Best practices report released on rural transit.

FHWA has released Rural Transit ITS Best Practices (FHWA-OP-03-77). The report identifies operational best practices for applying ITS technologies to rural transit. The recommendations are based on case studies performed onsite at five rural transit agencies.

To develop the case studies,

The report addresses the use of ITS technologies at rural transit agencies, institutional and organizational issues, ITS applications and technology, funding and other financial considerations, benefits of rural ITS projects, and the deployment process. USDOT presents the recommendations as guidance for other agencies that are considering implementing rural ITS solutions.

FHWA selected the Capital Area Rural Transportation System in Austin as a case study because it uses a sophisticated 900-megahertz, two-way radio system combined with automated demand-responsive transportation-scheduling software. David Marsh, executive director of the Capital Area Rural Transportation System, cites a slow, measured approach to implementing new technology as the key to success. "We now have moved to mobile data computers with automatic vehicle-location and magnetic card readers," he says, "and the phased approach again proved its value as we were able to work through the complexities of executing this next level of ITS deployments from a foundation on our past experience. If we had attempted all of it at once, we would surely have floundered and failed."

The Florida Commission for the Transportation Disadvantaged assisted a number of rural areas in deploying low-cost ITS applications, such as a demand-response software suite that helps manage call intake and payroll and schedule vehicles, staff, and trips.

New Mexico's Public Transportation Programs Bureau and the Alliance for Transportation Research Institute developed a statewide, Web-based software application that authorizes and schedules trips, tracks riders, bills trips, and generates reports--saving time and money.

The Ottumwa Transit Authority, which provides bus service in Ottumwa, IA, and the surrounding 10-county area, installed a four-tower, 150-megahertz radio system to provide communications for its automatic vehicle-location system and mobile-data terminals.

And River Valley Transit installed automatic vehicle-location and mobile-data terminals on its fixed-route buses to provide real-time, in-terminal customer information, enabling the agency to inform customers visually and audibly about where buses will arrive and depart from.

For more information about these projects, access the Rural Transit ITS Best Practices Report at www.itsdocs.fhwa.dot.gov//JPODOCS/REPTS_TE//13784.html.