BACKGROUND.

Transit providers in rural and small urban areas (i.e., populations under 200,000) provide services under a great variety of conditions and with very few resources to many types of customers. Because of constraints in resources and the varying needs of communities, employees of rural and small urban transit providers perform duties that may vary widely from provider to provider, place to place, and even day to day.

The variety of situations results in varied compensation levels and practices. For example, positions may be salaried or paid by the hour or paid by some other method. Compensation levels, policies, and practices are influenced by many factors, including vehicle size and operational scope, the local labor market, internal and external political and financial considerations, and regional characteristics. 

OBJECTIVE.

The objective of this project is to prepare guidelines to help providers of transit in rural and small urban areas develop employee compensation. The guidelines should be an easy-to-use resource for transit providers to make decisions related to compensation levels, policies, and practices and should reflect budget constraints, the concerns of other stakeholders, and sensitivity to employees.

STATUS.   The research is complete and has been published as TCRP Report 127.    An interactive computer tool is also available for download.