Transit and Small Urban Sprawl

The Small Urban & Rural Transit Center has released a report pertaining to transit issues resulting from small urban sprawl. Sprawl has traditionally been studied from a large metropolitan area perspective, but small urban areas throughout the country have been affected as well. The report, entitled Transit and Small Urban Sprawl, highlights steps small urban transit providers are currently taking to integrate transit service into sprawling communities, and helps determine what can be done to improve relationships with local governments during the land development planning process.

Questions related to the report or the research as a whole should be directed to Del Peterson who can be reached by email at del.peterson@ndsu.edu.

Transportation Survey for People with Disabilities in North Dakota

The Small Urban & Rural Transit Center, with the support of the North Dakota Disabilities Advocacy Consortium, is conducting a research project on the transportation needs of people with disabilities in North Dakota. The goal is to find out about existing and needed transportation for people with disabilities in the state. Results from the study can be used by public and private transportation providers and human service agencies to review their existing transportation services, identify gaps and needs, and plan improvements. If you live in North Dakota and have a disability, you are invited to take the survey.

Click here to take the survey.

Tool for Rural Transit Agency Peer Comparison Developed

The Small Urban & Rural Transit Center recently released a report that classifies rural and small urban transit agencies.  Using data from the Rural National Transit Database, each subrecipient of  Section 5311 funding that reported adequate information was classified by type of service, vehicle-miles, vehicle hours, and fleet size.   Rural and small urban transit agencies can use this information to compare their to performance with that of their peers.  Findings from the report, entitled Classifying Rural and Small Urban Transit Agencies, can also be used for other advanced analysis.

Questions on the report and its use in peer comparison should be directed to David Ripplinger, author of the report, who can be reached by phone at 701-231-5265 or by email at david.ripplinger@ndsu.edu.

Transportation Seminar on Transit and Small Urban Sprawl

A Transportation Seminar titled “Transit and Small Urban Sprawl” will be held Sept. 29, 2009 at 1:00 p.m. in Room 422 of the IACC building on the North Dakota State University campus.

Small urban sprawl has resulted in new housing developments and business centers that have never been served by transit. Unfortunately, transit agencies are often not included in the land development process within small urban communities.  SURTC researcher Del Peterson recently studied the issue and will present his findings.  The objectives of his study were to determine what steps small urban transit providers are currently taking to integrate transit service into sprawling communities and to determine what can be done to improve relationships with local governments during the land development planning process.

SURTC Conducting Transportation Surveys of Older Adults and People with Disabilities

The AARP’s North Dakota State Office conducted a survey last fall of its members to explore their views on important topics such as health care, economic security, and transportation. They released a report in February summarizing the findings. SURTC collaborated with AARP in formulating the transportation questions and has conducted a more in depth analysis of this section of the survey. SURTC’s findings will be published later this fall.

One of the major findings is that people with disabilities have greater transportation concerns. Seventeen percent of the 1,042 respondents age 50 or older identified themselves as having a disability. These people were less likely to think that they have adequate transportation options and were substantially more likely to report problems using public transportation. Many of these people with disabilities do currently drive, but they are more likely to forego driving during certain conditions such as poor weather or darkness, and they are more likely than others to desire more trips, with transportation more often being a limiting factor.

These results tie into a recently launched SURTC study titled Assessing Existing and Needed Community Transportation for People with Disabilities in North Dakota, which will include a survey of people with disabilities in the state. Using information obtained from this study, state, regional, county and local public and private transportation and human service agencies will be able to assess their existing transportation services, identify gaps and needs, and plan improvements. One of the goals of the study is to create a survey instrument that could be used by communities and states beyond North Dakota for collecting similar information.