Improving Public Transportation in Rural Areas and Tribal Communities

Rural and tribal communities have a wide range of public transportation needs and must tailor their transit services, operations, funding strategies, and organization to the conditions within their communities. These transit agencies have different programs and practices for overseeing, funding, and managing their services. Insufficient financial and staffing resources make it challenging for transit providers in rural areas and tribal communities to identify and fully meet the travel needs of the communities they serve, to communicate effectively with patrons, to comply with national requirements, and to evaluate and adopt new technologies. Funded jointly under NCHRP Project 08-147/TCRP Project B-49, “Improving Public Transportation in Rural Areas and Tribal Communities,” KFH Group was asked to produce a guide to (1) promote practices that are responsive to customers and aid transit providers in improving efficiency and effectiveness; (2) help transit providers better leverage and coordinate resources, comply with federal requirements, and adopt appropriate emerging technologies; and (3) address the differences among rural areas and tribal communities regarding distinguishing characteristics and how these characteristics affect public transportation services. The distinguishing characteristics include size (i.e., square miles), population density, demographics, current mobility options, economic conditions, proximity to small, medium, and large urban areas, proximity to health facilities, geography, road infrastructure, internet connectivity, funding, and weather conditions. The guide has four parts: Part I presents new and emerging strategies and practices to enhance rural and tribal transportation services. Part II focuses on topics that support or improve the strategies and practices, presented in eight chapters: planning for new service strategies; management and operations considerations; communications with current and prospective passengers; safety and security; technology; measuring success; funding and revenue; and accessible service. Part III addresses topics that will help rural and tribal transit agencies improve or enhance their transportation services. Finally, Part IV introduces nine case studies that detail services or strategies implemented to improve public transportation for the rural or tribal communities. Supplemental to the guide are the full nine case studies and the appendix which presents the literature review. The supplemental documents are available on the National Academies Press website (nap.nationalacademies.org) by searching for NCHRP Research Report 1144/TCRP Research Report 251: Public Transportation in Rural Areas and Tribal Communities: Guide for Service Improvements and looking under “Resources.”

• Record URL:
  • http://apps.trb.org/cmsfeed/TRBNetProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=4884
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Joint project with NCHRP 08-147.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Completed
• Funding: $750,000.00
• Contract Numbers:

  B-49

• 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
• Performing Organizations:

  KFH Group, Inc.

  ,    
• Principal Investigators:

  Knapp, Sue

• Start Date: 20210827
• Expected Completion Date: 20241031
• Actual Completion Date: 20241031

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Accessibility; Mobility; Rural transit; Transit operating agencies; Transportation planning; Tribal government
• Subject Areas: Operations and Traffic Management; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01976350
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Transportation Research Board
• Contract Numbers: B-49
• Files: TRB, RIP
• Created Date: Jan 15 2026 2:12PM