Research Report – Implementing Transit Coordination in North Dakota Pilot Regions

A new report published by SURTC details efforts to facilitate further regional transit coordination in North Dakota. The study, titled, Implementing Transit Coordination in North Dakota Pilot Regions, was commissioned by the ND Department of Transportation as a result of legislative action mandating coordination pilot projects in two regions.

NDDOT previously contracted with SURTC to study various coordination options and to develop corresponding recommendations. The resulting report was completed in December 2010. NDDOT then executed a second contract with SURTC to pursue implementation of recommendations contained in the prior report. The project’s work plan included 17 tasks that focused on increased local input regarding existing and evolving mobility needs, increased coordination among the regions’ operators, more uniform operating standards and policies, and short- and long-term budgets for continued and expanded coordination.

This report summarizes implementation efforts underway by NDDOT, including contracts with outside agencies that resulted in the hiring of a regional coordinator for each of the pilot regions. The report presented related budgets and corresponding funding options for a three-year period. Funding options included the use of Job Access Reverse Commute and New Freedom funding and the use of non-urbanized Section 5311 administrative funds.

With regard to statewide implementation, phased statewide coverage could be attained in 3-5 years and might include one coordinator for the Fargo-Moorhead urban area and up to four coordinators for the remainder of the state. The eventual number of coordinators would be determined based on workloads identified during the implementation process. North Dakota currently has four coordinators – one in the Fargo-Moorhead urban area, one in the northeast region of the state, and one in each of the two pilot regions.

Also as part of the project, SURTC created websites for local operators, upgraded the transit portion of NDDOT’s website, developed uniform policies, engaged in efforts to standardized fares, and analyzed rural routes in an attempt to reduce duplication and increase mobility options.

The study was conducted by Jon Mielke, Keven Anderson, and Carol Wright. For more details, contact Jon Mielke at jon.mielke@ndsu.edu. The full report  and the previous study are available at the following links:

• Implementing Transit Coordination in North Dakota – Pilot Regions (December 2012)
• Public Transit Regional Coordination Pilot Projects in North Dakota (December 2010)

Research Report – Travel Behavior and Mobility of Transportation-Disadvantaged Populations: Evidence from the National Household Travel Survey

A new report published by SURTC examines travel behavior and mobility of older adults, people with disabilities, individuals from low-income households, and rural residents by analyzing data from the National Household Travel Survey (NHTS). NHTS is a nation-wide survey last conducted in 2009.

The study, conducted by researcher Jeremy Mattson, highlights data on driving, trip frequency, staying in the same place all day or week, miles driven per year, mode choice, use of public transportation, trip purpose, trip distance, and issues and concerns regarding transportation. Changes over the last decade were also examined to identify trends in travel behavior.

Findings show how use of transit increases the number of trips taken and provides rides to individuals who would otherwise not make the trip. The study also shows the differences in mobility between different population groups. Half of those 85 or older were found to have a disability or medical condition affecting their ability to travel, and for many of them, it results in reduced day-to-day travel. A strong desire to get out more often was found by those not making a trip within the last week, which shows the importance of mobility on quality of life. People with disabilities or medical conditions were shown to make significantly fewer trips than others, while expressing a desire to get out more often.

Trends from 2001 to 2009 show increased use of transit. Older women are driving more and making more trips than they were a decade ago, slowly closing the gap between older men and women. These trends may continue as the active baby boom generation retires and expects to maintain their mobility.

For more information about the study, contact Jeremy Mattson at jeremy.w.mattson@ndsu.edu. The full report can be downloaded at the following link: Travel Behavior and Mobility of Transportation-Disadvantaged Populations: Evidence from the National Household Travel Survey.

Mattson had previously presented findings from this study at the International Conference on Aging, Mobility and Quality of Life. That presentation is also available on the SURTC website.

Journal of Public Transportation Special Edition: Rural and Intercity Bus

SURTC director Jill Hough  was guest editor of the latest issue of the Journal of Public Transportation – a special edition focusing on rural and intercity bus. The Journal of Public Transportation is published by the National Center for Transit Research at the University of South Florida. This issue commemorated the 20th National Conference for Rural Public & Intercity Bus Transportation. It also celebrated the partnership between the University of South Florida and North Dakota State University as one of the University Transportation Centers focusing on public transportation in the United States. Included in this edition is an article by SURTC researcher Jeremy Mattson on the use of alternative fuels and hybrid vehicles by small urban and rural transit systems. The articles in this special edition can be viewed at the following link: Journal of Public Transportation – Vol. 15, No. 3 (2012)

SURTC Fall 2012 Newsletter

The Fall 2012 issue of the Transit Lane Brief has been published and is available online. This issue has articles on three new research projects that are underway, two reports that were recently published, and SURTC's numerous ongoing training activities. The current and previous issues can be downloaded from the SURTC website.

Report Published: North Dakota State University Student Transit Survey, 2010-2011

A new report published by SURTC details the findings from surveys conducted of North Dakota State University (NDSU) students during the fall and spring semesters of 2010-2011. Students were surveyed regarding their travel behavior and experience with Metro Area Transit (MATBUS).

An onboard survey of MATBUS riders on two NDSU campus routes was conducted in late 2010, and an online survey of NDSU students was conducted in the spring of 2011. The onboard survey was conducted both by paper and with the use of smartphones. Responses were received from 120 individuals, mostly NDSU students, for the onboard survey, while the online survey received 858 responses, including responses from both transit users and non-users.

The surveys collected information on student access to vehicles, transportation modes used to travel to campus, factors influencing mode choice, use of transit services, opinions on MATBUS service, thoughts on how to improve service, opinions on marketing efforts and preferred methods of accessing information, interest in wireless Internet access onboard, willingness to pay for transit services, and issues concerning parking.

The publication can be downloaded at the following link: North Dakota State University Student Transit Survey, 2010-2011. Questions related to the research should be directed to Jeremy Mattson (jeremy.w.mattson@ndsu.edu).

Report Published: Organizing Transit in Small Urban and Rural Communities

A new SURTC study conducted by David Ripplinger provides information and a decision-making framework for designing and administering rural transit policies given limited public resources. Using data from transit agencies in rural North Dakota, Ripplinger estimated the benefits of different service alternatives, evaluated the justification of government subsidy of rural transit on the basis of its cost structure, and investigated the most efficient regional organization of transit.

The study investigated whether it would be more cost efficient for a single existing agency to expand service and provide both fixed-route and demand-response service or if it would be more efficient to have multiple operators in an area providing service. If service is to be increased within the service area of an existing transit agency, the study found it is more efficient for the existing agency to provide that service than to create a new agency to do so. If new service is to be added outside the service area of an existing agency, the more efficient option is influenced by the size of the existing agency. It was found to be more efficient for small transit operators to increase service into a new area than for a second agency to do so, but for larger regional systems, the study found it may be more efficient for a second agency to provide the new service. The study also found it is more efficient for small transit systems to provide both fixed-route and demand-response service than to have two different agencies specializing in each. However, for larger regional systems, the results differ, and it may be more efficient to have providers specialize in one mode. In many cases, a single transit agency operating as a monopoly was found to provide service at a lower cost than two transit agencies would, but this was not always the case.

The findings and implications are directly applicable to rural transit in North Dakota and should be helpful in informing future federal policy as well as rural transit policy, service design, and operation in other states.

The publication can be downloaded at the following link: Organizing Transit in Small Urban and Rural Communities. The study was sponsored by the University Transportation Centers Program of the U.S. Department of Transportation. Questions related to the research should be directed to David Ripplinger, who can be reached at david.ripplinger@ndsu.edu

SURTC Summer 2012 Newsletter

The Summer 2012 issue of the Transit Lane Brief has been published and is available online. This issue features an article on the American Public Transportation Association’s Public Transportation and Universities Conference held June 16-19 in Fargo, which was co-hosted by SURTC. The debut of SURTC's Advanced Transit Management course and the recently published 2012 editions of the Rural Transit Fact Book and SURTC Research Digest are featured as well. The current and previous issues can be downloaded from the SURTC website.

2012 Rural Transit Fact Book Published

SURTC has published its 2012 Rural Transit Fact Book. This publication is intended to serve as a national resource for statistics and information on rural transit in America. Information on transit service availability and cost is necessary to efficiently and effectively meet rural community mobility needs. Financial and operating statistics can be used by agency managers, local decision makers, state directors, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), and lawmakers to assist in policy making, planning, managing operations, and evaluating performance.

This publication is an update to the Fact Book published in 2011. It includes rural demographic and travel behavior data as well as financial, operating, and fleet statistics and performance measures for agencies receiving section 5311 funding. In addition to national level data, statistics are presented by state, FTA region, tribe, and mode, as well as other agency characteristics.

The Rural Transit Fact Book uses agency level data from the Rural National Transit Database (NTD) and rural demographic and travel data from the American Community Survey and the National Household Travel Survey.

The publication can be downloaded from the SURTC website. For more information, contact Jeremy Mattson (jeremy.w.mattson@ndsu.edu).

2012 SURTC Research Digest Published

The 2012 edition of the SURTC Research Digest has been published and is available online. The SURTC Research Digest provides a number of articles discussing recently completed research projects. The articles are highly condensed, non-technical versions of the full studies, but they provide more depth and detail than what is published in our newsletter. This edition of the SURTC Research Digest includes articles on five research projects completed in 2011. Topics covered include tribal transit funding, the cost structure of small urban transit and justifications for subsidies, impacts of the built environment on transit ridership, segmenting intercity travelers by their attitudes, and vehicle supplier attributes valued by procurement decision-makers.The intent of this publication is to make our research findings accessible to a wider audience. The publication can be downloaded from the SURTC website at the following link: 2012 SURTC Research Digest (pdf).

SURTC Spring 2012 Newsletter Published

The Spring 2012 issue of the Transit Lane Brief has been published and is available online. This issue features articles on a U.S. DOT grant awarded to a consortium including SURTC; NDSU's graduate-level public transportation class; tribal transit courses, a tribal transit webinar, and Limited English Proficiency (LEP) workshops conducted by SURTC; a recently completed study on alternative fuels and hybrid vehicles for small urban and rural transit agencies; and SURTC's participation at TRB and TRF. The current and previous issues can be downloaded from the SURTC website.