SURTC to Conduct Webcast of Public Input Meeting
As part of the Transit, Technology, & Public Participation Project, SURTC will test the use of webcasting technology for increasing public participation in transit planning. The Fargo-Moorhead Metropolitan Council of Governments (FM MetroCOG) will be hosting a public input meeting all day (8 am to 8 pm) on Wednesday, Sept. 21 at the Ground Transportation Center in Fargo, ND. The purpose of the meeting is to seek public input regarding the 5-year transit development plan for Fargo-Moorhead. The webcast is intended as a tool for individuals who otherwise would not have attended the meeting in person the opportunity to learn about the transit plans being considered and provide input. SURTC is studying the use of tools such as webcasts for increasing public participation in the planning process.
The webcast will take place Wednesday, Sept. 21 at 3:00 pm (Central Time). It will be approximately 30 minutes long and can be viewed at the following link:
Following its completion, a recording of the webcast will be posted that can be viewed at any time.
SURTC Participates in Conference on Mobility of Older Adults
Researchers Jeremy Mattson and Del Peterson participated in a conference last week on Emerging Issues in Safe and Sustainable Mobility for Older Persons. The conference, which highlighted the latest research regarding safe mobility for older persons, was hosted by the Transportation Research Board and the Committee of the Safe Mobility for Older Persons in Washington, DC. Mattson presented the results from a study analyzing the impacts of travel distance and access to transportation on use of health care services in small urban and rural areas. Peterson participated in a poster session, presenting the results from his Ride or Relocate study that examined costs of aging in place and using transit versus relocating to an assisted living facility. The following are links to these presentations and the studies they were derived from. Also provided is a link to a webinar in which Peterson presented the results from his study.
- Presentation: Transportation and Health Care Use for Older Adults in Rural and Small Urban Areas
- Poster: Ride or Relocate? Transportation and Housing Options for Senior Adults
- Report: Transportation, Distance, and Health Care Utilization for Older Adults in Rural and Small Urban Areas
- Report: Ride or Relocate
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:
- 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:
Upcoming Seminar – Minnesota Public Transit 101
UGPTI's Transportation Seminar Series is back and we're kicking everything off with Keven Anderson from the State of Minnesota Office of Transit. His presentation, titled Minnesota Public Transit 101, will address the basic structure and organization of public transit in greater Minnesota. It will cover fleet structure, employees, types of rides provided, state oversight, funding, and interaction with local entities and federal agencies. The seminar will be held Aug. 30, 2011 at 2:00 p.m. in Room 422 of the IACC building on the campus of North Dakota State University.
Seminars are scheduled for Tuesdays from 2:00 to 2:50 p.m. throughout the fall semester. For those unable to attend, these seminars are being recorded. Links to the presentations and recordings will be posted online shortly after the conclusion of each seminar.
MATBUS's "210 in 2010" Campaign
SURTC would like to recognize and share innovative marketing strategies and advertising ideas being used by small urban and rural transit agencies. One fun advertising campaign we would like to share is the “210 in 2010” campaign by MATBUS in Fargo, North Dakota.
The target audience for this ad campaign was the students at North Dakota State University (NDSU). MATBUS reached out to university administrators, student organizations, student government, university employees, dining services, alumni relations, and others and asked them to take part in the campaign. SURTC staff were honored to be included. The intent was to feature 210 people during the course of the 2010-2011 academic year who actually used MATBUS and would publicly state their support of it.
In addition to telling its story, MATBUS wanted to tell the story of its riders. The ads included each of the people's names, hometowns, major/department and year in college to further personalize them. The most effective piece of the ad was the yellow sign that each of the participants held (yellow is one of NDSU's official colors). On this sign, the participants were encouraged to write their own personal message as to the reason they used MATBUS. Each message was different and was completely chosen by that person to reflect their personal feelings and experiences. MATBUS wanted to show potential riders that people just like them, that they probably already knew, were MATBUS riders and that they should be too!
The ads were featured in the university newspaper, the MATBUS website, NDSU’s website, in each of the bus shelters on campus, and on Facebook and Flickr. Ads have even been seen hung all over campus by friends of those featured. Results from the campaign have been very positive. Student awareness of the service and ridership are up, and survey results show the ad campaign improved public perception of services. It also created positive relationships between MATBUS and NDSU.
The ads can be seen on MATBUS's Flickr page, and more information can be found on the U-Pass page on their website:
This ad campaign has been entered in the American Public Transportation Association’s (APTA) AdWheel competition. The AdWheel Awards are presented by APTA each year to honor the marketing and communication efforts of transit agencies.
If you have any advertising ideas you would like to share, email them to jeremy.w.mattson@ndsu.edu and we can post them on our blog.
SURTC Summer 2011 Newsletter Released
The Summer 2011 issue of the Transit Lane Brief has been published and is available online. This issue features articles on the recently published Rural Transit Fact Book and SURTC Research Digest, new training activities, the development of a national transit curriculum, and recent studies on how the built environment influences transit ridership and how transit subsidies can be justified.
We are also encouraging transit agencies to share your advertising ideas with us and we will post them on our blog. Send your entries to jeremy.w.mattson@ndsu.edu.
The current and previous issues of the SURTC newsletter can be downloaded from the SURTC website.
Ride or Relocate Webinar
SURTC and the National Center on Senior Transportation (NCST) held a live webinar August 3. The webinar was cosponsored by the Community Transportation Association of America (CTAA) and the Community Transportation Assistance Program (CTAP). The presentation addressed results from a study conducted in North Dakota which quantified the cost of living at home and riding transit versus relocating to an assisted living facility. In addition, potential marketing strategies were presented utilizing the results of the study to reach people who may be in the process of making these difficult decisions.
Rural Transit Fact Book Published
SURTC has published its first annual 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.
Despite the widespread benefits, no regularly-published national rural transit information resource has been previously made available. The Rural Transit Fact Book is being initiated to provide information to assist the transit industry in the United States provide efficient and effective service to rural communities. 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).
Transit Roundup
- The FTA announced the availability of $30 million for a new Veterans Transportation and Community Living Initiative. Competitive capital assistance grants will be awarded to local transportation providers and other groups around the country to improve coordination and delivery of information through “one-call” or “one click” centers. (FTA News Release)
- The FTA earlier announced the availability of $15 million for transportation improvements on rural tribal lands under the FTA's Tribal Transit Program. (FTA News Release, Federal Register (pdf))
- A new TCRP report (Report 146) provides guidance to transit agencies considering adoption of alternative fuel buses. Tools are provided to identify the issues, costs, and benefits of various available alternative fuel technologies.
- Also recently released, TCRP Synthesis 89 documents the experiences of transit providers in engaging the public and explores strategies for improving public participation.
- Smart Growth America announces that a webinar about the TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) program will be offered August 3rd for rural transportation and planning practitioners. The webinar is being offered by a parternship between the following organizations: the American Public Transportation Association, the National Association of Development Organizations, the National League of Cities, PolicyLink, Reconnecting America, Rural Assembly, Smart Growth America, and Transportation for America.
New ADA Amendments Regarding Service Animals and Mobility Devices and the FTA
As many of you are aware, the new ADA Amendments and the resulting U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) final rules regarding service animals and mobility devices went into effect on March 15, 2011. They included provisions relating to the distinction between wheelchairs and other powered mobility devices and limited the types of animals that are defined as service animals. However, it is important to note that the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) have issued no changes to their ADA regulations which cover transportation provided by both the private and public sector.
FTA clarifies that transit operators should not make any changes to their service animal policies or the manner in which they regard mobility devices as a result of the ADA Amendments and the DOJ regulations. Changes to accommodate DOJ regulations could result in a grantee being out of compliance with the DOT ADA regulations.
FTA states that any amendments to the DOT ADA regulations would be announced through publication of rulemaking documents in the Federal Register with an effective date. Until such documents are published, the DOT regulations remain unchanged. For additional information, see: http://www.fta.dot.gov/civilrights/civil_rights_2360.html.
Our thanks to Kim Johnson, Manager of the Transportation Services Section of the Michigan Department of Transportation for giving us the “heads up” on the discrepancy between the DOJ and FTA regulations during a recent training session in Michigan.