Transit agencies are beginning to harness the value of external data, but challenges remain. The TRB Transit Cooperative Research Program's pre-publication draft of TCRP Research Report 213: Data Sharing Guidance for Public Transit Agencies – Now and in the Future is designed to help agencies make decisions about sharing their data, including how to evaluate benefits, costs, and risks. Many tra...

In the current U.S. climate of on-demand transportation services, the development of transactional data specifications for demand-responsive transportation (DRT)—sometimes referred to as “on-demand services”—will help facilitate interaction between software systems that manage DRT services in the United States. The TRB Transit Cooperative Research Program's TCRP Research Report 210: Development...

Transit ridership across the United States has declined for six straight years. Bus ridership, which has declined more than other transit services, is now at the lowest point since 1965. Rail ridership, with the exception of commuter rail, has also declined, and commuter rail ridership has recently leveled off. The TRB Transit Cooperative Research Program's TCRP Research Report 209: Analysis of...

Transit-priority projects seek to improve transit service quality and mobility and to increase transit ridership. The TRB Transit Cooperative Research Program's TCRP Research Report 208: Strategic Communications to Improve Support for Transit-Priority Projects: Report and Toolkit presents and analyzes the communication approaches used by cities and transit agencies in the delivery of transit-pr...

As transit agencies, local governments, and citizens look for ways to improve existing, and start new, transit service, many of them are turning to the Quick-Build (Tactical Urbanism) methodology. This approach uses inexpensive, temporary materials and short-term tactics as a way of implementing projects in the short-term, while longer-term planning takes place. The TRB Transit Cooperative...

Transit state of good repair (SGR) is a critical area within the U.S. transit industry. All transit agencies, large or small, regardless of region of the country or modes operated, face challenges in maintaining their physical assets in good repair, and many are in a situation where the funds available for rehabilitating and replacing existing capital assets are insufficient for achieving SGR. ...

A sustainable transit agency provides environmental, social, and economic benefits to the communities it serves. Transit agency efforts to quantify these benefits have focused primarily on environmental sustainability. The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) has developed guidance for transit agencies on how to use performance measures to quantify transit’s impact on environmenta...

Public transit agencies are increasingly partnering with mobility service providers. Among these providers are transportation network companies (TNCs), which include companies like Uber and Lyft and are the specific focus of this research effort. The transit industry has produced research to describe primary considerations transit agencies should have in mind for partnerships with TNCs, but exi...

Medical literature has identified transportation as a factor in missed and shortened dialysis treatments, which leads to negative health outcomes. These adverse outcomes include, among others, increased hospitalizations because patients do not receive their scheduled treatments. For public transportation agencies, dialysis transportation has become a critical concern as increasing numbers of in...

TRB's Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Research Report 202: Handbook for Examining the Effects of Non-Emergency Medical Transportation Brokerages on Transportation Coordination provides background information and describes the different models available to states for providing non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) for Medicaid beneficiaries. The handbook also discusses why huma...

TRB's Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Research Report 201: Understanding Changes in Demographics, Preferences, and Markets for Public Transportation explores how changes in demographics, traveler preferences, and markets for public transportation affect transit ridership in the present and the future. The report explores how an individual’s demographics affect their long-term values...

TRB's Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Research Report 200: Contracting Commuter Rail Services, Volume 2: Commuter Rail System Profiles describes the 31 commuter rail services in North America and the various delivery approaches, and documents a broad range of strategies and approaches for managing the operation and maintenance issues associated with the contracting of commuter rail ...

TRB's Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Research Report 200: Contracting Commuter Rail Services, Volume 1: Guidebook is the first of a two-volume set that provides an evaluation of the advantages and disadvantages of each potential approach for providing commuter rail service. The guidebook includes an overview of the primary functions for commuter rail delivery—train operations, disp...

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) 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 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...

TRB's Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Research Report 197: Tools for a Sustainable Transit Agency explores the development of practical tools for improving sustainability at transit agencies: The Sustainability Routemap: An interactive PDF, similar to a website, that guides the user to improve a transit agency’s sustainability program through application of change management princip...

TRB's Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Research Report 196: Private Transit: Existing Services and Emerging Directions provides information about private transit services and ways they are addressing transportation needs in a variety of operating environments. The document contains an overview and taxonomy of private transit services in the United States, a review of their present sc...

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 Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Research Report 194: Knowledge Management Resource to Support Strategic Workforce Development for Transit Agencies explores the importance of knowledge management (KM), which is an organization’s process for collecting, storing, and sharing organizational information and knowledge, and provides guidance on implementing KM strategies in transit a...