Repairs

Regularly-scheduled preventive maintenance and most repair/replacement tasks are performed by the Altoona Bus Research and Testing Center personnel. This practice allows the consistent documentation of maintenance, failures, accessibility of components, and potential design issues. While experience has shown this to be a sound approach, situations occur in which it may be more effective and efficient for the manufacturer to perform the task. Under the revised bus testing rule, the manufacturer may be required to repair the vehicle when the Center determines that the manufacturer is the best party to do so. The determination is made by the operator of the Center, who will supervise the work to be performed. 

Unscheduled maintenance and extraordinary repairs shall be billed at actual time expended and cost of materials or unscheduled Maintenance will be billed on a per hour basis, which will include direct and indirect costs in addition to the hourly rate.  

No repair or maintenance activity may be performed by the manufacturer without prior authorization and the direct supervision of bus testing personnel. 

 
 

About

Established in 1989 by the Pennsylvania Transportation Institute with funding provided by the Federal Transit Administration, the Larson Transportation Institute’s Bus Research and Testing Center tests buses for safety, structural integrity, durability, performance, maintainability, noise, emissions, energy economy, and fuel economy. Based primarily in Altoona, Pennsylvania, the Center also has a facility located at the Larson Transportation Institute Test Track in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania.  

Bus Research and Testing Center

2237 Plank Road

Duncansville, PA 16635

Phone: 814-695-3404

Fax: 814-695-4069