Transportation Research Board's Books

TRB Special Report 213: Research for Public Transit: New Directions reviews transit research programs and recommends improvements. The report calls for an operator-sponsored, problem-solving research program focused on priority topics of common interest to transit providers. The committee urges Congress to allow the agencies to pool their funds to organize and conduct such research. With strong support from the transit industry, Congress subsequently endorsed these recommendations and in 1991 created the Transit Cooperative Research Program.

Presents the results of a research project to develop a graphics design manual describing the use of signs and symbols which provide for the safe, secure, and efficient movement of passengers to and through transit facilities.

Documents a methodology for determining the resources required (i.e. vehicles and vehicle service hours) to provide demand-responsive transportation (DRT) for different levels of demand and different levels of service in a given service area. This report is accompanied by a software tool on CD-ROM (CRP-CD-40) that can provide a preliminary estimate of the number of vehicles required for a new or modified DRT service. An instruction manual for software use is also included on the referenced CD-ROM.

Examines the use of small buses -- 30 ft or less in length -- as replacements for large buses in fixed-route, scheduled servcice or those used in innovative, more flexible operations such as route deviation or demand-response service.

Presents state of the practice information about the various actions transit agencies (and other employers) have taken to help ensure the availability of quality employees in an increasingly competitive employment environment. It focuses on the practices and policies transit agencies have put in place to help minimize absenteeism at their agencies, from which other agencies may find useful applications.

This synthesis reviews the state of the practice in how data are analyzed. It addresses methods used to analyze data and what computer systems are used to store and process data. It also covers accuracy issues, including measurement error, and other problems including error in estimates. This document from the Transportation Research Board addresses agency experience with different data collection systems, giving attention to management error, the need for sampling, and methods for screening, editing, and compensating for data imperfection. Sample reports from selected U.S. and Canadian transit agencies are reproduced in this synthesis.

Documents the transit industry's state of the practice in information and communication technologies against a contemporary background of business practice. It is organized into the basic architectural pieces that constitute an IT plan in order to provide the essential framework for the planning process. Additionally, organizational issues and policies and market trends affecting investment in and deployment of Management Information System (MIS) technology are documented.

Offers information from selected transit agencies about the operational practices used to provide Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) paratransit services and identifies factors perceived by transit personnel to have influenced the selection of service delivery methodology. It focuses on the state of the practice in paratransit contracting and service delivery methods to comply with ADA paratransit provisions.

Describes how recently enacted legislation and implemented regulations have affected the design of bus maintenance facilities. Several case examples of changes implemented by transit agencies are included.

Documents fixed route bus fare collection practices at selected transit agencies. Survey responses about fare policy, fare collection equipment, fare disputes, and fare evasion issues, as well as customer information and the impact of financial assistance are offered.

Offers information from selected transit agencies about the underlying causes of construction disputes and practices in use today to identify and resolve them before they become formal claims. The synthesis focuses on avoidance and resolution of disputes, examines ways of settling disputes at their inception, and considers the experiences of the transit industry in the use of alternative dispute resolution techniques.

Describes compression test requirements, presents available information on the development of specifications and standards, and provides examples of adjustments under particular circumstances.

Reviews how current flexible funding provisions are being used to support transit investment and examines lessons that may have the broadest relevance throughout the transit industry. The scope of the synthesis includes references to summary FTA data from FY 1992-2000, spanning the entire life of the ISTEA legislation and the first 3 years of TEA-21.

Offers information from selected North American and other transit agencies about the existing environment for advertising on transit property and describes agency experiences. It also explores innovative revenue-generating practices.

Provides a variety of approaches to transit bus service line and cleaning functions so transit agencies can evaluate the effectiveness of their own operations.

Documents critical site specific variables that influence transit agencies' spare bus ratio policies. It profiles a select group of transit agencies of varying sizes and geographic locations and describes their operating environments in order to relate how these affect the number of spare buses each agency needs to meet its service requirements.

This report documents and presents the results of a study to determine the feasibility of applying Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques to the diagnosis of transit railcars. The AI techniques investigated were expert systems, case-based reasoning, model-based reasoning, artificial neural networks, computer vision, fuzzy logic, and a procedural knowledge-based system. Site surveys were conducted at transit railcar maintenance facilities and at railcar subsystem suppliers. The site surveys gathered information about current and future diagnostic and maintenance practices, possible barriers to implementing advanced AI technology, and maintenance cost data. An economic analysis was performed to provide an estimate of cost savings expected by reducing the diagnostic effort.

Provides information on how small and medium-sized transit agencies can evaluate various approaches to risk management and can access risk management services at reasonable cost. It emphasizes liability and workers' compensation risks and insurance, but the discussion applies to property risks and insurance, as well. It contains information on differing transit agencies' risk management experiences. Three bus transit agency approaches to financing risk and the size of areas they serve are discussed in more detail, based on the results of a survey. Case study examples describe programs currently used at the Regional Transportation Commission of Reno, Nevada; the City of Jackson, Michigan Transportation Authority; and the Baldwin Rural Area Transit System of Robertsdale, Alabama.

Addresses the roles and responsibilities of bus field supervisors, including emerging concerns about how to improve the relationship between supervisors and bus operators, while placing supervisors in a more positive role; how to obtain a greater return from employee productivity with tightening budgets and declining ridership; and how to improve customer service.

Offers information on the current practices of transit agencies to reduce injuries to bus occupants during collisions and injuries to passengers while boarding, riding, and leaving the bus.

Addresses the system-specific variables that directly impact fleet size, and the spare ratios that are maintained by individual transit agencies. From the information obtained, it appears that most rail transit agencies closely monitor the spare vehicles they maintain to maximize efficiency and thereby reduce operating costs. This report of the Transportation Research Board describes operating environments at 21 selected rail transit agencies of various sizes in key geographical locations in North America. It contains survey information about operating practices, impediments, and strategies used to appropriately size fleets within each agency's operating context.

Examines the feasibility and necessity of a central reporting system and computerized telecommunications data center capable of receiving, storing, and retrieving data concerning daily shipments of hazardous materials, and also capable of providing information to facilitate responses to accidents and incidents.

Recommends development of a national policy to promote better management and investment decisions in order to maintain and improve the capacity of the nation's freight system. This report recommends four principles to guide decisions about using, enlarging, funding, or regulating the freight transportation system.

TRB Special Report 259 - Environmental Performance of Tanker Designs in Collision and Grounding: Method for Comparison describes a modeling process for evaluating alternative designs. The process encompasses consideration of the structural deformations from collisions and grounding and the environmental consequences of spills of different sizes, and uses a riskbased approach for comparing designs. Since passage of the Oil Pollution Act (OPA) of 1990 and subsequent decisions of the International Maritime Organization, the world tanker fleet has been evolving to double-hulled designs to reduce the risk of accidental spills. A previous study by the Marine Board, now part of TRB, concluded that the double-hull design had been effective in reducing oil spills (Double-Hull Tanker Legislation: An Assessment of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, NRC 1998). OPA 1990 was passed because of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound. Although the worldâ€™s tanker owners have been shifting to double-hull designs, a variety of other hull designs have been proposed that might be as effective and less costly. The U.S. Coast Guard has not been willing to consider such alternatives, in part because of the wording of OPA 1990 and in part because of the difficulty of comparing complex designs.

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