01450272

Component

https://doi.org/10.3141/2274-01

http://scholar.google.com...llar&publication_year=2012

This paper synthesizes much of the information that describes the current state of public transportation in the United States and the benefits that result from investment in and use of public transportation. The paper begins with metrics describing the size of the transit industry and ridership trends over the past 70 years. Citing the economic importance of the nation’s large urbanized areas, this paper focuses on the 30 largest transit systems measured by ridership, which serve 21 urbanized areas where 29% of the U.S. population lives and where 51% of the gross domestic product of the economy is produced. Data showing who uses public transportation and why are followed by a discussion of the four main drivers of transit use: convenience, necessity, economics, and philosophy. Some benefits that result from transit use are presented along with how they often accrue at essentially zero marginal cost when transit projects are well planned, well executed, and extensively used. The paper concludes with a look to the future: trends that favor transit expansion and use, technology improvements that are making transit more reliable and useful, and five lessons learned that must be followed for transit to be highly successful. The paper closes with a list of key public policy questions that, depending on how they are answered, may greatly influence the direction of public transportation.

01449088

12-0001

English

pp 5-11

2012

Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board

9780309223171

Print

References

Benefits; Future; Public policy; Public transit; Ridership; Trend (Statistics); Urban areas

United States

Planning and Forecasting; Policy; Public Transportation; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Oct 24 2012 2:13PM

• Analytically Derived Versus Numerically Derived Urban Transit Guidelines: Case Study of Utrecht, Netherlands
• Analyzing Passenger Incidence Behavior in Heterogeneous Transit Services Using Smartcard Data and Schedule-Based Assignment
• Assessing the Impact of Travel Path Choice on London’s Rail Network Using an Automatic Fare Collection System
• Bus Dwell-Time Model of Main Urban Route Stops: Case Study in Madrid, Spain
• Bus-Holding Control Strategies: Simulation-Based Evaluation and Guidelines for Implementation
• Developing Sustainable Methods of Distributing Federal Transit Funds: Three Models of Funding Distribution in Complex Metropolitan Planning Areas
• Development of Measurement System for Public Transport Performance
• Effects of Personal Proenvironmental Attitudes on Mode Choice Behavior: New Ecofriendly Water Transit System in Seoul, South Korea
• Effects of Tube Strikes on Journey Times in Transport Network of London
• Extraboard Performance: TriMet Case Study
• How Do People Perceive Service Attributes at Transit Facilities? Examination of Perceptions of Transit Service by Transit User Demographics and Trip Characteristics
• Key Variables Affecting Decisions of Bus Replacement Age and Total Costs
• Marginal Cost Pricing and Subsidy of Small Urban Transit
• New York City’s East River Ferry: Expanding Passenger Ferry Service and Stimulating Economic Development in the New York City Region
• Passenger Transmission and Productiveness of Transit Lines with High Loads
• Public Policy Objectives and Urban Transit: Case of Passenger Ferries in the New York City Region
• Quantifying Reliability of Transit Service in Zurich, Switzerland: Case Study of Bus Line 31
• Simulating the Travel Time Impact of Missed Transit Connections
• Steps to Leading Change: A Transportation Agency’s Business Plan Approach
• Strategic Look at Friday Exceptions in Weekday Schedules for Urban Transit: Improving Service, Capturing Leisure Markets, and Achieving Cost Savings by Mining Data on Automated Fare Collection Ridership