Title

Abstract

National Center for Transit Research

Center for Urban Transportation Research

Jay A. Goodwill and Holly Carapella

July 2008

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As communities continue to move toward providing a wide range of public transportation services—often referred to as the “family of services”—one common concern is the rising costs of providing services, specifically those falling under the paratransit umbrella. Although paratransit services are usually the most efficient way to provide specialized needs or life sustaining service for the most difficult to coordinate. Cities, counties, states, and other transportation agencies that provide or purchase paratransit services are continually pursuing methods to contain, control or reduce paratransit costs.

The purpose of this project was to define types of paratransit services and their characteristics, document major paratransit expense factors and their trends, and identify and document best practices in paratransit cost containment.

1993 Statistical Summaries:  Grant Assistance Program

Tucci, Jo, Federal Transit Administration; 1994

Call Number: HQ1600.EF-Pub 194

1993 'Statistical Summaries' presents analyzed data on the distribution and use of various program funds administered by FTA.  The programs discussed are the principal source of Federal financial aid to urban and non-urban areas for mass transportation. The data compiled from the capital, operating and the planning assistance grants awarded to transit authorities, States and other units of local governments.

Comprehensive Financial Management Guidelines For Rural and Small Urban Public Transportation Providers

Burkhardt, Jon; Hamby, Beth, & MacDorman, Littleton North Carolina DOT; 1992

Call Number: HQ1600.EF-Pub 1992

Financial management is more than maintaining ledgers and financial statements; it is a heads up, eyes open approach to controlling all the financial and non-financial resources of the organization to achieve that organization's goals.

Turnkey Procurement Opportunities and Issues

Luglio, Jr. Thomas and Parker, Jeffrey; 1992

Call Number: HQ1600.EF-Pub 1992

This report discusses several innovative procurement methods which involve greater private sector participation in the planning, engineering, construction, operation and financing of mass transit fixed guideway systems.  These methods are designed to contain the cost and risk factors of such projects, by sharing the responsibilities for these factors between public and private interests.

Region IV Technical Training Workshops in Transportation: Financing the 1990's Selected Presentations

Walther, Erskine and Alexander, Lee; 1993

Call Number: HQ1600.EF-Pub 1993

These workshops offered sixteen individual workshops and five group sessions dealing with a variety of topics related to generating funding, operating efficiencies and cost savings for rural and small urban providers of fixed route and specialized transit services.

1993 Florida Occupational Wage Survey Service Delivery Area 22

Division of Labor, Employment and Security; 1994

Call Number: HQ1600.EF-Pub 1994

This biennial wage survey report provides information on selected occupational wages in the State of Florida and the service delivery area (SDA). The information in this publication was produced from a statewide occupational wage survey conducted by the Bureau of Labor Market Information between Jun 1, and October 15, 1993. Four industry questionnaires were designed to obtain information for 177 occupations.

Implementation Experience with Deep Discount Fares

Oram, Richard; 1994

Call Number: HQ1600.EF-Pub 1994

This report reviews the experiences of transit agencies across the country with Deep Discount fares, a new public transit pricing strategy, between 1988 and 1993. Based on new market research findings, Deep Discounting has shown that it is possible to raise transit ridership and revenue simultaneously with a combination of higher cash fares and deeply discounted tickets or tokens.

Financial Management Workshops for Rural and Small Urban Public Transit Systems

US Dept of Transportation; 1994

Call Number:  HQ1600.EF-Pub 1994

Workshop topics: Financial Management; Strategic Planning; The Accounting system; Revenue Management; Cost Management and Cost Allocation; The Budgeting Process; Financial and Performance Evaluation; Cash Management

Access Ohio:  Public Transportation Funding Study

CGA Consulting Services, Inc; 1995

Call Number: HQ1600.EF-Pub 1995

The purpose of this study is to evaluate optional state-wide transit funding mechanisms which appear to be both successful and feasible for possible use in Ohio to provide a permanent dedicated annual source of transit funding.

TCRP Report 20: Measuring and Valuing Transit Benefits and Disbenefits Cambridge Systematics Inc; 1996

Call Number: HQ1600.EF-Pub 1996

This research is intended for transportation professionals and policy makers responsible for transit-investment decisions. The project was carried out in two phases. The first phase involved a comprehensive review of current practices and procedures used to measure and value transit benefits and disbenefits. From this review, researchers and the project panel that directed the study identified 10 specific areas in which improved analysis techniques would be most useful to analysts and decision makers.

Building Mobility Partnerships: Opportunities for Federal Funding

Community Transportation Assistance Project; 1996

Call Number: HQ1600.EF-Pub 1996

 This guide is designed to help you identify community transportation funding resources across all federal departments and agencies.  This guide is divided into two parts. The first part is a matrix of basic information about the programs selected for this guide. The second part is a brief description of these federal programs. The descriptions include a contact person for each program, together with their address and phone number.

Dollars and Sense: The Economic Case for Public Transportation

Camph, Donald H; 1997

Call Number: HQ1600.EF-Pub 1997

Three major findings: While transit is clearly a boon to the people who use it, even larger benefits accrue to motorists, businesses, and society in general. Given flexibility in how they develop their transportation, investment strategies, more and more areas - central cities, suburbs, and smaller towns and villages - are choosing to make public transit an essential component of their strategic transportation investment portfolio.

TCRP Synthesis 32: Transit Advertising Revenue:  Traditional and New Sources and Structures

Silverberg, Beverly R; 1998

Call Number: HQ1600.EF-Pub 1998

 A vast storehouse of information exists on many subjects of concern to the transit industry.  This information has resulted from research and from the successful application of solutions to problems by individuals or organizations.  There is a continuing need to provide a systematic means for compiling this information and making it available to the entire transit community in a usable format.

TCRP Report 51:  A Guidebook for Marketing Transit Services to Business

Multisystems, Inc; 1999

Call Number: HQ1600.EF-Pub 1999

This report provides information on successful business-to-business marketing techniques with application to transit.  The Guidebook provides motivation for doing business-to-business marketing, lessons from the private sector as well as the transit industry, guidance on how to implement a business-to-business marketing program, tools and techniques for business-to-business marketing, and evaluation measures.  The report should be useful to transit planners, managers, marketing professionals, and others interested in the use of marketing strategies to build ridership.

Community Transportation Resource Guide

Community Transportation Association of America; 2000

Call Number: HQ1600.EF-Pub 2000

The resource guide includes state-by state funding levels for job access and, reverse commute, community service block grants and welfare-to-work formula grants. This guide was designed to be your one-stop community transportation funding information.

TCRP Synthesis 42:  Use of Flexible Funds for Transit Under ISTEA and TEA-21

Stanley, Robert G; 2002

Call Number: HQ1600.EF-Pub 2002

This synthesis will be of interest to transit agency professionals and the consultants who work with them in dealing with flexible funding opportunities.  The purpose is to provide greater familiarity with emerging techniques in the use of flexible funding, and to point out issues that may need further attention.  It is intended to provide a review of how current flexible funding provisions are being used to support transit investment and to examine, through a limited number of specific experiences, lessons that may have the broadest relevance throughout the transit industry.  The scope of the synthesis includes references to summary FTA data from FY 1992-2000, spanning the entire life of the ISTEA legislation and the first 3 years of TEA-21.

Building Mobility Partnerships for People with Disabilities: Opportunities for Federal funding and Promising Practices

Easter Seals Project Action; 2002

Call Number: HQ1600.EF-Pub 2002

This resource is based on CTAA's established funding guide, 'Building Mobility Partnerships: Opportunities for Federal Funding' and offers supplementary information gathered by Easter Seals Project ACTION about additional programs that specifically target and provided for increased mobility for people with disabilities and senior citizens.