TRB’s Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Synthesis 99: Uses of Social Media in Public Transportation explores the use of social media among transit agencies and documents successful practices in the United States and Canada. For the purposes of the report, social media are defined as a group of web-based applications that encourage users to interact with one another, such as blogs, Fac...

TRB’s Conference Proceedings 48: Financing Surface Transportation in the United States: Forging a Sustainable Future—Now summarizes a May, 2010 conference that focused on developments in innovative funding techniques and options for securing continued revenue to support national infrastructure and mobility needs. Views presented in Conference Proceedings 48 reflect the opinions of the individua...

TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Synthesis 431: Practices to Manage Traffic Sign Retroreflectivity includes examples of practices that illustrate how different types of transportation agencies might meet federal retroreflectivity requirements for traffic signs.

TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Web-Only Document 188: Survey of State Funding for Public Transportation—Ways to Improve It includes suggestions on ways to potentially improve the Survey of State Funding for Public Transportation. Areas covered by the report include definition of major terms, post-submission data checks, improved accessibility, non-transit related fe...

Roundabouts have seen unprecedented growth across the United States, from just a handful a decade ago to more than 2,000 and counting. National guidance had to keep pace with the needs of states and communities planning and implementing roundabouts, and NCHRP took a lead role.

In regions across the nation, bridge engineers know that the next major seismic event is coming—maybe tomorrow, maybe centuries from now. DOTs have the critical charge of designing for earthquakes and protecting the lives of travelers.

TRB’s Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Synthesis 95: Practices for Wayside Rail Transit Worker Protection is designed to highlight knowledge, practice, lessons learned, and gaps in information related to wayside rail transit worker protection programs.

TRB’s Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Synthesis 98: Ridesharing as a Complement to Transit explores current practices in using ridesharing to complement public transit and highlights ways to potentially enhance ridesharing and public transit.

TRB’s Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Report 153: Guidelines for Providing Access to Public Transportation Stations is intended to aid in the planning, developing, and improving of access to high capacity commuter rail, heavy rail, light rail, bus rapid transit, and ferry stations. The report includes guidelines for arranging and integrating various station design elements. The prin...

TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Research Results Digest 368: State DOT Financial Auditing Requirements for Public Transportation Assistance Programs identifies various financial policies and procedures used by states for conducting grantee financial audits. The report documents policies, procedures, and practices used by some state departments of trans...

TRB’s Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Synthesis 97: Improving Bus Transit Safety Through Rewards and Discipline addresses the practices and experiences of public transit agencies in applying both corrective actions and rewards to recognize, motivate, and reinforce a safety culture within their organizations.

Travel training services may offer public transportation agencies an alternative to providing increasingly costly paratransit service to customers with disabilities. Research to understand the outcomes and financial implications of travel training services, however, has been scant. To address this issue, a cost–benefit model was tested to measure the value that travel training services can prov...

TRB’s Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Synthesis 96: Off-Board Fare Payment Using Proof-of-Payment Verification examines the application of proof-of-payment (PoP) on transit systems in North America and internationally. TCRP Synthesis 96 updates TCRP Report 80: A Toolkit for Self-Service, Barrier-Free Fare Collection . Issues address by TCRP Synthesis 96 include evasion rates, inspec...

TRB’s Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Report 152: Guidelines for Ferry Transportation Services examines the history and characteristics of ferry systems throughout North America and offers guidelines for planning, marketing, operating, and managing a ferry system as a component of an overall transportation network. The report also explores the potential benefits of and impediments t...

TRB’s Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Web-Only Document 53: Operation of Light Rail Transit through Ungated Crossings at Speeds over 35 MPH presents the findings of a micro-simulation modeling study that explored the impacts of higher light rail vehicle speeds on intersection safety.

TRB’s Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 2252 contains 19 papers that explore economic and environmental optimization of vehicle fleets, driver response to energy information feedback, California's low-carbon fuel standard, feebates and fuel economy standards, energy use for transport in 27 European Union countries through 2030, and a comparison of...

TRB’s Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Legal Research Digest 39: Competition Requirements of the Design/Build, Construction Manager at Risk, and Public-Private Partnership Contracts—Seven Case Studies explores the use of various project delivery methods, including design-build, construction management at risk, and a number of options considered public-private partnerships, ...

TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Research Results Digest 366: Local and State Partnerships with Taxicab Companies discusses how states and local governments might promote partnerships with taxicab companies for provision of public transportation. In the context of the report, a “partnership” typically involves some form of contract for service, but also includes less ...

TRB’s Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Research Results Digest 104: Synthesis of Information Related to Transit Problems is a digest of the progress and status of TCRP Project J-7, “Synthesis of Information Related to Transit Problems,” for which the Transportation Research Board is the agency conducting the research.

TRB’s Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 2216 consists of 19 papers that explore transit bus emissions, determinants of delay incident occurrence, data for national transit database section 15 reporting, regularity of service, passenger flow patterns, impacts of holding control strategies, and transit performance. This issue of the TRR also examine...

TRB’s Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) has released its annual report, which provides background and an overview of the program, status of each of TCRP’s projects, and a summary of some of the program's accomplishments.

TRB’s Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 2217 consists of 20 papers that explore travel behavior and demand potential of tram- and bus-based neighborhoods, impact of gasoline prices on transit ridership, cost-effective approaches to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through public transportation, predicting the mean and variance of transit segment an...

TRB’s Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Synthesis 93: Practices to Protect Bus Operators from Passenger Assault highlights practices and policies implemented by transit agencies to deter and mitigate assaults on bus operators.

TRB’s Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Research Results Digest 103: Sustainable Public Transportation: Environmentally Friendly Mobility is an overview of an international study mission that explored how public transportation systems in several cities in India and China have implemented plans, policies, technologies, and strategies for creating more livable communities through bus, m...

TRB’s Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Synthesis 94: Innovative Rural Transit Services highlights transit and rural intercity bus service responses to changing rural community transportation needs. The report includes an emphasis on the innovative and/or entrepreneurial spirit, the innovator, and the conditions required for innovation.

TRB’s Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis (IDEA) Final Report for Transit IDEA Project 58: Google Transit Data Tool for Small Transit Agencies discusses the process, results, and work effort carried out in creating a tool to have transit information such as routes, start and stop times, trips, fares, and schedules accessible online via Google Transit.

TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Research Results Digest 356: Analysis of State Rural Intercity Bus Strategies: Requirements for Utilization of S.5311(f) Funding provides a snapshot of the current status of the program across the nation, and also provides states with examples and recommendations for program implementation. Section 5311(f) funds intercity bus service i...

TRB’s Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Report 148: Practical Resources for Recruiting Minorities for Chief Executive Officers at Public Transportation Agencies provides strategies to recruit minorities for chief executive officer (CEO) positions and offers resources to assist governing boards of public transportation agencies in the recruitment of minority CEOs. The report also asses...

TRB’s Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Synthesis 91: Use and Deployment of Mobile Device Technology for Real-Time Transit Information examines the use and deployment of real-time transit information on mobile devices. The report explores the underlying technology required to generate the information to be disseminated, the mobile technology used for dissemination, the characteristics...

TRB’s Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 2218 consists of ten papers that explore yield-to-bus electronic warning signs on transit buses; reserved bus lanes; life-cycle cost tool for transit buses; innovative operating solutions for bus rapid transit; converting a two-way left-turn lane into a bus rapid transit lane; and joint optimization of bus s...