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BUY AMERICA fostering a healthy competition while helping to lower barriers to market en- try and encourage growth in the U.S. domestic supply chain for passenger rail equipment. The common design should also make it easier to train per- sonnel, source and inventory parts, and lower maintenance and rehabilitation costs in the aftermarket and fi eld ser- vice support, which in turn should also reduce overall lifecycle costs and im- prove equipment reliability and overall quality. It remains to be seen, however, whether such standards can help meet the more stringent Buy America goals. The car design also includes the lat- est industry crashworthiness and other safety standards that were developed as part of the FRA/FTA-funded APTA Standards Development program. Of course, the cars will also be compliant with the Access Board's latest accessi- bility standards pursuant to the Ameri- cans with Disabilities Act. The effort to purchase standardized equipment is led by the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act Sec- tion 305 Next Generation Corridor Equipment Pool Committee, com- prising state transportation offi cials; leadership of the FRA; management representatives of Amtrak and affected host freight railroad companies; pas- senger railroad equipment manufac- turers and suppliers; and commuter railroad staff. The committee has also completed specifi cations for high-per- formance diesel locomotives that can travel up to 125 mph and single-level passenger railcars. The committee was formed as a mandate in the Passenger Rail Invest- ment and Improvement Act (PRIIA) of 2008. It authorized it "to design, devel- op specifi cations for and procure stan- dardized next generation" equipment Amtrak and state intercity passenger rail programs may need. It further mandated development of standard specs that could be part of a procure- ment pool of next-generation trainsets. Further, the Obama Administra- tion has seen this law as a means not only to expand higher-speed rail ser- The extent to which agencies buy buses from manufacturers outside North America is rare. Las Vegas (pictured) to date is the most noteworthy of these rare examples. vices but also to revitalize the U.S. rail equipment industry. It is a reason why President Obama and his team have taken a much stronger interest in the subject as their predecessor, who actu- ally signed the legislation. In addition, to help raise the U.S. content bar, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) partnered with the Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology through NIST's Manufac- turing Extension Partnership (MEP). The arrangement is designed to con- nect the more than 34,000 domestic suppliers registered in the MEP with rail-related business opportunities. Both agencies contend that the MEP will help U.S. railcar builders retool their production capabilities to meet the demands of this order and thus catalyze the supply chain toward much greater domestic content in railcar manufacturing. DO THESE STEPS WORK? None of these policy changes has had much effect on the market in prac- tice, however. For example, the extent to which agencies buy buses from manufacturers outside North America is rare, despite a more relaxed enforce- ment of the policy in the market nearly a decade ago, and much tougher en- 64 < mETRO mAGAZINE SEPTEMBER • OCTOBER 2012 forcement more recently. Las Vegas to date is the most noteworthy of these rare examples, but Oakland, Calif.; Washington, D.C.; and Salt Lake City are other cities whose public trans- portation agencies acquired foreign- made buses for some of their services. In some of these cases, however, Buy America waivers were not sought be- cause they purchased their vehicles with local and state funds, which Buy America rules do not cover. For the most part, price is not the main rationale for foreign-made pro- curements. In fact, there are typically cost differences of as much as 20% over prices for U.S. buses. The primary reason is these agencies are seeking at- tractive designs not offered in the U.S., particularly for the emerging bus rapid transit (BRT) market. Whether during a more relaxed Buy America enforcement period or a more stringent situation, Buy America has not caused any of the non-U.S. manu- facturers to alter their investment or commercial plans in the U.S. None of these companies has announced plans to build a U.S. facility, despite the fact that at least some of the waiver requests included such intentions. In fact, the most measurable factor given by some U.S. company offi cials for any changes in their share of supply has been mac- metro-magazine.com