Transit Rail: Potential Rail Car Cost-Saving Strategies Exist

In June 2010, we found that the relatively small and erratic market for transit rail cars in the United States can hamper transit agencies as they purchase rail cars for commuter, heavy, and light rail transit systems, including streetcars. Design specifications that focus on custom designs suited for single-system use have increased the amount of work and related costs needed to design and test these cars resulting in increased cost and difficulty for transit agencies when procuring transit rail cars. Therefore, we recommended that the Secretary of Transportation direct the Administrator of the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to, in conjunction with the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), identify additional opportunities for standardization, especially for new systems, such as light rail and streetcar systems. In 2013, APTA issued the Modern Streetcar Vehicle Guideline that provides guidelines to support specification and procurement of modern streetcar vehicles by identifying and describing important details and operating principles relating to their application. APTA, funded in part by FTA, also developed rail car standards for light rail vehicle procurement. Through these documents, transit agencies have a better understanding of the core technical and operational issues of designing a streetcar and are better able to navigate the process of specifying a vehicle and designing compatible infrastructure. By working with streetcar manufacturers that have designed a standard platform and selecting options from within a standard product range, transit agencies will be able to take advantage of standardization to reduce streetcar costs and delivery times.