SURTC's Annual Report Published
SURTC's 2009 Annual Report has been published and is available online. The report covers SURTC's activities for the January 1, 2009 to June 30, 2010 period. Current and previous annual reports are available on the SURTC website.
SURTC Releases Fall 2010 Newsletter
The Fall 2010 SURTC newsletter is now available on the SURTC website. To better facilitate information exchange, SURTC is moving to a more frequent, condensed version of our newsletter. This new version of our newsletter, which is called the Transit Lane Brief, will be published quarterly. The current issue has stories on SURTC's regional coordination study, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood's visit to North Dakota, and new SURTC research projects, as well as updates on training and education activities. The current and previous issues can be downloaded from the SURTC website.
SURTC Staff to Participate in National Rural Transit Conference
Small Urban and Rural Transit Center staff will be busy during the 19th National Conference on Rural Public and Intercity Bus Transportation being held October 24-27, 2010 in Burlington, Vermont.
Dr. Jill Hough, director of the Small Urban and Rural Transit Center, is serving as chair of the conference that covers planning and design; policy, funding and finance; rural transportation in today's operating environment; technology; and special issues.
Jeremy Mattson will present a paper on the mobility of older adults and people with disabilities in North Dakota. Del Peterson will moderate a session on commuter programs and present a paper on transit and residential choice. David Ripplinger will present papers on technology use by rural transit agencies and uses of Rural National Transit Database (Rural NTD) data as well as moderate the session on Rural NTD.
TCRP Report Provides Guidance for Recruiting, Developing, and Retaining Transit Managers
A recently published Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) report provides guidance for transit systems that are having difficulties filling management positions and have limited human resource management resources.
TCRP Report 139: Guidebook for Recruiting, Developing, and Retaining Transit Managers for Fixed-Route Bus and Paratransit Systems provides resources to assist transit systems in the recruitment, development, and retention of managers. This Guidebook is designed primarily to address the needs of rural and small urban transit systems, with information for fixed-route, demand response, and ADA paratransit systems.
SURTC Now Scheduling 2011 Training Dates
SURTC is already looking forward to the coming year with regard to its successful training programs. Many of you have asked for 2011 dates, so the calendar is now "open" and ready for booking. The dates fill quickly, so we would encourage you to plan ahead. If you are interested in having SURTC provide training, please contact Carol Wright, Associate Director for Training and Outreach, at (701)231-8231. Popular training programs range from multiple day classes such as Principles of Transit Management and Business Plan Development to individual offerings such as the Implementing Rural Transit Technology class developed by David Ripplinger in partnership with the National Transit Institute. Other topics include diversity, ethics, cost allocation, financial management, working with local governments, performance measures, human resources, tribal transit, and motivational leadership. A complete list of training topics and brief descriptions can be found by clicking on the SURTC Training and Outreach page.
Rural Public and Intercity Bus Transportation Conference to be Held in October
The 19th National Conference on Rural Public and Intercity Bus Transportation will be held October 24-27, 2010 in Burlington, Vermont. The conference includes information on planning and design; policy, funding and finance; rural transportation in today's operating environment; technology; and special issues in rural transportation. Over thirty sessions, special events, and tours will expand the five routes. See the conference promotional flyer for more information.
Dr. Jill Hough, Director of the Small Urban and Rural Transit Center, is serving as the conference chair.
The conference is sponsored by the Transportation Research Board, the Federal Transit Administration, and the National Rural Transit Assistance Program. The American Public Transportation Association, the American Bus Association, the Community Transportation Association, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, the Vermont Agency of Transportation, and the University of Vermont Transportation Research Center are cooperating organizations.
PTP Project to Use Open Data Kit
The Transit, Technology, and Public Participation Project will use the Open Data Kit (ODK) suite of tools to collect transit rider information in the field.
Using ODK Collect, one application in the ODK suite, surveyors will be able to collect location, video, and audio information in addition to traditional text-based data. ODK runs on the Android platform an operating system for smartphones, slate computers, and other mobile devices.
The Transit, Technology, and Public Participation project will survey Metro Area Transit riders at bus stops and on vehicles to collect travel behavior and transit service information. Location-capture will be used to geotag completed surveys while audio-capture will allow survey participants to provide detailed, open-ended responses to survey questions.
The Open Data Kit is a collection of open-source and standards-based tools designed to help organizations collect, aggregate and visualize their data.
Transit Technology Course to be Presented in New Mexico
Implementing Rural Transit Technology, a joint course of the Small Urban and Rural Transit Center and the National Transit Institute, will be held September 21-22 in Los Alamos, New Mexico. The course is geared toward transit professionals, state DOT office staff, and regional planners involved in planning and implementing technology-based systems for rural transit operations.
College Students Not Sure What to Expect from Careers in Transit
Students surveyed as part of a study on public transportation workforce development generally didn't express strong attitudes toward internships or careers in the industry. For the few internship and career characteristics that students did have opinions the perceptions were negative. These characteristics included the belief that work in transit is uninteresting, unchallenging, and does not provide the opportunity to be creative. Project investigators David Ripplinger and Jill Hough of the Small Urban and Rural Transit Center believe that these perceptions may be due to students having little knowledge of the career opportunities in transit.
Students were surveyed to identify attitudes and behaviors that impact their choice of academic major, internship, and career, their perceptions of internships and careers in public transportation, and use of job search methods. More than 1,000 students at North Dakota State University, Minnesota State University Moorhead, and Minnesota State Community and Technical College participated in the study. The project report can be found online at http://www.ugpti.org/pubs/pdf/DP229.pdf.
Principles of Transit Management Course to be Held in Texas
The Small Urban and Rural Transit Center will be holding its Principles of Transit Management course in Mesquite, TX on September 21-23.
Principles of Transit Management is an intensive three-day course developed by SURTC that covers virtually all aspects of transit and paratransit management for rural and small urban operators across America. The course has eight core modules covering the key principles of transit management: Human Resource Management; Financial Management; Administration; Operations & Service Design; Procurement; Vehicle and Facility Maintenance; Safety, Security and Emergency Management; and Drug and Alcohol Program Compliance. It is an excellent course for both experienced managers and those who are relatively new to their positions.