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 New Report Finds Computer Diagnostics Will Aid in Railcar
Maintenance

 Contact: Chip Bishop of the American Public Transit Association,
          (cbishop@apta.com)

   WASHINGTON, Sept. 12 -- Public transit mechanics
could be the latest members of the workforce to carry laptop
computers to work.
   A new report by the Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP)
shows that rail car maintenance is a hot candidate for Artificial
Intelligence (AI) technology, now used in the telecommunications,
nuclear power, health care, automobile, spacecraft and electronics
industries, to assist technicians in the diagnosis of railcar
system problems.
   The report, "Artificial Intelligence for Transit Railcar
Diagnostics," indicates AI, a computer program that mimics human
problem-solving techniques, offers the transit industry a potential
for substantial cost savings by using advanced software technology
to diagnose problems and decrease transit equipment repair time.
"Properly developed software can literally be loaded onto a laptop
computer and used, in quick order, by the maintenance mechanics,"
said American Public Transit Association (APTA) Vice President-Rail
Transit Peter E. Stangl.  "For the transit customer, this means the
prospect of more railcars being available for service during each
rush hour."
   In the constant struggle to find innovative ways to contain
costs, transit managers identify maintenance diagnosis time as a
prime target for improvement.  According to the report, AI programs
can provide personnel with answers to problems, suggest courses of
action, or act automatically by being imbedded into the vehicle's
operating system.  The same technology can also be used on the
complex mechanical systems now being employed in the nation's bus
fleets.  "The bottom line is quicker diagnosis time, faster
turnaround in the shop and, ultimately, fewer maintenance costs,"
said Stangl, also chairman and CEO of New York's Metropolitan
Transportation Authority, which daily serves 6 million transit
riders.
   By using data from APTA's 1992 Annual Financial Statistical
Report, the authors of the report developed a statistical model
based on a generic transit authority of 600 vehicles.  Although
admitting that it is difficult to quantify the potential benefit
from an AI diagnostic program, the report indicates that an AI
diagnostic tool that initially costs $172,000 would have to provide
only a 7.2 percent reduction in the mean time rate of repair of a
railcar propulsion system to pay for itself in one year.
   Copies of the 56-page report titled, "Artificial Intelligence
for Transit Railcar Diagnostics," may be obtained at no charge by
calling APTA's Kenya Henry at 202-898-4127 or by faxing an order to
202-898-4019.

   APTA is the international association of operating transit
authorities, their suppliers and other advocates of improved public
transportation.  The TCRP is a program that provides for
operational research to benefit transit agencies and suppliers, and
to improve transit services.  It is funded by the Federal Transit
Administration through the Intermodal Surface Transportation
Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA), and directed by the Transportation
Research Board.  The Transit Development Corp. selects the research
projects.
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