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    <copyright>Copyright © 2026. National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.</copyright>
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    <managingEditor>tris-trb@nas.edu (Bill McLeod)</managingEditor>
    <webMaster>tris-trb@nas.edu (Bill McLeod)</webMaster>
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      <title>Identifying Gaps in Transit Infrastructure and Potential Solutions</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2677556</link>
      <description><![CDATA[A lack of access to transit stops (due to safety concerns, poor first and last mile connections, a lack of shelter to protect from weather elements while waiting, etc.) often presents a significant barrier to using transit services, even when the service itself is well designed. However, for most bus transit projects, the feasibility study at the project planning stage only focuses on a buffer zone of 250 feet around any bus stop, as mandated and required by National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Such feasibility studies suffer from two drawbacks: (i) because of the limited spatial extent, they fail to capture the infrastructure gaps that may prevent people from utilizing the services; and (ii) because of limited interaction with current and potential users of the system, they fail to identify user-focused solutions to these gaps. Thus, such feasibility studies may overestimate the potential ridership while also lacking support from the local communities. As Colorado DOT (CDOT) starts implementing its planned bus rapid transit (BRT) services along some of the most heavily traveled corridors within the Denver Metro area, it is important to understand the infrastructure gaps and identify potential solutions to deliver the most benefit possible from transit infrastructure dollars.

The aim of the proposed project is to identify how and what infrastructure gaps need to be considered before evaluating the success of a transit-related investment. It also aims to create a set of potential solutions for those gaps, through user input of preferences and cost considerations. The research team uses one of the five proposed bus rapid transit projects within Denver Metro area as case study for this proposed project, complementing CDOT's ongoing work towards the BRT projects. Federal Boulevard BRT, the proposed case study BRT, is planned along one of the most heavily used travel corridors in Denver. The objectives of the project are: (i) to understand the current infrastructure needs to facilitate transit use, such as a lack of bus stop infrastructure, safety concerns, first and last-mile connectivity issues, etc.; and (ii) to identify solutions that best address the needs of the current and potential users. The proposed project will address these objectives through targeted data collection using surveys and app-based travel diary for the BRT catchment area larger than the required feasibility study (using a half-mile buffer around the bus stops instead of 250 feet as done in the NEPA study).]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 04 Mar 2026 13:33:15 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>Synthesis of Information Related to Transit Practices. Topic SA-67. Measuring the Success of Bus Transit Network Redesigns
</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2576268</link>
      <description><![CDATA[In 2015, Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (Houston METRO) implemented the Transit System Reimagining Project, marking the first major bus network redesign (BNR) in the United States to be formally recognized as such in a significant way. This initiative transformed not only the agency’s bus network but also the way comprehensive operational analyses (COAs) were conducted, framed, and communicated to the public and stakeholders. According to the Eno Center for Transportation (2025), 17 of the nation’s 20 largest transit agencies have undertaken a BNR in the past decade.
A BNR is a comprehensive service planning initiative that evaluates and modifies bus service across an agency’s network. While agency goals for these BNRs vary, they commonly seek to: Adapt to changing travel patterns; Increase accessibility and connectivity to key destinations; Boost ridership and improve service reliability and efficiency; Respond to evolving budgetary conditions; and Integrate with emerging mobility services.
To achieve the abovementioned goals, agencies typically employ strategies such as simplifying routes, increasing service frequency, expanding or refocusing fixed-route coverage, tailoring spans of service, and optimizing stop spacing.
The Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) has published three reports documenting early lessons learned from BNRs. TCRP Synthesis 140: Comprehensive Bus Network Redesigns (2019) explored why agencies pursued redesigns, identifying core components, performance metrics, outcomes, and associated risks. TCRP Research Report 221: Redesigning Transit Networks for the New Mobility Future (2021) examined how agencies integrated new mobility options into redesigns, highlighting planning processes, implementation challenges, and accessibility considerations. More recently, TCRP Synthesis 159: Identifying Impacts Associated with Bus Network Redesigns (2022) focused on how agencies define, measure, and improve access in BNRs beyond regulatory compliance.
Despite these contributions, challenges remain. A continuing challenge with BNRs is the diversity of agency goals, the difficulty of measuring public perception, and the absence of a universal baseline for success. As more agencies complete or embark on BNRs, there remains a gap in the research identifying the elements that define a successful BNR.
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this synthesis is to identify and document the measures of success that public transit agencies have used to evaluate BNRs in the short, medium, and long term. The synthesis shall summarize results realized, describe how agencies compared post-redesign results to their prior networks, and explore benchmarking and peer comparisons among both multimodal and bus-only systems.
]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 16 Jul 2025 14:46:24 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2576268</guid>
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      <title>Synthesis of Information Related to Transit Practices. Topic SA-52. Assessing Equity and Identifying Impacts Associated with Bus Network Redesigns</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1708340</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This TCRP synthesis will document the current practice of how transit agencies are assessing and addressing the equity impacts of bus network redesigns, including and beyond Title VI analyses.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 27 May 2020 11:02:44 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1708340</guid>
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    <item>
      <title>Electric Vehicle Bus Systems</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1353347</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Pure electric buses (EBs) present an alternative in the transit bus arena and are being manufactured and sold by several US companies. In this project, an electric bus fleet (Tallahassee StarMetro's five electric bus fleet) was investigated as a case study. For the study, the implementing strategy, route distance and timing, charging times, fuel economy, impact of type of chargers, maintenance and operational characteristics of the EB fleet were analyzed and the results were compared with the StarMetro diesel bus fleet. The operational results showed that the electrical demand charge was a large contributor to the electricity costs. From this result, an energy consumption model was developed to simulate the fuel economy of the EBs for any given driving cycle. The model was used to study the impact of routes and EB charging strategies on demand charges. An objective function was created to search for the optimal charging strategy that minimizes demand charges. The EB charging strategy showed that an optimization based on the battery state of charge will result in a 41% electricity cost savings for a five EB fleet over 12 years operational period. The EB charging strategy can be easily adopted by transit agencies without added hardware costs. Future project activities will be to apply the EB energy consumption model and the charging strategy model to different electric transit bus systems with different driving cycles and routes.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 13 May 2015 01:00:44 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1353347</guid>
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