What's New in Public Transportation

TRB's Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) has released a request for proposals to provide a summary of pertinent laws and practices related to achieving a state of good repair for transportation assets throughout the United States. Proposals are due September 25, 2018.

TRB is cosponsoring a webinar on Tuesday, October 9, 2018 from 2:00-3:30 PM ET that features the Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP)'s   Synthesis Report 135 : ADA Paratransit Service Models.  This webinar will explore what defines a service model and what types of service models are represented among the largest ADA paratransit systems. The presenter will identify the benefit...

TRB is cosponsoring a webinar on Tuesday, October 2, 2018 from 2:00-3:30 PM ET that features the Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP)'s Web-Only Document 71 : A Transit Agency Guide to Evaluating Secondary Train Detection/Protection Systems in Communications-Based Train Control Systems. This webinar will provide a practical approach to evaluating the appropriate level of secondary train ...

TRB's Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) has released a request for proposals to produce a report that addresses the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) requirements for joint development (JD) projects with FTA assistance or FTA-funded assets, and that develops model provisions to include in JD agreements. Proposals are due September 24, 2018.

TRB's Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) has released a request for proposals to provide advice and checklists for transportation agencies and their attorneys to consult in developing, improving, applying, and enforcing their own codes of conduct of their own vehicles and facilities. Proposals are due September 20, 2018

TRB's Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) has released a request for proposals to help public transportation agencies better understand changes in ridership under specific operating circumstances by identifying and comparing to increase ridership or mitigate declines in specific service areas or corridors. Proposals are due September 20, 2018.

The U.S. Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has released its monthly newsletter about the latest transit safety issues. This edition features information about: Upcoming safety trainings and certifications FTA’s Public Transportation Safety Certification Training Program rule FTA’s Public Transportation Agency Safety Plan rule

TRB's Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Research Report 198: The Relationship Between Transit Asset Condition and Service Quality documents the development of a quantitative method for characterizing service quality and demonstrates how this quantitative measure varies with changes in asset condition. It provides guidance on how asset condition and transit service quality relate in te...

The American Public Transportation Association has released a report that examines the effects of guaranteed federal funding for transit projects. This report identifies the effects of federal funding on innovation, U.S. manufacturing, and the economy.

TRB will conduct a webinar on Thursday, September 6, 2018 from 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM ET that will examine the impacts of technologies such as connected/autonomous vehicles and ridesharing services on transportation revenues. As these technologies change the way people travel, they are displacing traditional revenue streams for transportation programs. This webinar will address the current and anti...

TRB will conduct a webinar on Tuesday, August 14, 2018, from 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM ET that features research from the Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP)’s Legal Research Digest 50 : Public Transit Emergency Preparedness Against Ebola and Other Infectious Diseases: Legal Issues. This webinar will examine legal issues that transit agencies may face when an infectious disease epidemic arises...

TRB has released a new video highlighting the 2018 Automated Vehicles Symposium, held in San Francisco California July 9-12, 2018. Plan to attend the 2019 symposium, scheduled for July 15-18, 2019, in Orlando, Florida.

The Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) is soliciting ideas on candidate topics for the FY 2018 Legal Studies Program. The TCRP Legal Studies Program reports on legal issues associated with transit and intermodal law. Each document is intended to provide transit attorneys with authoritative, well-researched, specific information that is limited in scope. The studies focus on legal issue...

TRB's Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Research Report 199: Transit Technical Training, Volume 1: Guide to Applying Best Practices and Sharing Resources documents the best models of technical training programs serving U.S. and international transportation agencies and related industries. A product of this research also includes a training resource catalog to help transit agencies pro...

TRB's Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Research Report 199: Transit Technical Training, Volume 2: Guide to Overcoming Barriers to Implementing Best and Innovative Training provides public transportation agencies with best practices, strategies, and resources to assist with the implementation of effective and innovative training programs and techniques for frontline employees. TCRP Re...

TRB's Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) has released a request for proposals to develop guidelines for determining when to replace transit system cables. A request for proposals for this project was originally released on September 28, 2017; no award was made. The purpose of this Research Project Statement is to initiate a new competition for this project. Proposals are due September ...

The U.S. Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has released its monthly newsletter about the latest transit safety issues. This edition features information about: Upcoming safety trainings and certifications Presentations from a drug and alcohol program national conference Status of voluntary onsite bus safety reviews

The National Transport Commission in Australia has released a report that investigates whether there is a need to increase the mass limits that apply to three-axle buses to accommodate the current number of passengers that such buses may carry. This report addresses project options, industry impact, risks and benefits.

TRB is sponsoring the International Conference on Demand Responsive and Innovative Transportation Services on April 15-17, 2019, in Baltimore, Maryland. The conference will provide a chance to exchange knowledge with international operators; learn from suppliers and academics about advances in information technology, vehicles, and equipment; exchange insights with health care providers regardin...

TRB's Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Research Report 195: Broadening Understanding of the Interplay Among Public Transit, Shared Mobility, and Personal Automobiles explores the effects of app-based transportation network companies on the cities in which they operate, including on public transit ridership, single-occupancy vehicle trips, and traffic congestion. Built upon the findin...

TRB’s Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board has released 15 early access papers addressing public transportation, including: Comparative Structural Evaluation of Transit Travel Demand using Travel Survey and Smart Card Data for Metropolitan Transit Financing ( link ) Bus Capacity Estimation using Stochastic Queuing Models for Isolated Bus Stops in China ( ...

In 2012, Congress gave the U.S. Federal Transit Administration (FTA) the authority to establish a new comprehensive framework to oversee the safety of the country’s public transit systems. As part of that framework, state and local transit agencies are required to engage in safety planning. In the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act of 2015, Congress asked the National Academies of Scie...

The Center for Transportation Studies at the University of Minnesota has released a report that describes the data and methodology used in the Access Across America: Transit 2017 report . Accessibility is the ease of reaching valued destinations, but there are a variety of ways to measure accessibility.

The Center for Transportation Studies at the University of Minnesota has released a report that estimates the accessibility to jobs by transit and walking for each of the United States’ 11 million census blocks. This report presents detailed accessibility values for each metropolitan area, as well as block-level maps that illustrate the spatial patterns of accessibility within each area.

A featured article in the May-June 2018 issue of the TR News examines how deregulation has played out over the intervening 40 years and what this experience means for the future of transportation. The Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 deregulated the railroad, trucking, and intercity bus industries. The TR News is TRB's bimonthly magazine featuring timely articles on innovative and state-of-the-...

TRB’s Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board has released 16 early access papers addressing public transportation, including: Experimental Study for Estimating the Passenger Space at Metro Stations with Platform Edge Doors ( link ) Modeling the Influence of Weather on Transit Ridership: A Case Study from Brisbane, Australia ( link ) Travel Behavior in TODs ...

TRB's Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) has released a pre-publication, non-edited version of Research Report 202: Handbook for Examining the Effects of NEMT Brokerages on Transportation Coordination. The Medicaid program is the largest federal program for human services transportation, spending approximately $3 billion annually on Non-Emergency Medical Transportation (NEMT). The repo...

The Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute at North Dakota State University has released a report that develops a methodological framework for analyzing first mile last mile (FMLM) challenges. FMLM, the accessibility of the first leg to transit and the last leg from public transit, can be a critical barrier to public transit accessibility. This report determines causes of poor FMLM accessi...

Maximize the visibility of your organization with a patron, sponsorship, presentation, or advertising opportunity at the TRB Annual Meeting, January 13-17, 2019, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, in Washington, D.C. With promotional opportunities at all levels of investment, organizations and companies can leverage the 2019 meeting to reach leaders and professionals looking to fulf...

A featured article in the May-June 2018 issue of the TR News examines how deregulation has affected the airline industry. The author discusses the changes to the airline industry as a result of the Airline Deregulation Act, including business practices, service realignments, and safety features. The TR News is TRB's bimonthly magazine featuring timely articles on innovative and state-of-the-art...