Reliability-centered maintenance management: A case study on a public bus system

This study is to identify and analyze the critical effects and risk priorit ies (quantitatively and qualitatively) in the reliability of a public trans portation system. The failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) technique is applied which is involved with an iterative process of a dependability asse ssment named reliability-centered maintenance(RCM). The diesel engine bus s ystem of Taipei City is selected as a case in the present study. By FMEA re port, the operational reliability of the overall bus system can be evaluate d as references for Bus Administration Authority in purchasing a new system , evaluating actual serviceability and making parts or subsystem renewal de cisions as well as enhancing maintenance quality performance and public tra nsportation safety. Significance: The proposed RCM technique is easy to be implemented in a pra ctical application. One can identify critical failure modes and support the effective preventive maintenance program with an iterative process of a de pendability assessment. In addition, the approach is well defined to highli ght maintenance problems in its practicality and flexibility.