Issues Driving the Future of Public Transportation

This chapter describes how, for a financial consultant to the public transport industry, the answer to the question, “What is the greatest variable affecting the future of public transit?” is obvious: funding levels. No doubt, the same can be said for highway programs, the exploration of outer space, education, job training, and national defense. However, the case for increased capital investment in public transportation and greater resources for operating support is bound in a conundrum of cause and effect. Passengers cannot ride systems that do not exist, are partially built, are overcrowded, or operate in a state of disrepair. To the extent that greater investment is made in fixed guideway facilities and improved bus services, the attractiveness of public transportation as an option for mobility increases. Networks must achieve a critical mass of geographic coverage, service frequency, and quality to satisfy customer expectations. Therefore, there is a dynamic quality to public transportation investment – the more robust public transit networks become, the greater their utilization.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: https://www.hudson.org/bookstore/itemdetail.cfm?item=2036
• Corporate Authors:

  Hudson Institute

  1015 15th Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20005
• Authors:
  • Parker, Jeffrey A
  • Warne, Tom
• Publication Date: 2004

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Tables;
• Pagination: pp 195-202
• Monograph Title: 2010 and Beyond. A Vision of America’s Transportation Future

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bus transit; Customer satisfaction; Forecasting; Mobility; Passenger transportation; Public transit; Technological forecasting
• Uncontrolled Terms: Customer relations; Fixed guideways; Transit networks
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Finance; Highways; Passenger Transportation; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; I10: Economics and Administration; I21: Planning of Transport Infrastructure;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01024617
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 1558131442
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: May 25 2006 7:31AM