Transit Roundup

• A new TCRP report provides tools that can be used to forecast demand for rural intercity bus services. The document and a PowerPoint presentation can be downloaded from the following link:
  • TCRP Report 147: Toolkit for Estimating Demand for Rural Intercity Bus Services
• The National Rural Transit Assistance Program (RTAP) announced the release of a free web application called GTFS Builder (General Transit Feed Specification Builder). This application provides rural transit systems with tools and training videos to help them put bus route and schedule data into the format required by Transit in Google Maps (Google Transit) and other online trip planners. It is available on the National RTAP website.
• The University of Montana Rural Institute released a report on Section 5310 transportation programs.
• APTA has released the findings from new surveys showing how the recession has impacted public transit agencies and private sector businesses serving those agencies. The results can be found at the following links:
  • Impacts of the Recession on Public Transportation Agencies: 2011 Update (pdf)
  • Impacts of the Recession on Public Transportation Businesses (pdf)