scholarly journals Equity-Advancing Practices at Public Transit Agencies in the United States

2021 ◽  
pp. 036119812110168
Author(s):  
Alex Karner ◽  
Kaylyn Levine
Keyword(s):  
Public Engagement ◽  
Public Transportation ◽  
Information Dissemination ◽  
Public Transit ◽  
Primary Source ◽  
The United States ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Regulatory Guidance ◽  
Transportation Equity ◽  
Transit Agencies

Consistent with federal anti-discrimination and environmental justice law and guidance, public transportation agencies must evaluate the extent to which their decisions benefit and burden different people and groups and they must also conduct public engagement during decision-making. Assessing benefits and burdens and facilitating engagement are critically important for achieving transportation equity. In practice, quantitative analyses of plan impacts can be used to highlight and mitigate disparate benefits and burdens, but analyses are often conducted after major decisions have already been made and agencies have substantial flexibility in data collection and analysis. Public engagement can also affect equity-related outcomes, but agencies still rely heavily on public meetings and one-way information dissemination approaches that alienate potential participants. Considering the shortcomings associated with quantitative analysis and traditional public engagement as well as the open-ended nature of existing regulatory guidance, there is a need to understand the broad range of approaches that public transit agencies use to pursue equity-related goals. In this review of practice, we summarize six measures that agencies are using to advance transportation equity. Each measure is described using information gleaned from semi-structured interviews and primary source materials. We also identify challenges and shortcomings inherent in each approach using perspectives from the academic literature. The results will be useful for practitioners seeking equitable public transit systems and desiring to go beyond the standard approaches suggested by federal law and guidance.

Role of Public Transportation in a Natural Disaster State of Emergency Declaration

2019 ◽  
Vol 2673 (5) ◽  
pp. 230-239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jodi Godfrey ◽  
Gennaro Saliceto ◽  
Roberta Yegidis
Keyword(s):  
Public Transportation ◽  
Emergency Preparedness ◽  
Public Transit ◽  
The United States ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Status ◽  
Response And Recovery ◽  
Transit Agencies

Destructive natural disasters such as hurricanes or other extreme weather events challenge many industries, especially the public transit industry. The 2017 hurricane season proved to be tumultuous, with three major hurricanes devastating the United States in less than 2 months. The challenges faced in Florida, in response to Hurricane Irma, precipitated best practices and lessons learned related to monitoring and reporting the status of transportation infrastructure, identifying temporary alternative solutions, and coordinating and communicating with emergency operations centers, state departments of transportation, and individual transit agencies. Sharing the lessons learned from recent firsthand experiences will undoubtedly improve the public transit industry’s emergency preparedness, response, and recovery activities.

Optimizing Public Transit Quality and System Access: The Multiple-Route, Maximal Covering/Shortest-Path Problem

2005 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Changshan Wu ◽  
Alan T Murray
Keyword(s):  
Service Quality ◽  
Shortest Path ◽  
Public Transit ◽  
The United States ◽  
Path Model ◽  
Transit System ◽  
Transit Service ◽  
Maximal Covering ◽  
Transit Ridership ◽  
Transit Agencies

Public transit service is a promising travel mode because of its potential to address urban sustainability. However, current ridership of public transit is very low in most urban regions—particularly those in the United States. Low transit ridership can be attributed to many factors, among which poor service quality is key. Transit service quality may potentially be improved by decreasing the number of service stops, but this would be likely to reduce access coverage. Improving transit service quality while maintaining adequate access coverage is a challenge facing public transit agencies. In this paper we propose a multiple-route, maximal covering/shortest-path model to address the trade-off between public transit service quality and access coverage in an established bus-based transit system. The model is applied to routes in Columbus, Ohio. Results show that it is possible to improve transit service quality by eliminating redundant or underutilized service stops.

scholarly journals The future of emerging technologies in public transit in Greater Toronto Area

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zaiem Haider
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Public Transportation ◽  
Traffic Congestion ◽  
Emerging Technologies ◽  
Public Transit ◽  
Elderly Person ◽  
Advanced Technology ◽  
Greater Toronto Area ◽  
The World ◽  
Transit Agencies

In communities throughout the world, strong and convenient public transportation makes valuable contributions to economic development, increased safety, energy conservation, a cleaner environment, less traffic congestion, and an improved quality of life. Whether it's a disabled person on her way to a doctor appointment, a child on the way to the library, or an elderly person going to buy groceries, rails, buses and vans connect people to their community. While transit serves many purposes, one of the most important of which is to provide critical access and mobility for transit-dependent and lower-income residents country wide, it also reduces the pressure on critical commute corridors by offering a convenient alternative to driving alone. People who are dependent on public transit, the young or the old, the disabled or the low-income, deserve a first-class system. A survey was conducted by City Pulse Toronto (CP 24) and the question they put to the viewers was "Would improved public transit convinces you to give up your car?" The result was amazing that 96% of the people using cars opted for Public transit. In the last decade statistics depict that the cities that have adopted emerging technologies in public transit are reaping the benefits of their increased rider ship by almost three fold. It is disappointing to see that the transit-using trend in Greater Toronto Area (GTA) has decreased in the past five years except in the regions where transit agencies are updating their systems. Throughout the North America and other parts of the world, transit agencies are deploying automatic vehicle location and control fleet management systems, electronic and interactive customer information systems, and contact/contactless fare collection systems to save costs, improve operations and management efficiency and provide better service to customers. In this project an effort is made to depict the extent of adoption of advanced technology in the provision of public transportation service in Greater Toronto Area. The focus is on some of the most innovative or comprehensive implementations, categorized under two types of services/technologies, Automatic Passenger Counting and Electronic Fare Payment. Another objective of this study is to assemble the knowledge on successful applications of advanced technologies, the issues in their implementation, the goals and benefits of Intelligent Transportation System's integration. The study focuses on institutional, operational and technical barriers with the expectation that this will lead to more widespread adoption of ITS systems and techniques.

TCRP A-40 Manual to Improve Rail Transit Safety at Platform/Train Interfaces: Summary of Platform-Train Interface Incidents

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dylan Anderson ◽  
Kate Hunter-Zaworski
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Public Transportation ◽  
The United States ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Rail Transit ◽  
Key Factors ◽  
Cooperative Research ◽  
Safety Studies ◽  
Transit Agencies ◽  
Cooperative Research Program

The overall goal of the project is to develop a manual for the Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) that will allow practitioners to improve safety at rail public transportation platform/train and platform/guideway interfaces. Specific objectives include expanding upon previous safety studies and providing recommendations for mitigation strategies. Key factors that affect safety in relation to the platform-vehicle interface (PTI) have been identified through data collection. For the purpose of this study PTI refers to incidents related to the interface between the train and platform also known as gap incidents. Factors were analyzed to determine appropriate measures that would allow transit agencies to both prevent and minimize consequences of these incidents. This paper focuses primarily on platform vehicle interface incident data that were collected from four large transit operators in the United States.

Coordination of Transit and School Busing in Iowa

2005 ◽  
Vol 1927 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-10
Author(s):  
Dennis Kroeger ◽  
Steve Andrle ◽  
Peter Hallock
Keyword(s):  
Public Transportation ◽  
Public Transit ◽  
State University ◽  
School Transportation ◽  
School Busing ◽  
Transit Services ◽  
Maintenance Systems ◽  
Transit Agencies ◽  
Research And Education ◽  
Transportation Research

The 2003 Iowa General Assembly asked the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) to conduct a study of Iowa public policy on coordination of public transit services and school transportation. The legislature's request, contained in the transportation appropriation bill, required “a report pertaining to the efficiencies that may be gained by the coordination of transit management and maintenance systems in the areas of school transportation, public transit, and other forms of public transportation.” Such efficiencies are described. As requested by the Iowa DOT, the Center for Transportation Research and Education at Iowa State University studied these issues and prepared a report for the Office of Public Transit. A summary of the coordination activities that are taking place in Iowa between the school districts and transit agencies is presented. Furthermore, the levels of coordination and what benefits are derived from coordinating services are discussed. The objectives of the study include the following: to examine the legal basis for such coordination in Iowa; to inventory the types of coordination taking place around the state; and to highlight some of the coordination models, with a discussion of what each party believes are the benefits of the coordination as well as obstacles that have been encountered.

Culture of Progressive Longitudinal Training in the Public Transit Industry

2013 ◽  
Vol 2328 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward Bart ◽  
Amber Reep
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
United States ◽  
Workforce Development ◽  
Public Transportation ◽  
Public Transit ◽  
The United States ◽  
Transportation Industry ◽  
The Public

Professional and workforce development is important to maintaining the safe and reliable operational integrity of the public transportation industry in the United States. This paper discusses a new concept of professional and workforce development called longitudinal training and its benefits, influences, challenges, examples, and culture. Additionally, these factors are directly associated with new advances in technology, educational techniques, paradigms, and strategies for workforce and professional development.

GTFS-Ride: Unifying Standard for Fixed-Route Ridership Data

2019 ◽  
Vol 2673 (12) ◽  
pp. 173-181
Author(s):  
Phillip Carleton ◽  
Sylvan Hoover ◽  
Ben Fields ◽  
Matthew Barnes ◽  
J. David Porter
Keyword(s):  
Public Transit ◽  
The United States ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Digital Data ◽  
Related Data ◽  
Standard Data ◽  
Transit Ridership ◽  
Technological Developments ◽  
Transit Agencies ◽  
Additional Support

The rapid growth in the availability and utility of vast amounts of digital data is arguably one of the most significant technological developments in recent years. In public transit, many agencies utilize modern technologies to collect large amounts of data, whereas smaller agencies with fewer resources and less expertise still use more traditional, manual data collection methods. Regardless of their technological capabilities, transit agencies recognize that some amount of transit data is useful and required. To the best of our knowledge, no standard data description of detailed fixed-route ridership exists today in the United States, forcing transit agencies to develop their own system of collecting, storing, and analyzing ridership and related data. In response to this need, this research aimed at developing one of the first public transit ridership data standards for fixed-route services and to support and promote its adoption and use. The resulting standard, an extension to the General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) data standard, is referred to as GTFS-ride. GTFS-ride is easy to understand, able to accommodate the complexities of larger transit agencies, and capable of establishing a strong connection to the state of a transit network as it existed when the ridership data was collected. The first complete draft of GTFS-ride was released on September 6, 2017. This paper explains the structure of the five files that compose GTFS-ride, introduces additional support elements developed to facilitate its promotion and adoption, and documents the lessons learned from pilot implementations of GTFS-ride at three Oregon public transit agencies.

scholarly journals The future of emerging technologies in public transit in Greater Toronto Area

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zaiem Haider
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Public Transportation ◽  
Traffic Congestion ◽  
Emerging Technologies ◽  
Public Transit ◽  
Elderly Person ◽  
Advanced Technology ◽  
Greater Toronto Area ◽  
The World ◽  
Transit Agencies

In communities throughout the world, strong and convenient public transportation makes valuable contributions to economic development, increased safety, energy conservation, a cleaner environment, less traffic congestion, and an improved quality of life. Whether it's a disabled person on her way to a doctor appointment, a child on the way to the library, or an elderly person going to buy groceries, rails, buses and vans connect people to their community. While transit serves many purposes, one of the most important of which is to provide critical access and mobility for transit-dependent and lower-income residents country wide, it also reduces the pressure on critical commute corridors by offering a convenient alternative to driving alone. People who are dependent on public transit, the young or the old, the disabled or the low-income, deserve a first-class system. A survey was conducted by City Pulse Toronto (CP 24) and the question they put to the viewers was "Would improved public transit convinces you to give up your car?" The result was amazing that 96% of the people using cars opted for Public transit. In the last decade statistics depict that the cities that have adopted emerging technologies in public transit are reaping the benefits of their increased rider ship by almost three fold. It is disappointing to see that the transit-using trend in Greater Toronto Area (GTA) has decreased in the past five years except in the regions where transit agencies are updating their systems. Throughout the North America and other parts of the world, transit agencies are deploying automatic vehicle location and control fleet management systems, electronic and interactive customer information systems, and contact/contactless fare collection systems to save costs, improve operations and management efficiency and provide better service to customers. In this project an effort is made to depict the extent of adoption of advanced technology in the provision of public transportation service in Greater Toronto Area. The focus is on some of the most innovative or comprehensive implementations, categorized under two types of services/technologies, Automatic Passenger Counting and Electronic Fare Payment. Another objective of this study is to assemble the knowledge on successful applications of advanced technologies, the issues in their implementation, the goals and benefits of Intelligent Transportation System's integration. The study focuses on institutional, operational and technical barriers with the expectation that this will lead to more widespread adoption of ITS systems and techniques.

Automobile and Public Transit Use in the United States and Canada: Comparison of Postwar Trends

1996 ◽  
Vol 1521 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-11
Author(s):  
Paul Schimek
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Public Transportation ◽  
Public Transit ◽  
Unit Cost ◽  
The United States ◽  
Gasoline Prices ◽  
Single Family ◽  
Per Capita ◽  
Transit Use ◽  
Automobile Use

Differences in automobile and public transportation use in Canada compared with that in the United States are described. In Canada public transit use is almost twice as high per capita as in the United States. Automobile use is almost 20 percent lower per capita, or about the same as the U.S. level of the 1970s. Gasoline prices, which have been about US$0.13/L (US$0.50/gal) higher in Canada than in the United States since 1984, slowed the growth in Canadian automobile ownership and driving and created a more efficient automobile fleet, resulting by the early 1990s in 40 percent less highway fuel consumption per capita compared with that in the United States. One explanation for the higher level of transit use in Canada is more compact urban densities, as evidenced by the significantly lower share of single-family detached houses. The influx of public subsidies for transit in the 1970s in both countries had different effects: a much larger increase in service in Canada and deeper fare cuts in the United States but similar increases in unit cost of service. Each new transit trip in 1992 beyond the 1970 ridership level cost about four times as much to attract in the United States as it did in Canada.

Telemedicine for Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (TELE-IBD) Clinical Trial: Qualitative Assessment of Participants’ Perceptions of the TELE-IBD Intervention (Preprint)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlene C Quinn ◽  
Sarah Chard ◽  
Erin G Roth ◽  
J. Kevin Eckert ◽  
Katharine M Russman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Trial ◽  
Disease Activity ◽  
Remote Monitoring ◽  
Standard Care ◽  
Disease Process ◽  
The United States ◽  
Qualitative Assessment ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Treatment Groups ◽  
Inflammatory Bowel

BACKGROUND Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), comprising Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, affects 1 to 3 million people in the United States. Telemedicine has shown promise in IBD. The objective of the parent study, TELE-IBD, was to compare disease activity and quality of life (QoL) in a one-year randomized clinical trial of IBD patients receiving telemedicine versus standard care. Treatment groups experienced improvements in disease activity and QoL but there was not significant differences between groups. Study adherence to the text-based intervention was less than the 80% of the targeted goal. OBJECTIVE To understand adherence to remote monitoring, the goal of this qualitative assessment was to obtain TELE-IBD trial participants’ perceptions of the TELE-IBD system, including their recommendations for future TELE-IBD monitoring. METHODS In the parent study, patients attending three tertiary referral centers with worsening IBD symptoms in the previous two years were eligible for randomization to remote monitoring via texts every other week (EOW), weekly (W) or standard care. Participants (n=348) were evenly enrolled in the treatment groups and 259 (74.4%) completed the study. For this study, a purposive sample of adherent (N=15) and non-adherent (N=14) patients was drawn from the TELE-IBD trial population. Adherence was defined as the completion of 80% or more of the W or EOW self-assessments. Semi-structured interviews conducted by phone surveyed 1) the strengths and benefits of TELE-IBD; 2) challenges associated with using TELE-IBD; and 3) how to improve the TELE-IBD intervention. Interviews were recorded, professionally transcribed, and coded based on a priori concepts and emergent themes with the aid of ATLAS.ti qualitative data analysis software. RESULTS Participants' discussions centered on three elements of the intervention: 1) self-assessment questions, 2) action plans, and 3) educational messages. Participants also commented on: text-based platform, depression and adherence, TELE-IBD system in place of office visit, and their recommendations for future TELE-IBD systems. Adherent and non-adherent participants prefer a flexible system that is personalized, including targeted education messages, and they perceive TELE-IBD as effective in facilitating IBD self-management. CONCLUSIONS Participants identified clear benefits to the TELE-IBD system, including obtaining a better understanding of the disease process, monitoring their symptoms, and feeling connected to their health care provider. Participants' perceptions obtained in this qualitative study will assist in improving the TELE-IBD system to be more responsive to patients with IBD. CLINICALTRIAL NCT01692743

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