FUTURE DIRECTIONS OF URBAN PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION: WHY TRANSIT IS IN TROUBLE

This paper reviews the transit industry situation in terms of market share, efficiency, pricing, capital needs and image and concludes that the transit industry is in serious trouble. It then reviews the many factors that have contributed to this state of affairs: economic conditions, gasoline prices, demographic shifts, America's leve affair with automobiles, the lack of secure and predictable funding sources, Federal Government action, insufficient R&D, and poor management and/or union recalcitrance. Finally in others an opinion on what steps the transit industry should take to manage successfully in the 1980s.

• Record URL:
  • http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/sr/sr199/sr199-009.pdf
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/0360859X
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. This paper appeared in Transportation Research Board Special Report No. 199, Future Directions of Urban Public Transportation. Papers presented at a Conference on the Future Directions of Urban Public Transportation, September 26-29, 1982, Woods Hole, Massachusetts.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

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  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Peterson III, H C Neil
• Conference:
  • Conference on the Future Directions of Urban Public Transportation, 1982, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA
• Publication Date: 1983

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Pagination: pp 69-71
• Monograph Title: FUTURE DIRECTIONS OF URBAN PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Board Special Report
  • Issue Number: 199
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0360-859X

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Economic efficiency; Economic factors; Financial capital; Forecasting; Labor relations; Labor unions; Management; Pricing; Psychological aspects; Public transit; Ridership
• Uncontrolled Terms: Efficiency
• Old TRIS Terms: Transit management
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Economics; Finance; Highways; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; Society; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00387958
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Sep 28 1984 12:00AM