Objective

To assess the extent of implementation of the 11 recommendations included in our initial audit report, Management and Maintenance of Non-Revenue Service Vehicles (2020-S-31).

Background

New York City Transit (Transit) and the MTA Bus Company (MTA Bus) are two related entities under the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). The MTA is responsible for developing and implementing a unified mass transportation policy for New York City, Dutchess, Nassau, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Suffolk, and Westchester counties for the benefit of the people of the State of New York. Transit is responsible for operating the subways and most of the public bus service throughout New York City, and MTA Bus provides bus service in portions of the Bronx, Queens, and Brooklyn, and express routes from those boroughs to Manhattan.

Transit and MTA Bus have Support Fleet Services (SFS) Units that operate from the East New York facility and the Eastchester facility, respectively, under the Office of Central Maintenance Facilities, and are responsible for managing the acquisition, maintenance, and disposition of non-revenue service vehicles (vehicles) in the fleet. These vehicles are used for purposes other than customer transportation, such as supervisory and maintenance functions. The SFS Units operate independently but share one management team.

The SFS Units are responsible for preventive maintenance (PM), which is performed to detect or prevent the degradation of vehicles in order to sustain or extend the vehicle’s useful life. At SFS, PM includes annual and light service operations, starting from the in-service date, to ensure the vehicle is in good working order. Annual Service Operations (ASOs) are scheduled every 12 months. At the time of our original audit, Light Service Operations (LSOs) were scheduled based on mileage intervals (3,500, 6,000, or 7,500, depending on the vehicle class) or 6 months, whichever comes first.

The ASOs and LSOs are scheduled by SPEAR, the maintenance management system used by both SFS Units that is programmed to automatically create PM work orders. SPEAR depends on monthly mileage updates to be performed by the vehicle’s user group, and decisions on which vehicles qualify for an LSO are based on this information. ASOs and LSOs are performed in-house by the SFS Units, but service work, such as reupholstering seats, replacing springs, and repairing brakes, can be outsourced to vendors. SFS vehicles are assigned to various Transit and MTA Bus user groups, such as Transit’s Signals, Elevator and Escalator, and Track Departments and MTA Bus depots, to support ongoing operations. The user groups must coordinate with SFS to bring vehicles in for ASOs or LSOs. Should additional maintenance or repair work be needed following the ASO or LSO, SFS creates a “service operation pickup work order” in the SPEAR system.

Transit and MTA Bus had 1,879 vehicles (1,732 Transit as of July 2024 and 147 MTA Bus as of August 2024) in its fleet. Of these, 209 were out of service (either awaiting service work or parts, or pending disposition), two were awaiting scrap processing, and three were stored. The fleet consists of light-, medium-, and heavy-duty trucks; SUVs; vans; cars; and other vehicles. Funding for these vehicles comes from both capital and operational funding sources. Between 2020 and 2024, SFS purchased 147 vehicles and equipment units, with a cost of $22.9 million. Of the 147 units, 141 were purchased with capital funds, four were purchased with operating funds, and two were not designated.

The objectives of our initial audit, issued January 26, 2023, were to determine whether Transit and MTA Bus maintained an accurate and complete inventory of non-revenue service vehicles, and to determine whether the non-revenue service vehicles received scheduled PM, were safeguarded, and were properly disposed of at the end of their useful life. The audit found that Transit and MTA Bus did not always adhere to their own guidance or practice to provide LSOs and ASOs as part of PM on its fleet of vehicles. For example, 173 of the 285 required LSOs (60.7%) in our random sample were done late or not at all. Furthermore, vehicles that do not receive recommended maintenance may invalidate the warranty, have a shortened useful life, or be subject to more repairs, resulting in higher costs to the SFS Units. In addition, Transit and MTA Bus did not have an inventory system or maintain an accurate and up-to-date inventory of parts purchased to be used to maintain its vehicles. We also noted that maintenance costs were $50.5 million, or 21%, over the $41.8 million budgeted. However, SFS did not have a process to analyze its maintenance costs in an effort to manage costs.

Key Finding

The MTA made some progress in addressing the problems we identified in the initial audit report. Of the initial report’s 11 audit recommendations, four were implemented, two were partially implemented, and five were not implemented.

Key Recommendation

MTA officials are requested, but not required, to provide information about any actions planned to address the unresolved issues discussed in this follow-up within 30 days of the report’s issuance.