Research Reports
Report Details

Title:	Performance of Coordinated and Non-Coordinated Rural Transit Systems in the Mountain-Plains Region
Authors:	Jill Hough, Denver Tolliver, and John Bitzan
University:	North Dakota State University
Publication Date:	Aug 1997
Report #:	MPC-97-76
Project #:	MPC-058
TRID #:	01680122
Keywords:	coordination, cost effectiveness, performance measurement, rural transit, surveys, transit operating agencies
Type:	Research Report – MPC Publications

Abstract

There has been controversy over the relative benefits of coordinating rural transit systems. Initially, it was expected that coordinated systems would experience lower costs and/or offer increased services. Some regional studies have indicated that coordinated systems do not experience decreased costs, but rather increased costs. However, no studies have analyzed the coordinated systems in the Midwest and Mountain-Plains states. The objective of this study was to examine the performance of coordinated and non-coordinated systems in the Midwest and Mountain-Plains states of Colorado, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming. Data were collected from several transit systems in this region to compare select performance measures. Each transit system was categorized into one of the following categories of coordination: cooperation, joint-use arrangement, consolidation, or none. The performance measures selected assessed efficiency and effectiveness of the transit systems surveyed.

Results provide some support for the notion that coordinated transit systems perform with more effectiveness than non-coordinated systems in the Mountain-Plains states.

How to Cite

Hough, Jill, Denver Tolliver, and John Bitzan. Performance of Coordinated and Non-Coordinated Rural Transit Systems in the Mountain-Plains Region, MPC-97-76. North Dakota State University - Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute, Fargo: Mountain-Plains Consortium, 1997.