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TCRP J-08A [Completed]
New Paradigms for Public Transportation: A Scoping Study
| Project Data |
| Funds: |
$176,532 |
| Effective Date: |
2/25/1997 |
| Completion Date: |
2/24/1998 |
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Many industries are restructuring in response to new technology, improved communication, changes in the work force, and financial pressures. These forces also affect the public transit industry, thereby requiring new attitudes toward customers, employees, service delivery, organization, and technology. The idea of new paradigms (which encompasses concepts such as reengineering, reinventing, and partnering) is common in industry, but what does this idea imply for public transportation? A strategy is needed to define how the political, economic, social, technological, and cultural forces at work affect the public transit industry in this country and how the industry should best respond.
The objective of Project J-8A was to conduct a scoping study on new paradigms for public transportation in the United States. This effort was designed to affect public transportation and propose specific actions, including research projects, to assist the industry and the communities it serves in coping with and preparing for change. The findings of the scoping study were presented to the TCRP Oversight and Project Selection (TOPS) Committee and a panel designated by the TOPS Committee to identify the highest-priority actions.
The approach to this scoping effort was particularly important. A task group of TOPS members (the J-8 Task Group) met frequently during 1996 and 1997 to discuss new paradigms for public transportation and the need for relevant research. The J-8 Task Group, which oversaw this effort, wanted to use an outreach approach to identify research needs, soliciting ideas from a broad range of constituencies, including the following:
- Individuals directly involved with public transportation, such as transit providers, customers, suppliers, board members, employees, and labor representatives; and
- Individuals less involved (or uninvolved) with public transportation, such as elected officials, public interest groups, and representatives of other industries (both similar to and different from transit) that have undergone paradigm shifts.
Future Search was held in May 1997 to meet this objective. Following the Future Search, research problem statements were developed and presented to TOPS for approval and TCRP Research Results Digest 24 was published. RRD 24 is also available in portable document format (PDF). Double-click on the file below to access this RRD. (A free copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader is available at https://www.adobe.com.)
TCRP Research Results Digest 24
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