Mass Transit - 34

Transit Bus & Motorcoach
tion over the reported 2013-2015
timeframe according to ABAF
Motocoach Census data. The
number of carriers declined 10
percent to 3,200 while the number of operating motorcoaches increased six percent to 38,700. In
the U.S. and Canada, 80 percent of
motorcoach carriers are operating
an average of four coaches while
the largest carriers (accounting
for one percent of the total carrier population) have 640 coaches
in operation. In the company's
estimation, motorcoaches in operation total 39,000. Through the
analysis of transit agencies data
as reported in the Public Transportation Fact Book and the survey data, the company estimates
transit bus population to equate
to 85,000 units.

Summary and Key
Observations

By the
Numbers
$897
million

The 2018 total
estimated value
of transit bus
and motorcoach
service parts
demand in the
United States
and Canada.
Approximately

90
percent

of all transit and
motorcoach
service was
performed by fleet
shop personnel.

Many motorcoach transportation service providers offer
multiple services to their customers. Among seven types of
motorcoach transportation service providers were operating in
2018, it was estimated that 93 percent provided charter service, 41
percent serve packaged tours, 28
percent operated airport transit
routes and scheduled transit service was provided by 22 percent
of operators. Sightseeing service
was also 22 percent of motorcoach
business activity followed by special operations and commuter
service at 15 percent and nine
percent, respectively.
Most transit buses were operated in large metropolitan areas
as municipal service enterprises. Among the 50 largest North
American transit bus agencies in
2018, the top 10 agencies provided approximately 60 percent of all
unlinked passenger trips that comprise 52 percent of passenger miles.
The total estimated value of
transit bus and motorcoach service parts demand in the United
States and Canada during 2018
was $897 million. Of that total, 70

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Mass Transit | MassTransitmag.com | APRIL/MAY 2020

percent was transit bus parts and
30 percent was for motorcoach repairs. In these vehicle categories,
power generation, power transmission and undercarriage parts
comprised the largest portions
of parts demand at 84 percent
of transit bus and 80 percent of
coach requirements. Approximately 90 percent of all transit
and motorcoach service was performed by fleet shop personnel.
Transit bus and motorcoach
operator survey responses in
2018 revealed that three quarters
of replacement parts and components installed were purchased
new and another 15 percent to
18 percent were remanufactured
purchases. The potential cost of
transit service interruption or
stranding of motorcoach passengers in remote locations far
outweighs any potential savings
associated with installation of
anything but new replacement
parts. Shifting to the distribution
of transit bus and motorcoach
parts sales by channel again
reveals concentration of large
portions of volume among four
types of retail sellers, heavy duty
distributors, engine distributors,
manufacturer direct sales and
bus dealers. Eighty-three percent of transit bus parts retail
demand was fulfilled by these
four channels as motorcoach operators turn to these channels for
77 percent of their parts supply.
In the 2018 survey of operators, MacKay & Company asked
transit bus respondents what
portions of their current fleet
vehicles were powered by diesel
fuel, natural gas and electric batteries, as well as the portions of
these power types they expected
to employ five years in the future.
Among these responding fleets,
48 percent of their buses presently
had diesel power, 26 percent used
compressed natural gas engines,
four percent were powered by
electric/diesel hybrid systems and
two percent had electric/battery
power. These respondents pro-

jected five-year declines of 10 percentage points in diesel engines
and a three-point drop in hybrid
power as electric-battery-powered
units gain four percentage points
and compressed natural gas gains
five points. With state and federal
incentives to operate alternative
fuel vehicles, the decline in diesel
operated transit buses will likely
continue to accelerate.

Components Surveyed

Among the 176 serviced vehicle components covered in the
2018 survey of transit bus and
motorcoach operators, those
belonging to the power generation (engines and related engine
parts) and the undercarriage
(steering, brakes, suspension and
wheels) product groups respectively accounted for one-half and
one-quarter of the $897 million
estimated value of all 2018 component purchases.
Reported engine components
fall into four categories (internal,
external, repair/maintenance
and emissions). Internal, external and emission components are
sourced mainly through engine
distributors while half the total
retail value of repair and maintenance parts, such as filters, belts
and hoses, are procured from
heavy-duty distributors. Fleet
shops performed at least 94 percent of repair and maintenance
engine components.
The six reported classes of
undercarriage components are
power steering and front-end
parts, air brake, hydraulic brake,
suspension springs and shocks,
wheels and hubs, and wheel seals
and bearings. Together, air brake
parts and suspension parts accounted for 60 percent of all undercarriage component sales volume during 2018. Anti-lock brake
system components (ABS controller, modulator valve and wheel
speed sensor), service and repair
was performed in fleet shops in 95
percent of failures with nearly all
failed units replaced with brand

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