FTA Announces Final ARRA Grants

Funding for 191 new Recovery Act transit projects in 42 states and Puerto Rico was announced on March 5.  A total of $600 million in new funding was awarded.  In doing so, the Federal Transit Administration met its deadline of awarding 100% of its Recovery Act transit formula dollars by March 5.  Since the Recovery Act was signed in February 2009, the FTA has awarded 881 grants totaling $7.5 billion.

A complete list of the FTA Recovery Act formula grants can be found here in the ARRA Grants Digest.

SURTC at the Transportation Research Forum

Two SURTC researchers will be participating in the 51st Annual Transportation Research Forum (TRF) being held March 11-13 in Arlington, VA.

Jeremy Mattson and David Ripplinger will be presenting papers in a session on transit and paratransit services on March 13 at 8:45 am.  Mattson will present a paper titled "An Assessment of Demand for Rural Intercity Transportation Services in a Changing Environment." The paper, which is co-authored by Del Peterson, David Ripplinger, William Thomas, and Jill Hough, investigates the impacts of individual, mode, and trip characteristics on mode choice for rural intercity travel, with some attention given to the impacts of changing gasoline prices and changing demographics on mode choices.

Ripplinger will present a paper titled "Modeling Transit Technology Adoption," which identifies and examines the use of transit technologies by rural transit agencies and investigates the relationship between firm and environmental factors that impact the adoption of these technologies.

Ripplinger is also chairing a session titled "Urban Highway, Transit, and Pedestrian Design" on March 12 at 3:15 pm and a session titled "Highways: Regional Economic Impacts" on March 13 at 10:30 am.

Transportation Seminar Series: Ride or Relocate

Del Peterson, Associate Research Fellow with the Small Urban and Rural Transit Center (SURTC), will present the results of his investigation into the relative costs of different housing and transportation alternatives. The presentation, part of the Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute's Transportation Seminar Series, will be held Thursday, March 4, at 1 pm in IACC 422.

Seminar on Dual Mode Vehicles in Transit

A seminar on the potential of dual mode vehicles for delivery of public transportation services in Alaska will be presented on Thursday, February 25th.  The seminar, presented by Tom Flanagan, graduate student in Transportation & Logistics, will discuss potential efficiencies and organization issues that exist with transit provided by vehicles that can operate on rail and road networks.

Information on the seminar series can be found the Transportation Seminar Series homepage.

Transportation Seminar: Regionalizing Public Transportation

A seminar on regionalizing public transportation will be held Thursday, February 4th, at 1 pm in IACC Room 422.   In this seminar, considerations for regionalizing public transportation are presented. Regional public transportation is framed as a complex system. Models of regionalization and an evaluation framework for identifying preferred regionalization alternatives are presented. Also described is the role of the economic characteristics of transit agencies on regionalization alternatives.

Information on future seminars can be at the Transportation Seminar Series homepage.

Transportation Seminar: An Assessment of Demand for Rural Intercity Transportation Services in a Changing Environment

A Transportation Seminar titled “An Assessment of Demand for Rural Intercity Transportation Services in a Changing Environment” will be held Jan. 28, 2010 at 1:00 p.m. in Room 422 of the IACC building on the North Dakota State University campus.

With higher fuel costs and changing demographics and economic conditions, travel behavior, and the level and allocation of resources in highways, rail, air, and transit service in rural areas, may be changing. SURTC researcher Jeremy Mattson will discuss the results of a study that examined the attitudes of would-be passengers in their choice of mode and the factors determining their choice in rural and small urban areas. A stated preference survey was developed and administered to residents of North Dakota and northwest and west central Minnesota, and a logit model was used to estimate the likelihood that an individual would choose a given mode based on the characteristics of the mode, the characteristics of the individual, and the characteristics of the trip. The results can be used to show how demand for different modes will change with changes in demographics and economic conditions.

SURTC at TRB

Three members of the Small Urban and Rural Transit Center (SURTC) will be participating in the Transportation Research Board's 89th Annual Meeting January 10-14 in Washington, D.C.

Jeremy Mattson will present the paper Assessment of Demand for Rural Intercity Transportation Services in a Changing Environment as part of the Rural Transportation Research paper session hosted by the Rural Public and Intercity Bus Transportation Committee at 1:30 pm on Tuesday, January 12. The paper, which is co-authored by Del Peterson, David Ripplinger, William Thomas, and Jill Hough, investigates the impact of individual and trip characteristics on mode choice for rural intercity travel.

David Ripplinger will be presenting Classifying Rural and Small Urban Transit Agencies in the Rural Transportation Policy paper session at 3:45 pm on Tuesday, January 12. The paper presents the motivation behind, methodology, and results of classifying transit agencies that serve rural and small urban areas.

Jill Hough will be presiding over TRB's Rural Public and Intercity Bus Transportation Conference Planning Subcommittee at 7:30 pm Tuesday, January 12. The Conference is being held on October 24-27, 2010, in Burlington, Vermont.

David Ripplinger will be chairing TRB's Paratransit Research Subcommittee which is meeting at 3:45 pm Tuesday, January 12.

SURTC Releases Findings from University Transit Study

The Small Urban and Rural Transit Center (SURTC) recently released the final report from a study on the changing attitudes and travel behaviors of university students. The study tracked a cohort of North Dakota State University students during their undergraduate careers. Over two-thirds of students used transit, roughly the same amount that expect to use transit at least occasionally in the future. Among students in the cohort, 64% stated that they would at least consider voting for increased funding of transit in the future.

The report, The Changing Attitudes and Behaviors of University Students Toward Public Transportation, also investigates the impacts of individual and mode attributes on mode choice. The analysis finds that students prefer walking and transit to travel by automobile. However, over long distances, the short travel times provided by travel by automobile result in it being the dominant mode. This finding supports continuing the redevelop of near-campus areas as well as investigation into express service between campus and off-campus locations with high student residency rates.

SURTC Publishes Report on Aging and Mobility

Mobility is fundamentally important for people to live full and satisfying lives. As people age, however, their mobility may decline. To investigate issues of aging and mobility and other concerns of older adults, the AARP conducted a survey of its North Dakota members. The SURTC report analyzes the results from the transportation section of the AARP survey. Specific objectives were to determine how informed and satisfied older adults are with their transportation options, how often they make different types of trips, if they desire more trips, if lack of transportation limits the trips they make, what improvements they would like to see made for them to stay in their neighborhood as they age, and what problems they encounter with using public transportation.

The report, titled North Dakota Transportation Survey: Aging and Mobility, shows that most AARP members in North Dakota continue to drive, and they are more satisfied than dissatisfied with their transportation options. Although many still drive, transit is found to be very valuable for certain segments of the population and for certain trips, and an analysis of the data using logit modeling shows that for all types of trips, transportation is more likely to be a limiting factor as age increases. Also significant is the impact that disabilities have on the ability to make trips.

Questions related to the research should be directed to Jeremy Mattson, who can be reached by email at jeremy.w.mattson@ndsu.edu.