220 www. bus- ex. com JANUARY 10 number of important industry steering committees and a highly qualified administrator who is using advanced management techniques such as six sigma to determine how best to improve the service. " With revenue capped and costs always rising," explains Kapoor, " one aspect of MDT that suffered was maintenance. And when vehicles aren't maintained, passengers also suffer due to breakdowns and service curtailments. In that light, there is little incentive for people to switch from their cars to public transportation." The two main stands of MDT's strategy, then, are to improve customer satisfaction and to squeeze costs out of the way the service runs. A key tool in this regard has been not only to log every complaint received but also to investigate and provide the complainant with a personalized explanation. Similarly, every incidence of a delay longer than five minutes is also investigated. Bit by bit, bottlenecks have been mapped and then subjected to detailed analysis. Solutions thrown up in this way are trialed for a month and, if successful, implemented throughout the system. Kapoor realizes that investing in human capital is also what makes an organization efficient. This is why he places high standards in the recruitment of a new generation of managers and supervisors who are best able to tackle the complex problems that MDT faces using more than just rule- of- thumb techniques. For example, a spate of breakdowns indicated that engine overheating was the root cause. Further investigation put the finger on a maintenance routine that reactively fixed individual problems rather than thinking in the round. These days, all vulnerable parts of every vehicle are subject to a preventive maintenance program. Coolant hoses have a life of, say, three years, so after two years and nine months they are changed before a breakdown occurs. The consequence of such a methodical approach has been to breathe new life into an aging fleet of vehicles without spending a fortune. The fact is that with an operational budget of $ 400 million to cover 816 buses and 136 Metrorail cars, it's not a business that has spare money to throw at the problem. Nevertheless, there are significant ongoing investments. In May of 2009, MDT broke ground on a 2.4- mile link from the existing Metrorail line to the Miami Intermodal Center, Miami- Dade County's future central transportation hub under construction next to the Miami International Airport ( MIA). Meanwhile, in December, MDT inaugurated the Airport Flyer, which provides visitors direct express bus service from MIA to Metrorail and Miami Beach for a single fare of just $ 2.35 each way. Kapoor is a big fan of technology and is using $ 55 million from federal stimulus funds to upgrade infrastructure. " We have to get passengers on our side," he says, " and one way is with information. They can sign up to receive Rider Alerts for up- to- the- minute text messages on their mobile devices or email regarding any disruptions affecting our transit services. Soon

regularly. We now are working on a vendor- managed inventory system. In the proposed system, our spare-parts suppliers will have access to our stock holdings and keep up the required stock level. Such a just- in-time approach will release millions that can be invested more productively elsewhere." Miami- Dade Transit now has a proactive administration and is not afraid to make changes. " It's not a case of blame or sanction," Kapoor says, " but rather solving problems. The problems might have been caused by poor maintenance practices, wrong specifications or even poor driving habits; it doesn't matter. What's important is to identify the problems, analyze the cause and make necessary changes." The results speak for themselves. From the time that Kapoor joined MDT in 2006, bus punctuality has risen from 69 to 79.2 percent, while mean distance between failures improved from 2,300 miles to 3,951, all the while making it more comfortable and reliable for Miami- Dade residents who decide to try transit. Miami- Dade Transit JANUARY 10 www. bus- ex. com 221 major bus shelters on our routes will be equipped with screens providing real- time schedules. Buses are equipped with GPS, providing accurate information to MDT on their on- time performance. In the same way, we are making our bus and train trips more productive or entertaining for our passengers by retrofitting our trains and buses with Wi- Fi capabilities." On the cost side, by far the greatest component is fuel. Miami- Dade Transit looked at compressed natural gas ( CNG) vehicles, but the cost of infrastructure to upgrade is very high. Instead it has opted for a diesel-electric hybrid platform that's at least 20 percent more fuel- efficient than diesel alone and provides a smoother and more comfortable ride. In the long run, MDT will pursue hydrogen- powered vehicles when the infrastructure and technology are in place. Some of the lessons learned from manufacturing are being incorporated. " We found," says Kapoor, " that we had around $ 20 million tied up in spare parts inventory. What's more, many of the spares we held weren't used