SURTC Advisory Board Meeting

SURTC's annual Advisory Board meeting on Sept. 14 featured praise for the center's programs, optimism over increased funding for transit nationally and concern over adapting to the demands of that funding.

The ideas expressed will be important as the center plans its research, education and outreach programs for the coming year. "The board meeting is an opportunity for us to take stock of our programs and direction," noted SURTC director Jill Hough. "We listen carefully to what our board members have to say and make program adjustments accordingly. It's an important part of keeping our efforts focused and relevant."

Much of the feedback at the board meeting was positive, beginning with opening comments by North Dakota Department of Transportation director Dave Sprynczynatyk.

Ron Hynes, Deputy Associate Administrator of the Federal Transit Administration, praised SURTC's "highly professional approach to university outreach, education and technical sharing. You have a carefully planned research agenda with stakeholder involvement and support that you've developed in consultation with the FTA."

Chris Zeilinger, Assistant Director for Governmental Affairs and Training for the Community Transportation Association of America also praised SURTC's work. "The work that's been done here really is national in scope and impact. You are setting the stage for small urban and rural transit across America."

"The work that those of us in community transportation have always done, providing demand response service to the elderly and handicapped, is now becoming state-of-the-art for large urban transit systems," he noted.

Zeilinger noted that funding for transit grew at twice the rate of highway spending under the new transportation bill. "The work organizations like SURTC are doing is going to be even more important."

A challenge for small urban and rural transit agencies will be finding local funds to meet the required match for federal funding formulas. The legislation also calls for greater accountability from transit agencies, requiring them to develop formal transportation plans and document their decision-making process.

"For many of these agencies, decisions are made very informally," Zeilinger noted. "Given the requirements and accountability that accompany these new funds, it might be a job for SURTC to figure out what kind of decision-making processes work best for transit agencies in rural America."

Alan Abeson, of Easter Seals' Project Action noted that increased coordination among transit providers will be key in the future. That means greater coordination between education and transportation. Other issues will be an increased demand for a more fully accessible pedestrian environment.

Abeson also noted that training for transit managers will become an increasingly important issue, particularly for paratransit managers. Those managers will be in greater demand as paratransit agencies grow and urban transit agencies expand their paratransit operations.

Carol Wright, executive director of James River Transit in Jamestown and president of the Dakota Transit Association concurred with Abeson that efforts to improve coordination would continue to be key to improving mobility and using funding more efficiently. Her transit agency is increasing its mobility coordination with other local agencies as a result of a statewide study conducted on coordination by SURTC for the North Dakota DOT.

"What we're doing is a direct result of the statewide coordination study. It's an example of what can happen when you take data out of a larger study and apply it locally," she said.

Jackie Mattheis, a transportation specialist with the South Dakota DOT, also cited coordination as a key issue. She also noted that a challenge for small transit agencies was the increasing size of buses. "We're working with transit providers to look for ways to cut costs and boost the number of riders," she said.

In Montana, transit providers petitioned the Public Service Commission and removed some regulatory barriers to coordination, reported Lyn Hellegaard, director of the Missoula Ravalli Transportation Management Authority and a member of the Montana Transit Association.

She reported that the association is working with the CTAA to assess and address transit issues on the state's Indian reservations and with the national park service to address transit within national parks as well as finding ways to use transit equipment that is underutilized during the parks' off season.

"Coordination is not just a byword in Wyoming. If you don't coordinate, you don't have any service at all," says Sean Solan of the Wyoming DOT. "We have contracts to provide service for various agencies. We have a philosophy: If we miss an opportunity to provide one ride, we're not doing our job."

Keven Anderson of the Minnesota DOT noted that transit funding in Minnesota was a rural-urban struggle with rural systems competing for attention and funds against high-volume systems in the Twin Cities. He noted the challenges the DOT has in dealing with county and tribal governments in planning. "In our district in northwestern Minnesota, all of our transportation issues are a series of coordination issues. It's a matter of getting the right people at the table."

Ron Baumgart, past president of the Dakota Transit Association and executive director of River Cities Transit in Pierre, S.D. said transit providers will be challenged to be good stewards of the increased funding under the new highway bill. "For years we've told legislators we could do so much more if we had the money. Now we have to prove it," he says.

Bruce Fuchs, transit manager for the North Dakota DOT, said he is confident that most local agencies are up to that task. "In North Dakota we're shifting from a program of control. We need to become an enabler. We get people the money to do the things they need to do and then let them get the job done."

In Utah that means cooperating to help school districts provide transportation as budgets shrink and enrollment increases, according to Ryan Marshall, president of the Utah Urban Rural Specialized Transportation Association. He also noted the state was devoting more funding to transit as a new statewide sales tax initiative included in a transit measure.

Tom Steyaert of the Montana Department of Transportation echoed concerns about local agencies' ability to find local matching funds. "We are seeing new ways of getting funds out there. The challenge will be getting the match."

"The future is filled with both opportunities and challenges related to new funding nationally for transit," notes Hough. "Small urban and rural transit agencies are united by the challenges they face in serving a widely dispersed clientele with very limited resources. Our job at SURTC is to help those agencies find innovative ways to most efficiently take advantage of funding opportunities to improve service to their clientele."