Regional Transit Coordination in North Dakota Studied

A new SURTC report titled "Public Transit Regional Coordination Pilot Projects in North Dakota" by Jon Mielke, Carol Wright, David Ripplinger, Dr. James H. Miller, and Del Peterson has been posted online.

This publication is a result of action from North Dakota's 2009 Legislature that directed the state Department of Transportation to initiate two public transit regional coordination projects. NDDOT subsequently contracted with SURTC to develop corresponding implementation plans.

Regional steering committees were created in each region and an extensive public input process was undertaken to solicit input from the regions' transit managers and the public. A review process was also undertaken to study coordination in states that might be similar to North Dakota, to identify corresponding federal mandates concerning the coordination of transit services, and to identify industry best practices from around the country and within the two pilot regions.

Preliminary recommendations were presented to each region's regional steering committee (including all of each region's transit managers) and through a series of public information meetings. The draft report was also shared with all of the state's transit managers; related input was included in the report. The resulting report was presented to NDDOT in December 2010. The department forwarded the report, along with its corresponding implementation plans, to North Dakota's 2011 Legislature. The Legislature will ultimately determine what additional policy directives, if any, are needed.