The decision to use public transit
as a means of alternative transportation is a somewhat complex process.
The potential rider must know that a public transportation system is
available, how to contact the public transportation system for information
on how to use the system for each desired trip, where to go to catch a
bus, how to recognize bus stops, which side of the street to stand on to
catch a bus going to his destination, how to make transfers, the fare and
fare media accepted for each trip, as well as how to read and understand
bus system maps and schedules. If the individual must wait for a bus, the
final decision to ride may also be impacted by the safety and comfort of
the bus stop environment. The on-board experience, which includes
passenger comfort and driver courtesy and assistance, will also be
important to the rider's overall impression and opinion of public transit.
Problems encountered in any of the transit experience elements described
above can result in a decision to find alternative means of transport.
Many barriers encountered in the transit experience may be rectified by
transit agencies with relatively little expense. This project will seek to
identify issues or problems encountered by existing and potential transit
users in the overall transit experience that become barriers to using
transit. The project will focus only on those barriers which may be
overcome with a feasible level of effort and investment of resources.
Finally, summary recommendations and a proposed implementation plan will
be developed to facilitate the elimination of barriers to transit use
throughout Florida. (full description of this project) (return to top of this page)
The recently completed FDOT Research Ideas project on System
Safety Plans and Accident Tracking Analysis recommended that all Florida
transit systems begin collecting a core set of accident characteristics to be
monitored and analyzed on a state-wide basis. The accident data will be used
to assess the effectiveness of specific training programs and actions (i.e.
installation of reflective striping, third taillights, re-training programs,
etc.) at each property. This information will be shared state-wide on a
continuing basis. (full description of this project) (return to top of this page)
Traffic congestion has become a severe problem in
Florida's
urban areas. The inability to construct new capacity fast enough to keep
up with the demand, the increasing costs associated with adding that
capacity, and the political and environmental controversy often
associated with building new roads compound the mobility dilemma
requiring different approaches to mobility. Now, more than ever,
alternative solutions to mobility must be developed and supported to
succeed.
The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), in an effort to
provide flexibility to urbanized areas to identify and implement
congestion and mobility management techniques, developed the Transit
Corridor Program. The Transit Corridor Program provides funding to
urbanized areas for projects designed to relieve congestion and
improve capacity, within a designated transportation corridor, by
increasing the capacity of the corridor through the use and
facilitated movement of high occupancy conveyances.
In the process of developing and implementing the program, the FDOT
established a procedure for administering the Transit Corridor Program
that specifically identifies the requirements of the program and the
responsibilities given to the FDOT Central Office, each of the
district offices, as well as the recipients of the program. Since the
inception of the program, there has been no consolidated,
comprehensive review of the program, nor the individual projects
selected for funding. In addition, there has not been a single source
of information developed that identifies successful corridor programs
or projects and the lessons learned through the implementation of
those projects.
Each project selected for corridor funding must have clearly
defined goals and objectives. Milestones must be established by which
progress toward the goals and objectives can be measured. The goals,
objectives, and milestones are defined by the grantee and must be
consistent with local, regional and state plans. After an initial two
year period, projects consistently meeting milestones can be
reauthorized. Written progress reports are required of the grantee as
well as a final report that includes, at a minimum, a description of
the project=s history, a
summary of its successes, any problems encountered, and
recommendations for future implementation. A thorough review of these
items should assist in determining the overall success of the program.
(full description of this project) (return to top of this page)
The
purpose of this study is to document and evaluate the LYNX LYMMO service
as one of the newest applications of BRT in the U.S.
The results of this study will not only benefit Central Florida and
LYNX in identifying the current strengths, weaknesses, and potential areas
of improvement for the system, it will also provide a model for the FTA
and local communities to use when evaluating similar proposed projects.
Once the technical documentation and objective evaluations have
been conducted, LYNX will produce communications materials that will be
available to highlight the components of this BRT application for the
transit industry. (full description of this project)
(return to top of this page)
The Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century
(TEA-21) maintains the integrity of the Federal Transit Administration's
programs. However, there have been program changes directly related to
TEA-21 as well as changes made through the reauthorization process.
The FTA has now completed the process of updating the various
circulars that provide specific guidance to grant applicants for
capital, operating, and planning assistance under Chapter 53 of Title
49 U.S.C. They have also issued revised guidance on topics such as
Third Party Contracting and Procurement.
Training is a necessary ingredient in a changing environment. In
the past, the FTA provided regional training sessions on a regular
basis, providing a forum for technical assistance and training.
However, these sessions are now being offered on a very limited basis.
Meanwhile there exists a genuine need for transit agencies to be able
to access this training and technical assistance.
The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) has identified the
need to regularly provide public transit information, resources, and
training to transportation professionals throughout the state. The
FDOT has recognized that Florida's
public transit agencies provide an invaluable service to the residents
and visitors of this state. It is also recognized that many of these
systems are limited in their ability to assign staff members to stay
abreast of new and ever-changing transportation programs. In order to
address an identified need for training, CUTR is recommending the
establishment of a "Transit
Training Program" to provide
statewide training on critical transit program issues. When utilizing
this program, transit professional will have access to the latest
information within these subject areas that will assist them in
developing, improving and/or expanding public transit services within
their communities. (full description of this project)
(return to top of this page)
Safety of operators and
passengers is a primary concern of transit systems, and has become an
increasingly important issue to transit bus operators. Many transit
agencies have experienced incidents of assaults against their bus
operators that have resulted in serious injuries or deaths. These
incidents can also expose passengers to assault and injury. Even when
there are less serious consequences, assaults on operators can lower
their morale, increase absenteeism, and strain labor-management
relations over whether or not the agencies are doing enough to protect
their employees. There is also substantial cost to transit agencies in
terms of lost availability of operators who rightfully go on workers
compensation status. A number of transit agencies use different types
of techniques to minimize the possibilities of assaults against their
bus operators and passengers. Many use either uniformed or
plain-clothes police officers or security guards on particularly
troubling routes. At least one transit agency relies on a version of
AGuardian Angels@ to help maintain safety on buses. Digital cameras
strategically placed inside buses are also being used to help
discourage criminal assaults as well as other unwanted behavior such
as graffiti and unwarranted claims of injuries from passengers (or
alleged passengers). Perhaps the most visible effort to discourage
assaults on operators is the provision of bus operator enclosures that
separate the operators from anyone else on the bus, and protects the
operator from attacks. However, while this method might provide the
most protection to bus operators, it might negatively affect passenger
relations and increase the image of a bus as a place where crime might
be committed. This project intends to survey transit agencies that
have employed these techniques to determine their level of success,
cost effectiveness, and acceptance by both bus operators and
passengers. The project will also try to identify other techniques
transit systems are using to increase the chances of their bus
operators avoiding dangerous situations, such as passenger relations
training to avoid conflict. The effect "full wrap
advertising" has on on-board activity and safety of passengers
will also be explored. The project will be done in synthesis form. (full description of this project)
(return to top of this page)
The FDOT has recognized that
Florida's
public transit agencies provide an invaluable service to the
residents and visitors of this state and has further
recognized the need to regularly provide public transit
information, resources, and technical assistance to these
agencies Many of these systems are limited in their ability to
assign staff members to stay abreast of new and ever-changing
transportation programs. In order to address an identified
need for technical assistance, CUTR is recommending the
establishment of a "Statewide
Transit On-Site Technical Assistance Program"
to provide one-on-one technical assistance and support to
transit professionals on a statewide basis. When utilizing
this program, transit professional will have access to all of
the available resources necessary to develop, improve and
expand public transit services within their communities. (full description of this project) (return to top of this page)
It is difficult to obtain
accurate transit forecast from four-step models, resulting in
unrealistic expectations. Some possible causes include scarce of
transit ridership information, omission of socioeconomic and other
important factors in models, in accurate estimation of transit
walk and auto access. With the aid of GIS technologies, this
project will investigate the feasibility of incorporating more
explanatory variables that have been known to significantly
influence transit ridership in the existing FSUTMS modal split
module to improve the predictive power of the model. (full description of this project)
(return to top of this page)
A narrow-gauge railway is
characterized by the distance between the heads of the parallel rails.
Generally narrow-gauge rail systems have rail distances of either 24 or 30
inches while the standard for light and heavy railroads is 56.5 inches.
Narrow gauge railways have been in existence in the United States since
the early 1800s. Many of Florida's smaller municipalities developed and
maintained these systems in the late 1800s and early 1900s. By the 1920s
many of these systems had gone out of business. Today their use is
generally confined to light-duty people circulators and rides in amusement
parks. Current efforts to create "Transit Greenways" have
stimulated the interest in these less obtrusive, low cost rail systems.
Narrow-gauge rail transit systems are more conducive to pedestrian,
bicyclist and automotive vehicular interaction due to low operating speeds
and "friendly" design scale. (full description of this project)
(return to top of this page)
The August 1999 Florida ITS Strategic Plan calls for the FDOT to
"pro-actively support the development, coordination and
deployment of public transportation ITS technology". During the
development of the ITS Strategic Plan, it became apparent that there
was no comprehensive information at the state level regarding the
location and operability of APTS in Florida. This is because much of
the APTS activity in Florida has been initiated and implemented at the
local level. This study will attempt to provide this missing
information to the FDOT as it becomes more involved in the development
and deployment of APTS throughout Florida. This study will also
provide guidance to transit properties in the formative stages of APTS
investigation. (full description of this project) (return to top of this page)
Securing sufficient revenues to provide
service is one of the fundamental requirements of every transit agency. In
times of tight budgets and great competition for scarce public funds,
transit agencies have learned they must do everything possible to maximize
their own capabilities to realize new revenues or reduce costs (without
losing passengers). Not only does this help each transit agency operate
within their own budget, it also helps promote their image in their
communities as efficient public agencies. The purpose of this project is
to gather and redistribute information on how transit agencies are
generating new revenues or reducing costs without harming the best
interests of their passengers. A report of the same name was produced in
1997 in which over 180 different techniques to make or save money were
identified. The findings were obtained through survey responses from 75
different transit agencies. This project would continue the effort of
finding the more creative and effective techniques being used at transit
agencies that were not surveyed in 1997. The first report developed in
1997 was extremely well received by the transit industry, and continues to
be the subject of presentations at the local, state, and national levels.
The findings from this research are also extremely useful to every transit
agency in the state of Florida when assisting with the development of
Transit Development Plans or when conducting performance reviews upon
their request. (full description of this project) (return to top of this page)
As the transit industry moves ahead into the 21st Century,
four main issues are emerging in maintenance departments: a dramatic
increase in new technologies in the vehicles themselves and the
diagnostics and tools used to repair them; a number of new external
regulations addressing environmental and access issues; an increase in
focus on vehicle safety, and the need to attract new and retain existing
talent in the industry. All of these issues point to a need for increased
focus on training in transit maintenance departments.
To meet this need, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT)
developed the Florida Maintenance Training Program (FMTP). The program
began with a joint participation agreement between the Florida Department
of Transportation the Center for Urban Transportation Research (CUTR), and
set into place a new concept for Florida's
public transportation providers - consortium training. In order to provide
public transit technicians with more current and advanced training, the
FMTP immediately set out to establish ongoing training with both classroom
and hands-on components, a resource center of training programs and
materials, and communication channels among maintenance managers. A set of
specific procedures were developed for determining training needs,
contracting the best possible instructors to teach courses, covering costs
of travel and training participation for technicians, and evaluating both
the quality and usefulness of the training.
Oversight of the FMTP is conducted by an advisory committee composed of
transit maintenance managers, a representative from FDOT, and FMTP staff.
This committee oversees all processes and generally guides the direction
of the training program. In addition, this group often discusses issues
having direct impact on public transportation maintenance departments.
Other activities of the FMTP include publication of a quarterly
newsletter, distributed to maintenance technicians and managers, state
officials, and others interested in maintenance training nationally.
The program also maintains a web site to aid in increasing
communication between transit maintenance professionals, and a list-serve
established for the same purpose. The program resource center at CUTR also
keeps an up to date equipment and inventory list for each of Florida's
public transit maintenance departments, which aids in determining future
training needs.
Although each state and region must address different issues,
obstacles, and players in promoting and developing maintenance training of
this sort, the FMTP can easily be used as a model for building consortium
maintenance training programs nationally and regionally. This project aims
to further awareness of the need for increased focus on maintenance
training, and to provide information sharing and guidance for those states
and regions who are ready to develop a consortium training program suited
to their needs. It will first target the Southeast region and those states
who have previously indicated their interest in the FMTP model, and later
widen its focus to a national audience. This is intended to be a
multi-year program, designed to gradually expand the program's
benefits and outreach efforts to all sections of the country. (full description of this project) (return to top of this page)
The need for a Clearinghouse for transportation demand management (TDM)
and technology applications such as telecommuting was identified at an
invitation-only Congestion Management Conference held in Irvine,
California in June 1997 hosted by the Transportation Research Board and
U.S. Department of Transportation. Numerous breakout groups recommended
the development and dissemination of information, data, standard but
user-friendly methodologies, and technical assistance of multimodal
approaches to congestion problems. In November 1997, the attendees to the
USDOT/TRB International Workshop on Planning Regional Telecommuting
Programs voiced similar needs. Most of the breakout groups asked for case
studies on successful telecommuting programs, a national database on
existing telecommuting programs, and "on demand" experts and
peer-to-peer networks. This project will focus on developing and
disseminating information in a variety of formats to the transportation
community on the issues of TDM and telework. It will also include efforts
to help train transportation professionals to generate new ideas and
evaluate these alternatives in parallel. (full description of this project) (return to top of this page)
The ability of public transportation professionals to review the
marketing and promotional accomplishments of their peers is a valuable
tool in bettering the overall efficacy of their services. Such an
exchange helps to curtail much of the cost and labor that routinely
accompany the development and execution of marketing and promotional
activities. Unfortunately,
without a central information clearinghouse to which public
transportation marketers and communications experts can refer and
contribute, these efforts can go unnoticed and untried in other markets.
The formation of the National Urban Transit Institute (NUTI)
Promotional Materials Clearinghouse in 1996 addressed this problem by
establishing an information relay system through which public
transportation marketers share actual work examples, review available
literature on marketing, and tap into the experiential knowledge of
their peers. The
Clearinghouse collects promotional materials from public transportation
systems and TDM programs nationwide and provides the framework necessary
to facilitate exchange of these materials, primarily through a site on
the World Wide Web (WWW). This project will build on the success of the
NUTI Clearinghouse and expand and enhance those efforts.
During the operation of the NUTI Clearinghouse over eighty public
transportation systems have contributed materials to the project and new
materials are received on a continuing basis. In addition to garnering
the support of public transportation systems and TDM programs, the
Clearinghouse has enlisted the advocacy of organizations such as the
American Public Transit Association (APTA), the Association for Commuter
Transportation (ACT), and the U.S. EPA's Mobile Source Unit.
These organizations, like the transportation professionals they
represent and support, have noted the fundamental value in the goals and
objectives of this project which:
(full description of this project) (return to top of this page)
Update of FDOT "State Park & Ride
Lot Program Planning Manual"
The FDOT Central Office has
established by procedure 725-030-002-e criteria applicable to the
planning, implementation, promotion, maintenance and monitoring of park
and ride facilities by the Department. These criteria are contained in the
State Park and Ride Lot Planning Manual first published in 1989 and
revised in 1996. The purpose of this project is to examine, test, and
update as necessary planning formulas related to site selection, demand
estimation, facility size estimation, and economic analysis and project
justification. In addition, examples will be developed and included in the
document to show users how to work their way through the formulas.
(full description of this project) (return to top of this page)
Customer satisfaction studies have been proven to be an essential
tool in trying to optimize service provided to users of the system.
The data obtained from such studies should also prove useful in
publicizing the performance of participating transit systems in a
manner that is easily understood by members of the general public.
Customer satisfaction studies serve several different purposes. A
well designed study can provide comparative data to assess progress in
otherwise non-quantifiable areas (e.g., the happiness of riders as
opposed to the sheer number of riders, which is tracked by other
methods), identify those components of service that do and do not meet
minimum levels of customer satisfaction, identify those components of
service for which significant improvements would have the highest
probability of increasing overall customer satisfaction, as well as
providing profiles of satisfied and dissatisfied customers.
Multi-site, multi-unit, or multi-organizational customer
satisfaction studies serve the additional purpose of providing
comparable customer satisfaction data across different organizations,
in addition to providing accomplishments with respect to benchmarks
and with respect to prior time periods. These studies can be used
conversely to profile and compare customers of different agencies, and
to show how different their needs and attitudes are, and how agencies
must therefore respond differently to what may on the surface appear
to be similar problems.
The findings from this project will allow Florida transit agencies
to assess their performance relative to other local agencies, and will
also give the FDOT Public Transit Office valuable information about
the relative performance of each local transit authority. Smaller
transit authorities will also benefit by being able to assess their
performance by participating in a study that they might not have been
able to afford on their own. All transit systems in Florida could
benefit from the analysis of satisfaction data, even those that do not
participate in the survey.
Also, as recommendations from the satisfaction studies are
implemented, there should be noticeable improvements in operating
statistics, including total ridership, total revenue, and revenue per
passenger mile statistics.
Several systems have indicated interest in participating in this
effort through their ongoing Transit Development Plan (TDP)
activities. These systems include Votran, Key West, TALTRAN, and
PalmTran. (full description of this project) (return to top of this page)
813.974.5168 fax