Book Description

This digest presents the results of National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Project 20-65, Task 36, Data Needs for Assessing Rural Transit Needs, Benefits, and Levels of Service. The primary objectives of this project were to (1) review the data elements currently reported in the Rural National Transit Database (NTD) and identify data elements that are needed to record pre- and post-service change information; and (2) identify potential levels of service (LOS) options that are more accurate or useful for future evaluation of rural service. The concept of LOS can be applied to many aspects of public transit services. In this report, the expression refers to measures of service availability from the passenger's perspective. Additionally, the project called for options for using the data elements and measures of LOS from other readily available data to conduct rural transit needs assessment and performance analysis. The researchers also developed draft tools to help state departments of transportation understand the effects of various service types and levels on rural communities.