Heywood Mechanic Technician Dan Aasen with a rarely used tow vehicle.
Metro Transit’s bus and rail maintenance departments beat annual goals that measure how frequently in-service buses and trains need to be fixed last year.
Buses traveled an average of 7,501 miles between road calls in 2020, just above the annual goal, while light rail vehicles went an average of 26,204 miles between failures, beating the annual goal of 25,000 miles. In December 2020, Bus Maintenance averaged 9,893 miles between road calls, representing a 15-year high for the month.
The average distance between road calls or failures is calculated by dividing the number of times technicians are called to repair an in-service vehicle by the total number of miles traveled.
"Last year's accomplishments are nothing short of amazing,” said Matt Dake, Director of Bus Maintenance.
Dake said focusing on preventative maintenance, strong working relationships with industry suppliers and paying attention to operator feedback all contribute to improved performance.
On average, Metro Transit’s buses travel more than 400,000 miles and are in service for at least 12 years. Some of Metro Transit’s original light rail vehicles have logged more than 1 million miles and will be in service for more than 30 years.
