FTA Oversight Procedures - Federal Transit Administration - U.S. ...

US DOT Federal Transit Administration
TPM-20 Office of Engineering
Project Management Oversight
Oversight Procedure 26B – Bus and Rail Vehicle Technical Review
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1.0 PURPOSE
The purpose of this Oversight Procedure (OP) is to provide Federal Transit Administration (FTA) staff
and its Project Management Oversight Contractors (PMOC) with guidelines for oversight of Grantees’
procurements of road and rail vehicles, to proactively ensure that FTA grants are being used to obtain best
value. Such oversight includes but is not limited to:
• Assurance the vehicles being procured are a good fit for the intended use;
• The vehicles represent good value for the product selected;
• Assurance the vehicles meet the specified requirements;
• Assurance that the Grantee has considered the most appropriate technologies.
2.0 BACKGROUND
The FTA has determined that guidance to PMOCs must be simplified to assure focus on the critical
program elements. This document is one of a suite of documents covering all aspects of the various duties
and responsibilities of the PMOC. This OP should be read in the context of other OPs including:
• OP 12 Recurring Oversight and Related Reports
• OP 20 Project Management Plan Review
• OP 41 ADA Level Boarding for Commuter Rail
Each of the above mentioned documents should be referred to when performing a technical review of a
Grantee’s vehicle procurement.
3.0 OBJECTIVES
In establishing this and other OPs, it is the FTA’s intent to provide guidance to PMOC’s and FTA staff in
execution of their duties in specific areas of responsibility. This and other OPs do not in any way stand in
place of the regulations, but are provided for clarity of thought, reporting, and action on the part of the
persons responsible for oversight.
The primary objective of this OP is to provide clear, consistent instructions to PMOCs engaged in
overseeing Grantees’ procurement of road and rail vehicles. These instructions reflect FTA’s goals of
economy of effort in providing dependable and accurate oversight of Grantees, and of improving the
quality of services and deliverables provided by PMOCs to the FTA. Other objectives include:
• Describing the separation of roles of the Grantee and its consultants, and the PMOC;
• Focusing PMOCs’ attention on their duties and obligations to clearly report on the
completeness and accuracy of Grantee’s deliverables;
OP26B Bus and Rail Vehicle Technical Review
Revision 0, June 2008
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