In August 2008, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) hosted a two-day discussion with senior engineers and policymakers from 14 public transportation providers and State Departments of Transportation to set the stage for identifying strategies and solutions to this growing problem.  More recently, FTA hosted a CEO Panel on the state of repair of transit capital assets at the American Public Transportation Association’s Annual Meeting in San Diego to continue the dialogue on this subject. 

As a follow-up to these events, FTA will convene a State of Good Repair (SGR) Working Group (FTA / Industry) to sustain this important discussion.  The working group will have several responsibilities, some of which will be identified over time. In the short term, however, the working group will be tasked with the following activities:

• Plan the agenda for a national “State of Good Repair Roundtable” meeting that will bring together experts in the transit industry to formulate ideas to address the challenges of transit recapitalization.
• Agree on a common definition of “state of good repair” to serve as a basis for better quantifying national asset conditions and investment needs.
• Provide the necessary direction and scope for research/technical assistance to advance transit SGR.
• Lead the discussion within the transit community and disseminate relevant information to promote SGR.

Communication plans, meeting schedules, and other logistics for the working group will be developed and distributed to the workgroup on an on-going basis. The First State of Good Repair Roundtable was held on July 8-10, 2009 in Washington, DC. 

MBTA Stations Before and After Repair.