The research team for Boyd, Caton & Grant and Nusura, Inc. are conducting a free Emergency Planning Workshop Feb. 14-15 in Fargo, ND, co-sponsored by SURTC. This interactive workshop and tabletop exercise will explore industry-leading practices in emergency planning for people with disabilities and access and functional needs, with particular focus on the role of paratransit agencies in emergency response and recovery. Participant feedback will help shape the final form and content of the Paratransit Emergency Preparedness and Operations Handbook. Click here for more information and here to register.
Transit Roundup: House Transportation Bill, TIGER, Veterans Transportation, and State Transportation Facts
Feb 3, 2012
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- The U.S. House of Representatives released its transportation bill earlier this week (Associated Press). The Washington Post lists five transportation fights to watch as the House and Senate bills are being debated.
- The House Ways and Means Committee voted Friday to stop letting gasoline-tax revenue be used for mass-transit projects. Currently, 2.86 cents of the 18.4-cent gasoline tax paid by U.S. motorists is devoted to public transportation. Instead, under the House bill, the gasoline-tax revenue would be used entirely on road and bridge construction, and a one-time transfer of $40 billion from the general fund would be used to fund transit projects (Bloomberg Business Week). The move is opposed by many transportation organizations, including APTA, AASHTO, CTAA, Transportation for America, and others (Daily Yonder).
- Meanwhile, the Senate’s two-year transportation bill cleared the Senate Banking Committee.
- The U.S. DOT has announced a fourth round of funding for the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) Discretionary Grant program. TIGER 2012 will provide $500 million of funding, including $120 million for rural transportation projects (DOT Press Release).
- The DOT announced its intention to offer a second round of Veterans Transportation and Community Living Initiative grants (VTCLI). The anticipated funding amount is $25 million in Section 5309 Bus and Bus Facilities, and a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) is expected to be published in the coming weeks. Visit the VTCLI webpage for more information about the program.
- The Department of Veterans Affairs is seeking comments on a proposed rule that would establish a grant program to help veterans in highly rural areas get transportation to VA medical centers. The proposed program would fund vehicle procurement and operation and allow for the establishment of car pool or ridesharing programs. Read the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for more information and to submit comments.
- The DOT’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) released State Transportation Facts and Figures, an interactive web transportation mapping application that allows customers to find state-by-state transportation data, comparisons and rankings as well as gives them the ability to download state transportation information.
NDSU is partner in U.S. Department of Transportation grant to study transit
Jan 30, 2012
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North Dakota State University is one of four universities that will cooperatively conduct research and provide training and outreach related to public transit under a $3.5 million grant awarded this week by the U.S. Department of Transportation.
NDSU is a partner with the University of Illinois at Chicago and Florida International University in Miami. The University of South Florida in Tampa will lead the effort. The Small Urban & Rural Transit Center, a part of the Upper Great Plains Transportation Research Institute at NDSU, will provide expertise in rural and small urban transportation. NDSU will receive about $500,000 from the grant.
The grant was one of 22 awarded in the University Transportation Centers Program administered by the DOT’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration and was one of two grants specifically targeted to consortiums that will study public transportation.
“NDSU has developed expertise in transit management and coordination, among other areas specifically related to transit providers in rural and small urban areas,” notes Jill Hough, director of the Small Urban & Rural Transit Center. “Our participation in this effort brings added knowledge and awareness to assure that the issues faced by rural and small urban transit providers are addressed.”
Overall, the partnership will focus on the following topic areas:
- Enhancing transit safety
- Developing procedures and approaches to help agencies better care for their fleets and facilities
- Exploring how transit can enhance economic competitiveness of business, regions or communities
- Enhancing the livability of regions or communities through transit
- Improving environmental sustainability of transportation systems and transit operations.
“In each of these areas we will bring a rural or small community focus,” Hough noted. “We will also gain ideas from our partners that may be transferable to the smaller transit providers that we serve. Each of the four partner universities brings unique strengths and accomplishments to this consortium, but by working together we will enhance our overall collective contribution to the transit industry.” Hough said.
SURTC to Participate at TRB
Jan 19, 2012
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SURTC will be active in the upcoming Transportation Research Board’s 91st Annual Meeting, January 22-26 in Washington, DC. Director Jill Hough will be involved in the Rural and Intercity Bus Public Transportation Committee and the Rural and Intercity Bus Conference Planning Subcommittee, and researcher Jeremy Mattson will be giving three presentations at the conference, as shown here:
Effortless Passenger Identification System to be Studied
Jan 13, 2012
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A new SURTC study will evaluate the use of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology to track transit passengers. The technology is referred to as the Effortless Passenger Identification System (EPIS).
The RFID tags used by EPIS can be read at longer distances than the contactless or proximity cards currently used in the industry. This characteristic allows passengers to be identified and counted as they board and alight vehicles without requiring them to physically present their card within a short distance of an on-vehicle reader. Use of the technology, which has already found a market in pupil transportation, will improve the accuracy of ridership data collection while making it easier and less time consuming for riders to pay the fare. Many transit agencies, applications, and rider segments are expected to benefit from deployment of EPIS.
The technical feasibility of the system will be tested in Southern California and North Dakota where EPIS will be evaluated under real-world and controlled conditions for different transit rider segments. A full-scale field test will be conducted with university students. Controlled testing will be done to investigate EPIS effectiveness when used by different transit rider segments. The economic feasibility of EPIS will also be evaluated by conducting a thorough cost-benefit analysis for various agency and ridership scenarios.
For more details, contact Del Peterson at del.peterson@ndsu.edu.
SURTC Winter Newsletter Published
Jan 6, 2012
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The Winter 2012 issue of the Transit Lane Brief has been published and is available online. This issue features articles on a new advanced transit management course being developed by SURTC, coordination pilot projects in North Dakota recently launched by SURTC, a new study on effortless passenger identification systems, a completed study on the importance of vehicle supplier attributes, a recently completed workshop on diversity, and an upcoming SURTC webinar on tribal transit funding. The current and previous issues can be downloaded from the SURTC website.
Student Paper Competition Announced
Dec 13, 2011
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Graduate and undergraduate students have the opportunity to enter a paper competition for an upcoming conference. The 20th National Conference on Rural Public and Intercity Bus Transportation is scheduled to take place in October 2012 in Salt Lake City, Utah. To encourage student participation in the conference, undergraduate students are offered the opportunity to participate in an essay competition and graduate students have the opportunity to take part in a research paper competition.
Two essay winners will receive cash prizes as well as travel funds to attend the conference.
Essay Winners: 1st place $500 and 2nd place is $250
Two winning student research papers will be awarded and the authors will receive cash prizes and travel funds to attend the conference.
Research Paper Winners: 1st place $1,000 and 2nd place is $500
More details are available on the conference website.
Coordination Pilot Projects Proceed in North Dakota
Dec 8, 2011
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In early October, the North Dakota Department of Transportation gave SURTC the go-ahead to proceed with a 15-month project aimed at implementing coordination-related recommendations in two North Dakota pilot regions. The project’s task list centers around recommendations developed by SURTC in response to a mandate enacted during North Dakota’s 2009 legislative session. See the project web page for more details. Tasks include the provision of responsive transit services within individual communities and counties, increasing coordination among the regions’ transit service providers, increasing public awareness regarding the availability of local transit services, and promoting overall operator effectiveness and efficiency. Jon Mielke will serve as the regional coordinator for the 7-county west central region, and Keven Anderson will serve as the coordinator for the 12-county south central region. The project’s final work product will be a corresponding report for the 2013 Legislature. Contact Jon Mielke at Jon.Mielke@ndsu.edu or Keven Anderson at keven.anderson@ndsu.edu for more information.
Transit Roundup
Dec 2, 2011
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- A new Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Report, TCRP Synthesis 94: Innovative Rural Transit Services, highlights rural public and intercity bus service responses to changing rural community transportation needs, with an emphasis on innovative and entrepreneurial spirit.
- A new report from the Transportation Research Board’s Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis (IDEA) Program, Transit IDEA Project 58: Google Transit Data Tool for Small Transit Agencies, describes the development of a tool that enables small transit agencies to enter, export, and host the transit data needed to put their transit information on Google Transit.
- The U.S. DOT awarded $15 million in grants through the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) Tribal Transit Program. The funds will go to tribes in 25 states for 67 separate projects. (FTA Press Release)
SURTC Fall Newsletter Available Online
Dec 1, 2011
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The Fall 2011 issue of the Transit Lane Brief has been published and is available online. This issue features articles on a new tribal transit management course developed by SURTC and a recently completed tribal transit assessment study, as well as updates on other projects and recent staff changes. The current and previous issues can be downloaded from the SURTC website.
