Mission
The mission of the working group is to produce a set of standard technical requirements, in the form of a specification, for rail transit systems to use to procure LRV type vehicles. This set of technical requirements would capture various design and contractual elements of technical procurement specifications that the working group feel can be standardized or made common for many future LRV vehicle procurements.
The specification developed under this program will be the basis for a similar future effort for heavy rail and commuter rail vehicles.
Purpose
The purpose of this program is to develop standards and specifications associated with new light rail vehicles that may ultimately reduce the capital and operating costs of these new vehicles.
Approach
The approach being taken for this working group effort will be similar to that used by APTA for its Standards Development Programs including the most recent FTA/FRA/APTA effort to develop a commuter rail car crash energy management specification for METROLINK.
The Federal Transit Administration has allocated funding to support the effort of developing a standard set of technical requirements for the design and procurement of new LRV type vehicles. APTA is responsible for coordinating and managing this effort.
The working group will convene as many times as necessary over an approximate 10 month period to develop a standard set of technical requirements for the procurement of LRV vehicles.
The working group will use the procedures describe in this document to reach consensus on the content of the technical specification.
Goals
The working group will strive to meet the following goals:
- Give all potential stakeholders an equal opportunity to influence the specification;
- Benefit from the collective “best” thinking in the rail transit industry;
- Create a standard format/organization;
- Provide clear, consistent performance requirements;
- Provide better, more clear acceptance tests and pass/fail criteria;
- Devote more attention to software, manuals and training;
- Create a healthier business environment;
- Reduce buyer/seller friction;
- Minimize the need to enforce liquidated damages;
- Reduce unit costs;
- Reduce operating costs;
- Connect the Technical Specification developed with the APTA Terms and Conditions; and
- Simplify multi-agency procurement using a single contract.