Legal Aspects of Transit and Intermodal Transportation Programs. Topic 18-02. Codes of Conduct on Transit Vehicles and Property: Legal Issues

Public transportation agencies strive to offer safe, clean, courteous, and accessible service for the safety, convenience, and comfort of their customers. Some agencies have developed written codes of conduct for patrons that establish rules prohibiting certain conduct that may adversely affect use, operation, or occupancy of their vehicles and facilities. Other agencies apply informal rules to the same end. Whether written or communicated informally, codes of conduct supplement general laws in defining expected behavior for transit customers. Clear, sensible, and legally sound codes, effectively publicized and applied with compassion and common sense, can promote a pleasant and positive experience for transit users, a better work environment for agency personnel, and a welcoming environment for new riders. However, enforcement can be difficult. If codes of conduct are unclear, overly restrictive, harshly and unevenly applied and enforced, or facilitate unlawful discrimination, they can lead to serious adverse legal consequences for transit agencies. The objective of this research is to produce a report that provides practical advice and checklists for transportation agencies and their attorneys to consult in developing, improving, applying, and enforcing their own codes of conduct. This research will include at a minimum: (1) a comprehensive review of legal standards applicable to codes of conduct; and (2) a survey of numerous transit agencies, large and small, to determine if they have written or informal codes of conduct. Survey questions will cover what terms are contained in the respective codes, how the codes are administered and enforced, and what legal issues have arisen.

• Record URL:
  http://apps.trb.org/cmsfeed/TRBNetProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=4507

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Completed
• Funding: $50000
• Contract Numbers:

  Project J-05, Topic 18-02

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Transit Cooperative Research Program

  Transportation Research Board
  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC    20001

  Federal Transit Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Project Managers:

  Chisholm-Smith, Gwen

• Performing Organizations:

  Countermeasures Assessment & Security Experts, LLC

  527 Cooper Street, Suite 305
  Camden, NJ  United States  08102
• Principal Investigators:

  Frazier, Ron

• Start Date: 20190109
• Expected Completion Date: 20200709
• Actual Completion Date: 0

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Behavior; Legal factors; Policy; Public transit; Surveys; Transit operating agencies; Transit riders
• Subject Areas: Law; Passenger Transportation; Public Transportation; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01661359
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Transportation Research Board
• Contract Numbers: Project J-05, Topic 18-02
• Files: TRB, RIP
• Created Date: Feb 26 2018 4:43PM