Transit Asset Management: FTA Should Clarify Performance Data and Develop a Plan to Guide Future Program Improvements
Fast Facts
Without sufficient investment, transit agencies' buses, rail cars, and other capital assets can become increasingly unreliable and hard to maintain. The Federal Transit Administration provides financial and technical assistance to help agencies manage assets.
Transit agencies that receive federal funds also must participate in FTA's Transit Asset Management program, which requires them to inventory assets, assess their condition, prioritize a list of investments, and more. Overall, agencies told us this effort yielded few improvements, but larger agencies noted more benefits.
Our recommendations are to help FTA make this program more effective.
Highlights
What GAO Found
The Federal Transit Administration's (FTA) Transit Asset Management (TAM) program requires transit agencies receiving federal assistance to develop plans to manage their assets and meet other requirements. According to generalizable results from GAO's survey of urban transit agencies, most agencies made few changes or limited improvements to their existing procedures for inventorying or assessing the condition of assets to incorporate TAM requirements. TAM requirements also include reporting performance targets for four types of assets: rolling stock (like buses); equipment; facilities; and, for rail agencies, guideway infrastructure (like track). Transit agencies GAO surveyed found performance targets for most, but not all, assets to be useful for capital planning (see figure).
Urban Transit Agencies' Views on Performance Targets (Estimated Percentages)
Notes: Combined data for each asset category may not equal 100 percent as “do not know” responses are excluded. Estimates in this figure have a margin of error of +/- 10 percentage points or fewer, at the 95 percent confidence level.
Nonetheless, the targets for the four asset categories are based on performance measures that do not fully assess state of good repair, as defined by FTA standards, or cover all key performance dimensions contrary to leading practices GAO identified in prior work. For example, FTA's measures do not fully address whether an asset poses an unacceptable safety risk, one of FTA's standards. FTA has not reported this and other limitations of its TAM performance data. As a result, stakeholders may draw inaccurate conclusions on the condition of the nation's transit assets, potentially affecting policy decisions.
FTA's TAM requirements may not prepare transit agencies to manage transit assets over their life cycles. For example, contrary to FTA-sponsored research on leading transit asset management practices, FTA does not require transit agencies to develop investment scenarios, which hypothesize the effects of different funding levels on transit assets. While FTA officials told GAO they made this decision to minimize the burden on smaller agencies, leading practices provide tools for any size agency to adapt scenarios to its needs. FTA officials said that addressing GAO's findings and others that may result from FTA's own reviews of the TAM program would require a program rule change, which is a lengthy and costly process. Leading program management practices emphasize the importance of identifying areas for improvement and proactively planning for change. Such planning may be even more important when change requires a lengthy process; but FTA does not have such a plan. Having a plan to manage future improvements to the TAM program could help ensure intended program benefits are realized.
Why GAO Did This Study
In 2019, the Department of Transportation (DOT) reported a $98 billion national backlog in deferred reinvestment needs for transit assets in 2014, affecting the quality of transit services. Transit asset management can help agencies make investment decisions that improve asset performance and reduce life cycle costs. In 2016, FTA issued a final rule for its TAM program that required transit agencies to develop TAM plans and report on their assets.
GAO was asked to review FTA's implementation of the TAM program. This report examines the extent to which: (1) transit agencies reported improvements as a result of the TAM program; (2) FTA established performance measures to assess asset condition and reported information on those measures; and (3) TAM requirements prepare transit agencies to manage assets over their life cycles. GAO conducted a generalizable web survey of officials representing urban transit agencies; reviewed FTA documents; evaluated the TAM program against leading practices for performance measures, program management, and transit asset management; and interviewed FTA officials.
Recommendations
GAO is making recommendations that FTA: (1) include the known limitations of TAM performance data in public reports, and (2) develop a plan to manage any future improvements to the TAM program. DOT concurred with the recommendations.
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Federal Transit Administration | The FTA Administrator should include the known limitations and intended uses of its TAM performance data in its public reports such as its annual NTD summary and other reports for decision-makers. This action should include clarifying the context of state of good repair data in TAM reports in relation to similar data in DOT's Condition and Performance Report and how they differ. (Recommendation 1) |
U.S. transit agencies provide transportation services to millions of passengers each year through a wide variety of capital assets, including buses, rail cars, track, stations, and other facilities. In 2019, DOT reported that based on 2014 data, 19 percent of transit vehicles were not in a state of good repair and there was a deferred reinvestment backlog of $98 billion for transit assets. Transit asset management (TAM) can help agencies make investment decisions that improve asset performance, reduce life cycle costs and sustain a state of good repair. In 2020, GAO reported that FTA's reporting of data produced by its TAM performance measures differed significantly from other state of good repair data reported by DOT, and that FTA has not identified the limitations and intended uses of its National TAM System performance data. For example, FTA's summary of 2018 TAM data in the agency's National Transit Database (NTD), published in 2019, states that 96 percent of guideway infrastructure was in a state of good repair. In contrast, DOT's 2019 Conditions and Performance Report, analyzing 2014 data, states that only 63 percent of guideway infrastructure elements were in a state of good repair. Although these reports analyze different years and have differences in definitions, FTA does not provide information about how to interpret or use these differing data. In addition, FTA's summary of the 2018 TAM data stated that it would cost an estimated $5.3 billion to replace the 13 percent of transit facilities not in a state of good repair, based on the TAM performance measure for facilities. However, GAO found that FTA's estimated costs to replace these assets may not reflect actual investment needed to bring them to a state of good repair and that FTA's summary does not explain these data limitations in its rehabilitation cost estimates. GAO has previously found that performance information can be more useful when significant data limitations and their implications for assessing performance are identified. Without information on the limitations and intended uses of TAM performance data, readers may draw inaccurate conclusions on the condition and rehabilitation costs of transit assets. As a result, GAO recommended that FTA should include the known limitations and intended uses of its TAM performance data in its public reports such as its annual NTD summary and other reports for decision-makers. GAO also noted that this action should include clarifying the context of state of good repair data in TAM reports in relation to similar data in DOT's Condition and Performance Report and how they differ. In 2021, GAO confirmed that FTA took the following actions to address this recommendation. First, FTA prepared a disclaimer statement to include in reports and presentations that include TAM performance data to communicate the data's purpose and limitations to the public, including that the data represent a snapshot of self-reported data by transit agencies. Second, FTA updated the language on its TAM Performance Management webpage to communicate intended uses of the data, including that FTA does not model or extrapolate this data. The updated webpage also clarifies that the TAM data is an input into DOT's Conditions and Performance Report to indicate how the data sources differ. Third, FTA created an internal standard operating procedure to clearly identify the criteria for using the disclaimer and ensure that staff apply it consistently. Finally, GAO confirmed that FTA's summary of the 2019 TAM data, published in 2021, did not extrapolate or model the estimated costs for replacing assets that are not in a state of good repair, based on the TAM performance measures. As a result of these actions, Congress and other decision-makers have clearer information on the limitations and intended uses of the TAM data when using it to make funding decisions.
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| Federal Transit Administration | The FTA Administrator should develop a plan for how FTA intends to analyze, implement, and communicate any identified TAM program improvements moving forward. The plan should describe how FTA intends to address: • relying on a single performance measure per asset category, • potential limited use of investment scenarios by transit agencies in making asset decisions, and • shorter-term planning horizons than those used by other planning counterparts. (Recommendation 2) |
Transit agencies use a variety of capital assets-including buses, rail cars, track, stations, and other facilities-to serve their passengers. A federal law enacted in 2012 required the Department of Transportation (DOT) to establish a system to monitor and manage transit assets and develop performance measures to assess progress. To implement this law, DOT's Federal Transit Administration (FTA) issued a final rule in July 2016 establishing the National Transit Asset Management System (TAM program). In general, FTA required transit agencies to prepare a TAM plan at least every four years that includes an inventory and condition assessment of capital assets. FTA also established a single performance measure for each of four asset categories (rolling stock, equipment, guideway infrastructure, such as track, and facilities) and required transit agencies to set performance targets annually. In 2020, GAO reported that FTA's TAM program did not fully align with leading practices for effective performance measures and transit asset management. First, FTA's single performance measure per asset category does not cover all dimensions of performance for state of good repair, as defined by FTA, and is thus insufficient to assess the progress toward state of good repair for the nation's transit assets. Second, GAO FTA does not require transit agencies to use two leading practices for transit asset management: (1) investment scenarios, which estimate the effects of different funding levels on transit assets, and (2) planning horizons that consider an asset's entire life cycle, rather than short-term asset planning, which FTA emphasizes. FTA officials told GAO that addressing the identified issues would require changes to its TAM final rule, which would be lengthy and costly, and that FTA had no immediate plans for changes. Leading program management practices emphasize the importance of change management planning that involves identifying areas for improvement and planning for change in a forward-looking, proactive manner. FTA officials told GAO they have not established a plan to manage future program changes. Without such a plan, FTA and its stakeholder transit agencies lack reasonable assurance that FTA has the tools to make changes to ensure that the intended benefits of the TAM program are realized. Consequently, GAO recommended that FTA develop a plan for how it intends to analyze, implement, and communicate any identified TAM program improvements moving forward. The plan should describe how FTA intends to address: (1) relying on a single performance measure per asset category, (2) potential limited use of investment scenarios by transit agencies in making asset decisions, and (3) shorter-term planning horizons than those used by other planning counterparts. In 2022, GAO confirmed that FTA had developed a plan to analyze, implement, and communicate potential TAM program improvements to address the above three issues. To develop its plan, FTA conducted a literature review of existing DOT and external resources, and identified gaps in resources related to each of the three issues to be included in future FTA products. FTA then established a plan to (1) analyze transit agencies current practices for the three issue areas identified by GAO, (2) identify interdependencies across the three issues, and (3) develop actions, such as trainings, guidance documents, or regulatory actions to address the issues addressed by GAO. As a result, FTA has a plan in place to help ensure that its TAM program will achieve intended benefits for transit agencies, the public they serve.
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