Transit mega projects are unique, expensive, and often funded by a mix of federal grants and state and local funding. Federal agencies have specific legal requirements, including specific legal provisions to include in contracts and intergovernmental agreements, and provide valuable advice for managing and coordinating such projects. The TRB Transit Cooperative Research Program's TCRP Legal Res...

The nation’s 6,800 plus public transportation agencies need to have access to a program that can provide authoritatively researched, specific studies of legal issues and problems having national significance and application to the public transportation industry. Some legal issues and problems are unique to transit agencies. The TRB Transit Cooperative Research Program's TCRP Legal Research Dige...

Compliance with transit-equipment and operations guidelines, FTA financing initiatives, private-sector programs, and labor or environmental standards relating to transit operations are some of the legal issues and problems unique to transit agencies. The TRB Transit Cooperative Research Program's TCRP Legal Research Digest 58: Policing and Public Transportation provides a comprehensive analysis...

In the United States, transit oriented development (TOD) is now recognized as a critical element in the planning, development, and execution of transit projects. Recent legislation has been designed to streamline the approval processes for new transportation projects, focus more on safety, and establish new programs to advance critical freight projects. The TRB Transit Cooperative Research Prog...

Tax Increment Financing (TIF) is a public financing method that some local governments and transportation agencies may use to capture a portion of additional property (or sales) tax revenues that result when public investments cause property values (or total sales revenues) to increase. TIF is an increasingly important source of funds for transportation projects, and it has the potential to be ...

TRB's Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Legal Research Digest 54: Impacts of the Americans with Disabilities Act on Transit Agency Liability explores the types of Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements and legal claims against transit agencies. The ADA has transformed U.S. transit agencies, which now have sophis­ticated programs to address a wide variety of accessibility&n...

TRB's Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Legal Research Digest 53: Legal Considerations in Relationships Between Transit Agencies and Ridesourcing Service Providers explores the efforts made by public transit agencies to provide on-demand services to the public. It also provides transit agencies with legal guidance for considering whether to enter into relationships with ridesourcing s...

TRB's Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Legal Research Digest 52: Legal Implications of Video Surveillance on Transit Systems explores the use of video surveilance systems on buses, trains, and stations. The widespread use of such video surveillance systems has generated numerous legal issues, such as a system’s ability to utilize video to discipline union and non-union employees, saf...

TRB's Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Legal Research Digest 51: Technology Contracting for Transit Projects examines issues that transit attorneys should be aware of when drafting technology contracts. It addresses how provisions differ depending on the nature of the contract, the type of technology being procured, and whether the system is controlled internally or externally by the...

TRB's Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Legal Research Digest 50: Public Transit Emergency Preparedness Against Ebola and Other Infectious Diseases: Legal Issues examines responses to infectious disease epidemics and identifies legal issues that may be confronted by transit agencies. It considers federal and state laws and available court decisions affecting transit agencies’ response...

TRB's Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Legal Research Digest 49: Updated Guide to Buy America Requirements—2015 Supplement examines various statutory and regulatory Buy America requirements that a state or local governmental entity must examine when receiving funds for a public transportation project from one or more USDOT agencies. The purpose of this Legal Research Digest is to upd...

TRB's Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Legal Research Digest (LRD) 48: Legal Issues Concerning Transit Agency Use of Electronic Customer Data explores the advantages, disadvantages, risks, and benefits for transit agencies moving to electronic, cloudbased, and other computerized systems for fare purchases and for communicating with customers. “Smart” fare cards are now commonplace, a...

TRB’s Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Legal Research Digest 47: Legal Issues with Obtaining Insurance for Large Transit Projects identifies and discusses in detail the legal issues confronting transit agencies seeking to obtain insurance for large transit capital projects. The report covers different types of insurance coverage required for large projects and the types of programs a...

The condition of the transportation infrastructure in the United States is an issue of national importance. State departments of transportation and transit agencies face tough choices as they make decisions about how and when to keep their assets safely open to the public. The TRB Transit Cooperative Research Program and National Cooperative Highway Research Program's  TCRP Legal Research ...

TRB’s Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Legal Research Digest 46: How the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and Other Privacy Laws Affect Public Transportation Operations explores whether the privacy and security rules established by HIPAA apply to transit agencies that possess patrons’ health information. The first seven sections of this digest discuss HIPAA...

TRB’s Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Legal Research Digest 45: Transit Public-Private Partnerships: Legal Issues identifies the legal issues associated with negotiating public-private partnership (PPP) agreements for transit projects. The digest explores the rationale for using PPP, innovative contracting and financing approaches offered by PPPs, and transfer of risks from the publ...

TRB’s Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Legal Research Digest 44: Legal Issues in Public Transit Emergency Planning and Operation synthesizes and assesses laws, regulations, and guidance from the transit and homeland security industries as a means to help transit agencies better understand their legal responsibilities with respect to emergency planning and operational issues. One of t...

TRB’s Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Legal Research Digest 43: Contractual Means of Achieving High-level Performance in Transit Contracts explores the use by transit agencies of performance-based provisions in their contracts and identifies legal and other restrictions on an agency’s use of incentives or liquidated damages in its contracts. The report also examines how agencies det...

TRB’s Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Legal Research Digest 42: Transit Agency Intergovernmental Agreements: Common Issues and Solutions explores transit-related issues that have the potential to require intensive and time-consuming negotiations related to the development of intergovernmental agreements (IOMs) and memoranda of understandings (MOUs). The print version of the digest i...

TRB Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Legal Research Digest 41: Transit Labor 13(c) Employee Protection Digest synthesizes the transit 13(c) decisions issued since publication of Selected Studies in Transportation Law (SSTL) Volume 6 , Transit Labor 13(c) Decisions (49 U.S.C. 5333(b)). The digest also includes the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Employee Protection Digest—a digest of d...