16 2002 Metrorail is a 21-mile heavy-rail system with CUTR’s National Center for Transit Re- scholarships 21 stations stretching from Dadeland South search (NCTR) was recently selected by the winners Station north to the current terminus at U.S. Department of Transportation’s Re- selected Okeechobee in Miami. With 136 rail cars, the search and Special Programs Administration system serves over 45,000 passengers daily. (RSPA) to receive continued funding under Metrorail was completed in its current con- a program to promote transportation educa- figuration in 1984 at an original cost of $1.03 tion and research. Awards were made to 10 billion. Operating expenses of just over $50 Continued on p.12 million were reported in 1999, and more than nal cost of $381.3 million. The 8.8-mile lacked the complex switching and loop rulings in Miami went far beyond rul- system provides service to 21 stations configurations employed at ings seen at peer properties, and the in the central downtown, Omni, and Metromover, and the two automated resulting requirement to select “quali- Brickell areas. With 29 mover vehicles guideway systems in operation in De- fiable” candidates eroded productivity. and three primary loop configurations, troit and Jacksonville lacked the The promotion of employees based al- Metromover served more most entirely on seniority than 14,000 passengers on caused unnatural career weekdays with operating ex- movement in the agency, con- penses of $15 million in FY tributing to high turnover and 2000, providing in excess of vacancy rates in “feeder” 4.4 million passenger miles of classifications while providing service in 2000 with an oper- little screening for aptitude for ating staff of 149. what was, in some cases, a total career change. Findings Miami’s Metrorail compared The practice of approving the most closely to Baltimore but use of outside vendors for had fewer personnel and 36 component repair work was more vehicles than Baltimore. significantly more rigorous It received slightly less of a that what was called for in percentage of Agency fund- the collective bargaining ing than its percentage of pas- agreement. The apparent senger miles. Its maintenance Miami’s Metrorail is a 21-mile heavy rail system providing lack of “blanket” approvals cost per vehicle was lower service to 21 stations, with 136 cars and 45,000 daily for types of work required than D.C.’s but higher than passengers. repeat visits to a “Contract- Atlanta and Baltimore on a ing-Out Committee” for items that were always sent out for re- total fleet basis, and the Atlanta and breadth and scope of the Miami pair. Procurement frustrations resulted D.C. rail systems were generally more Metromover. reliable. in less-than-ideal decisions regarding Organizational and management issues work accomplished in-house versus After reviewing other people mover that were examined included hiring, completed by a vendor. systems, the project team concluded selection, and training processes. The Manpower needs were affected by the that a system comparable to the project team found that the processes interrelationship of the selection/re- Metromover system did not exist within in place created hardships in Rail/ cruitment processes and the contract- the U.S. Airport people mover systems Mover Maintenance. Labor arbitration CUTR was created by the Florida Legislature, the CUTRlines CUTR’S MISSION: Florida Board of Regents, and the University of South “To serve as a resource for policymakers, Florida to find cost-effective, state-of-the-art solu- Vol. 13, No. 2, 2002 transportation professionals, tions to transportation problems. CUTR’s expertise the education system, and the public in policy analysis, planning, engineering, economics, CUTRlines is produced three times per year by the geography, safety, and communications offers inno- Center for Urban Transportation Research by providing high quality, objective vative solutions to public and private sector organi- (CUTR) at the University of South Florida’s transportation research.” zations nationwide. College of Engineering to inform the public and private sectors of its research and professional For more information, contact: Dr. Edward A. Mierzejewski, Director, CUTR activities. College of Engineering, University of South Florida Editor: Patricia Ball 4202 E. Fowler Ave., CUT100, Tampa, FL 33620-5375 Design by Wendy Castleberry (813) 974-3120, fax 974-5168 ©CUTR 2002 E-mail: [email protected] http://www.cutr.usf.edu 2 CUTRlines, Vol. 13, No. 2, 2002 ing issue. Rail maintenance workforce penditures was lower than the FY 1994 Since FY 1994, Metromover operating proficiency was eroding, and while level. The growth rate for Metrorail expenditures have more than kept contracting-out was necessary, it did operating expenditures averaged 1.1% pace with inflation and averaged 6.3% not build the “knowledge, skills & abili- while salary increases averaged 3.4%. of the agency’s total. With a capital ties” of the workforce. Frequent Metrorail capital averaged $15 million program of nearly $40 million, includ- changes in service demands and re- annually from FY 1994 to FY 2000. ing $15 million for the Phase 1 vehicle sponses to budget constraints made the Vehicle operations spending was de- midlife rehabilitation, MDT has made planning process difficult for staff. Two creasing in absolute terms, and vehicle a significant commitment to ensuring methods of calculating additional man- the long-term viability of Metromover. power needs based on rail car avail- If this program comes to fruition, the ability and revenue mileage were de- With a capital program system will be positioned well. veloped for Metrorail. With a revenue Recommendations vehicle requirement of 68 to 90 ve- of nearly $40 million, In the final report, the project team in- hicles, additional manpower needs including $15 million for dicated that a successful plan for the were estimated to range from 8 to 29 the Phase 1 vehicle rehabilitation of MDT’s heavy rail sys- additional personnel. Two methodolo- tem seemed contingent upon several gies for calculating Metromover man- midlife rehabilitation, organizational and management issues. power needs were also developed. Pri- MDT has made a Although additional financial resources mary factors included in the Service significant commitment would be required, in the project team’s Plan Analysis included system charac- to ensuring the long- opinion, additional resources would not teristics and labor hours by function, be maximized without some systemic while the Scenario Analysis focused on term viability of changes. What follows are selected specific factors such as the number of Metromover. recommendations from the 22-month loops, one-way miles, headways, peak effort and the positive actions that the vehicle requirements, and vehicle hours MDT has taken to address them since per year. Based on the current con- maintenance spending essentially was completion of each of the two phases figuration of vehicles and headways, flat. Metrorail capital investment in fa- of the study. additional Metromover manpower cilities was rising, while no significant needs ranged from 25 to 28 people. capital investment was made in rail ve- The current process of contracting hicles. Based on historic growth rates maintenance work to outside ven- Subsystem level conditions of both sys- for operating and capital projections, in dors needs to be revisited. MDT es- tems were rated on a scale of 1 (bad) the 6-year program, the constant dol- tablished dialogue with the Transit to 5 (excellent) using modified 1987 lar level of investment was expected Workers Union concerning procure- UMTA Rail Modernization criteria. to decline until the programmed start ment of work through contracts. Com- Metrorail system condition averages of the rail vehicle overhaul in FY 2006. ponent and equipment contracts were ranged from poor to fair with obsoles- Additional capital needs for Metrorail awarded to facilitate timely repairs, and cence and car body ratings lowering were estimated at $200 million, and ap- MDT established a new Metromover the scores. Metromover vehicles re- proximately $60 million of the $200 Component Shop based on a cost-ben- ceived an overall condition rating of million capital needs fell within the pro- efit analysis of contracted-out versus fair. Phase 1 wayside and structures gram period. Rail vehicle overhaul was in-house repair. rated fair overall, while Phase 2 struc- recommended for a FY 2003 construc- tures and wayside rated good.