BARRIERS AND INCENTIVES TO THE ADOPTION AND USE OF UMTA-SPONSORED INNOVATIONS. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In a study of UMTA-sponsored innovations, 13 innovations are analyzed to determine their current adoption status, to assess agencies' and organizations' decision-making processes on related adoption and implementation activities, and to recomment ways to promote awareness and accelerate adoption of UMTA-sponsored innovations in general. The key components of innovations that influence their rate of adoption are their complexity, technical requirements, and impacts on transit services and the transit organization. This study also sought the local factors that hinder or enhance the adoption of innovations. A representative sample of innovations was chosen using the following criteria: they had to be well know in transit agency circles; implemented at several locations; funded by UMTA, with a documented history; and possessed of both significant impact and risk. Innovations that had either little risk or benefits, those in the early stages of development, and those that had reached the implementation stage or had been implemented at only one site were excluded. The innovations selected for testing were: Chicago Test Battery, Job Performance Aids (JPA), Transit Employee Training Materials, Run Cutting and Scheduling (RUCUS), Timed Transfer, Transit Malls and Centers, Fare Prepayment, High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) and Contra Flow Lanes, Parking Pricing Programs, User Side Subsidy, Taxi Feeder, Ridesharing, and Transportation Brokerage. The innovations fall into three areas of transit operations: system/service management, internal management, and paratransit. The innovations were studied through telephone surveys of the 100 largest urbanized areas in the United States and through 15 selected transit property case studies within these urban areas. The case studies were conducted in Detroit, MI; Seattle, WA; Oklahoma City, OK; Orlando, FL; Fort Wayne, IN; Washington, DC; Milwaukee, WI; Jacksonville, FL; Mobile, AL; Corpus Christi, TX; San Francisco, CA; Denver, CO; Rochester, NY; Bridgeport, CT; and Oxnard, CA. FARE Prepayment Plans was the most commonly adopted innovation and the Taxi Feeder program, the least commonly adopted one. Very few cities had adopted more than 9 or fewer than 2 of the innovations, and 80 percent of the cities had adopted between 8 and 4 innovations. Only one city had not adopted any, and no cities had adopted only 1 innovation. The most critical factor in adoption, implementation, and operation is the perceived availability of funding, especially Federal funding, and the necessary turnaround time for gaining access to these funds. The level of cooperation between city government, other public agencies, the private sector, and the localtransit agency is another important variable.

• Corporate Authors:

  Urban Mass Transportation Administration

  Office of Technical Assistance & Safety, 400 7th Street, SW
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Publication Date: 1985-6

Media Info

• Features: Photos; Tables;
• Pagination: 11 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Case studies; Data collection; Hazards; Implementation; Incentives; Innovation; Obstructions (Navigation); Surveys; Technology transfer
• Identifier Terms: Urban Mass Transportation Act
• Old TRIS Terms: Umta section 6
• Subject Areas: Education and Training; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; Research;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00451491
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Nov 30 1985 12:00AM