Rail Smith- Performance Team Management (PTM): Introduction

Most, if not all, United States railroad agency's operations, maintenance, and capital program work activities, such as those within MTA - New York City Transit, are managed using separate departments, separate divisions, and separate support offices.

Each separate department, division, capital program, and support office has its own separate performance metrics and goals and generally conducts its work activities as if each department, division, capital program, and support office were its own separate entity.

Separate department divisions, capital programs, and support office performance goals and metrics have always caused significant conflict among separated departments, divisions, capital programs, and support offices, who prioritize their work tasks and support efforts to optimize their own individual management performance evaluations.

Inherent conflicts of separate performance metrics and goals between separate departments, divisions, and program offices for decades have provided less than optimal service for the railroad-riding public. Tens of millions of dollars, if not hundreds of millions, conservatively are wasted each year due to the inherent department/division conflicts and lack of true work performance tracking and results accountability. No amount of additional funding and/or additional personnel will resolve the embedded transit agencies' departmental, divisional, capital program, and support offices conflicts and incompatible work efforts.

Manhattan vehicle traffic congestion pricing additional NY MTA agencies revenue is estimated to be approximately $1 billion dollars or more per year. These additional $1 billion dollars of revenue or more will be very inefficiently expended, with a huge amount of the additional funding wasted under the current subway operations, maintenance and capital program management structures

Under RAILSMITH

Performance Team Management (PTM), all railroad operations, maintenance, and capital construction work activities are performed and managed in accordance with General Manager controlled rail corridor segments with the goal of maximum work productivity that provides the most beneficial train service to the railroading public.

A train is traveling down the tracks in front of the sun.

RAILSMITH

PTM eliminates all railroad agency department and division office work performance conflicts and establishes the highest functioning operations, maintenance, and capital program work environments via the implementation of integrated personnel teams dedicated to specific rail system sections. Operations, maintenance, and capital program resources are maximized under the railroad corridor management teams.
All work performance is closely monitored, audited and publicly reported. Internal competition is also created among similar size performance teams.

  • RAILSMITH - PTM provides complete integrated operations, maintenance, and capital construction teams for which railroad personnel are given specific defined work areas, equipment, and task assignment duties that result in each employee having a sense of ownership of their railroad right-of-way infrastructure, equipment, and overall train movement territories, as well as developing rail corridor equipment and infrastructure asset expertise.
  • RAILSMITH - PTM instills a sense of team pride and determinism to be the most productive and efficient teams and individuals possible, especially in comparison to the other similar corridor teams, which also establishes internal competition among employees.
  • RAILSMITH - PTM formally establishes friendly performance competition rewards and social activity programs that include the creation of team identity nicknames and various performance achievement awards. Enhancement of EMPLOYEE MORALE through work team pride and ownership is a fundamental component of the management structure and goals.
  • RAILSMITH - PTM includes dedicated daily work performance and asset condition verification monitoring and analyses by engineering and technical support offices ("B" Squads) for achieving maximum productivity of all operations, maintenance, and capital construction work functions. In addition, auditing of the work performance and asset condition will also be regularly conducted.
  • RAILSMITH - PTM provides a systematic maintenance and capital construction approach to overall railroad system assets and infrastructure management with annual one-month sectional service shutdowns, thus simplifying the current confusing random rail service shutdowns requiring railroad passengers to constantly search for service outage updates that frequently are not clear and constantly deviate.

RAILSMITH

PTM provides opportunities for advertising and generated revenue.

  • RAILSMITH - PTM provides opportunities for advertising and marketing revenue streams via proposed business sponsorships of team performance awards, prizes, and PERFORMANCE uniform apparel, particularly for local businesses along the associated rail corridors. Use of rail corridor clever nicknames are natural matches for various businesses and services.
  • RAILSMITH - PTM provides dedicated timekeeping, information technology support, training, and administrative offices ("C" Squads) that provide maximum management and PERFORMANCE support. For example, one of the many support duties this support office performs is the daily monitoring of each corridor PERFORMANCE's overtime hours, with any potential overtime above 10% of salary to be immediately identified and capped without loss of work productivity.
  • RAILSMITH - PTM provides the best hands-on operations, maintenance, and capital construction training programs, including in-depth General Manager development.
A train is traveling through the station.
A train is parked at the station waiting for passengers.

Under the MTA - NEW YORK CITY TRANSIT (NYCT) Rail Presentation

The NYCT Rail Presentation webpage of this website provides full details of the features of RAILSMITH - PTM as applied to MTA - New York City Transit (NYCT) are provided in complete detail. All RAILSMITH - PTM system components and features shown for NYCT are to be applied to all other railroad systems as well.

  • The RAILSMITH - PTM Zone Corridors are provided for the following 15 additional United States railroad agencies under the Performance Solutions webpage of this website:

MTA - Long Island Railroad, MTA - Metro-North Railroad, New Jersey Transit, Port Authority Trans-Hudson PATH, Philadelphia SEPTA, Boston MBTA, San Francisco BART, Chicago CTA, Los Angeles Metro, Denver - RTD, Washington, DC - WMATA, Atlanta - MARTA, Houston Rail, Phoenix Rail, Miami Rail.