TRANSIT COOPERATIVE RESEARCH TCRP PROGRAM REPORT 79 Sponsored by the Federal Transit Administration Effective Approaches to Meeting Rural Intercity Bus Transportation Needs TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL TCRP OVERSIGHT AND PROJECT TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 2002 (Membership as of July 2002) SELECTION COMMITTEE (as of June 2002) OFFICERS CHAIR Chair: E. Dean Carlson, Secretary of Transportation, Kansas DOT LINDA S. WATSON Vice Chair: Genevieve Giuliano, Professor, School of Policy, Planning, and Development, USC, Los Angeles Corpus Christi RTA Executive Director: Robert E. Skinner, Jr., Transportation Research Board MEMBERS MEMBERS DANNY ALVAREZ Miami-Dade Transit Agency WILLIAM D. ANKNER, Director, Rhode Island DOT KAREN ANTION THOMAS F. BARRY, JR., Secretary of Transportation, Florida DOT Karen Antion Consulting MICHAEL W. BEHRENS, Executive Director, Texas DOT GORDON AOYAGI JACK E. BUFFINGTON, Associate Director and Research Professor, Mack-Blackwell National Rural Montgomery County Government Transportation Study Center, University of Arkansas JEAN PAUL BAILLY SARAH C. CAMPBELL, President, TransManagement, Inc., Washington, DC Union Internationale des Transports Publics JOANNE F. CASEY, President, Intermodal Association of North America J. BARRY BARKER JAMES C. CODELL III, Secretary, Kentucky Transportation Cabinet Transit Authority of River City RONALD L. BARNES JOHN L. CRAIG, Director, Nebraska Department of Roads Central Ohio Transit Authority ROBERT A. FROSCH, Sr. Research Fellow, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University LINDA J. BOHLINGER SUSAN HANSON, Landry University Prof. of Geography, Graduate School of Geography, Clark University HNTB Corp. LESTER A. HOEL, L. A. Lacy Distinguished Professor, Depart. of Civil Engineering, University of Virginia ANDREW BONDS, JR. RONALD F. KIRBY, Director of Transportation Planning, Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments Parsons Transportation Group, Inc. H. THOMAS KORNEGAY, Exec. Dir., Port of Houston Authority JENNIFER L. DORN BRADLEY L. MALLORY, Secretary of Transportation, Pennsylvania DOT FTA MICHAEL D. MEYER, Professor, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of NATHANIEL P. FORD, SR. Technology Metropolitan Atlanta RTA JEFF P. MORALES, Director of Transportation, California DOT CONSTANCE GARBER DAVID PLAVIN, President, Airports Council International, Washington, DC York County Community Action Corp. JOHN REBENSDORF, Vice Pres., Network and Service Planning, Union Pacific Railroad Co., Omaha, NE FRED M. GILLIAM CATHERINE L. ROSS, Executive Director, Georgia Regional Transportation Agency Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority JOHN M. SAMUELS, Sr. Vice Pres.-Operations Planning & Support, Norfolk Southern Corporation, SHARON GREENE Sharon Greene & Associates Norfolk, VA KATHERINE M. HUNTER-ZAWORSKI PAUL P. SKOUTELAS, CEO, Port Authority of Allegheny County, Pittsburgh, PA Oregon State University MICHAEL S. TOWNES, Exec. Dir., Transportation District Commission of Hampton Roads, Hampton, VA ROBERT H. IRWIN MARTIN WACHS, Director, Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California at Berkeley British Columbia Transit MICHAEL W. WICKHAM, Chairman and CEO, Roadway Express, Inc., Akron, OH JOYCE HOBSON JOHNSON M. GORDON WOLMAN, Prof. of Geography and Environmental Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University North Carolina A&T State University CELIA G. KUPERSMITH EX OFFICIO MEMBERS Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District MIKE ACOTT, President, National Asphalt Pavement Association PAUL J. LARROUSSE REBECCA M. BREWSTER, President and CEO, American Transportation Research Institute, Atlanta, GA National Transit Institute JOSEPH M. CLAPP, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrator, U.S.DOT DAVID A. LEE THOMAS H. COLLINS (Adm., U.S. Coast Guard), Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard Connecticut Transit JENNIFER L. DORN, Federal Transit Administrator, U.S.DOT CLARENCE W. MARSELLA Denver Regional Transportation District ELLEN G. ENGLEMAN, Research and Special Programs Administrator, U.S.DOT STEPHANIE L. PINSON ROBERT B. FLOWERS (Lt. Gen., U.S. Army), Chief of Engineers and Commander, U.S. Army Corps of Gilbert Tweed Associates, Inc. Engineers ROBERT H. PRINCE, JR. HAROLD K. FORSEN, Foreign Secretary, National Academy of Engineering DMJM+HARRIS JANE F. GARVEY, Federal Aviation Administrator, U.S.DOT JEFFERY M. ROSENBERG EDWARD R. HAMBERGER, President and CEO, Association of American Railroads Amalgamated Transit Union JOHN C. HORSLEY, Exec. Dir., American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials RICHARD J. SIMONETTA MICHAEL P. JACKSON, Deputy Secretary of Transportation, U.S.DOT pbConsult ROBERT S. KIRK, Director, Office of Advanced Automotive Technologies, U.S. DOE PAUL P. SKOUTELAS WILLIAM W. MILLAR, President, American Public Transportation Association Port Authority of Allegheny County MARGO T. OGE, Director, Office of Transportation and Air Quality, U.S. EPA PAUL A. TOLIVER MARY E. PETERS, Federal Highway Administrator, U.S.DOT King County Metro JEFFREY W. RUNGE, National Highway Traffic Safety Administrator, U.S.DOT JON A. RUTTER, Federal Railroad Administrator, U.S.DOT EX OFFICIO MEMBERS WILLIAM G. SCHUBERT, Maritime Administrator, U.S.DOT WILLIAM W. MILLAR APTA ASHISH K. SEN, Director, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, U.S.DOT MARY E. PETERS ROBERT A. VENEZIA, Earth Sciences Applications Specialist, National Aeronautics and Space Administration FHWA JOHN C. HORSLEY TRANSIT COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM AASHTO Transportation Research Board Executive Committee Subcommittee for TCRP ROBERT E. SKINNER, JR. E. DEAN CARLSON, Kansas DOT (Chair) TRB JENNIFER L. DORN, Federal Transit Administration, U.S.DOT TDC EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR GENEVIEVE GIULIANO, University of Southern California, Los Angeles LOUIS F. SANDERS LESTER A. HOEL, University of Virginia APTA WILLIAM W. MILLAR, American Public Transportation Association JOHN M. SAMUELS, Norfolk Southern Corporation, Norfolk, VA SECRETARY ROBERT E. SKINNER, JR., Transportation Research Board ROBERT J. REILLY PAUL P. SKOUTELAS, Port Authority of Allegheny County, Pittsburgh, PA TRB MICHAEL S. TOWNES, Transportation District Commission of Hampton Roads, Hampton, VA TRANSIT COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM TCRP REPORT 79 Effective Approaches to Meeting Rural Intercity Bus Transportation Needs KFH GROUP, INC. Bethesda, MD SUBJECT AREAS Public Transit • Planning and Administration Research Sponsored by the Federal Transit Administration in Cooperation with the Transit Development Corporation TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD — NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS WASHINGTON, D.C. — 2002 TRANSIT COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM TCRP REPORT 79 The nation’s growth and the need to meet mobility, Project B-21 FY’99 environmental, and energy objectives place demands on public ISSN 1073-4872 transit systems. Current systems, some of which are old and in need ISBN 0-309-06763-4 of upgrading, must expand service area, increase service frequency, Library of Congress Control Number 2002109060 and improve efficiency to serve these demands. Research is necessary to solve operating problems, to adapt appropriate new © 2002 Transportation Research Board technologies from other industries, and to introduce innovations into Price $25.00 the transit industry. The Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) serves as one of the principal means by which the transit industry can develop innovative near-term solutions to meet demands placed on it. The need for TCRP was originally identified in TRB Special Report 213—Research for Public Transit: New Directions, published in 1987 and based on a study sponsored by the Urban Mass Transportation Administration—now the Federal Transit Admin- istration (FTA). A report by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), Transportation 2000, also recognized the need for local, problem-solving research. TCRP, modeled after the longstanding and successful National Cooperative Highway Research Program, undertakes research and other technical activities NOTICE in response to the needs of transit service providers. The scope of The project that is the subject of this report was a part of the Transit Cooperative TCRP includes a variety of transit research fields including plan- Research Program conducted by the Transportation Research Board with the ning, service configuration, equipment, facilities, operations, human approval of the Governing Board of the National Research Council. Such resources, maintenance, policy, and administrative practices. approval reflects the Governing Board’s judgment that the project concerned is TCRP was established under FTA sponsorship in July 1992. appropriate with respect to both the purposes and resources of the National Proposed by the U.S. Department of Transportation, TCRP was Research Council. authorized as part of the Intermodal Surface Transportation The members of the technical advisory panel selected to monitor this project and Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA). On May 13, 1992, a memorandum to review this report were chosen for recognized scholarly competence and with agreement outlining TCRP operating procedures was executed by due consideration for the balance of disciplines appropriate to the project. The the three cooperating organizations: FTA, the National Academies, opinions and conclusions expressed or implied are those of the research agency acting through the Transportation Research Board (TRB); and that performed the research, and while