Most local governmental agencies that operate express bus service also operate the local bus services and maintenance activity of all bus vehicles may be combined. The agencies normally do not release the cost of maintaining the vehicles in a form that can be easily used to disclose the cost of the express bus service.
Providing the shortest operational life span of any mass transportation vehicle type, buses are a constant maintenance challenge to transportation authorities. To optimize the longevity and replacement cycles of bus vehicles, maintenance regimes must be well organized and well funded. Reliability and efficiency of express bus systems is highly dependent on the readiness and maintenance of personnel, as well as drivers, are critical factors in maintenance of equipment and operation of express bus services.
Maintenance and requirements for repair of streets and roadways used as express bus routes are often underestimated in planning and implementation of express services. At one point in time, maintenance and repair of hundreds of potholes caused by oversized buses traveling on Los Angeles’ Wilshire Boulevard were being performed with the services of a single truck and repair crew. Such absurd and counter productive misallocation of maintenance resources brings into question the benefits of express bus services to the communities they serve.
