A little management can go a long way. And when it comes to transit systems, comprehensive asset management can mean the difference between operational success and dismal failure. This is poignantly presented in Robert Prince and Richard White’s editorial, “Transit Survival Strategies: Getting Your Assets in Gear” in Passenger Transport (February 26, 2007).
“Journalist Kin Hubbard said, ‘Lots of folks confuse bad management with destiny.’ Transit system managers can avoid such confusion—and its consequences—through proactive, strategic action. And particularly in a world plagued almost daily by the threat of terrorist assaults, choice, not chance, will largely determine a transit system’s fate. But the challenge is enormous: competing needs, infrastructure costs, labor issues, and political differences combine to exacerbate the complexities of running any transit system in the United States.
Granted, our nation’s systems are some of the best in the world. Unfortunately, being ‘best’ is not always good enough. Though for the most part they transport passengers efficiently and effectively, many of our nation’s transit systems are vulnerable to hazards (whether man-made or triggered by nature) that could plunge them into dysfunction, major losses, or even complete failure. That must change. And comprehensive asset management must be part of that change.”
As veteran transit experts in DMJM Harris’s Transit Group, Executive Vice President Richard White and Vice President Robert Prince are particularly well qualified to offer specific, practical strategies that every transit manager should heed. “By no means a comprehensive primer, what follows does at least... prepare a transit system to mitigate damage and expedite recovery. These solutions can primarily be found in strategic and tactical asset management. The first order of business is knowledge. A system can't be defended or restored without knowing the exact composition and condition of that system. So, assessment and documentation are the first steps in any preparatory process.” Prince and White go on to cite specific actions transit managers should perform, providing a critical briefing that can benefit transit systems around the world.
A little management goes a long way. Yet when it comes to transit asset management, “lots of folks confuse bad management with destiny.” In their cogent, compelling editorial, Prince and White help dispel that confusion and provide specific, concrete actions for transit stakeholders to follow.
