This toolkit identifies an array of management principles and techniques, for use by small urban and rural public transportation providers, to assist in managing their transportation services and resources effectively. The toolkit has two parts: a guidebook and a self-assessment tool. The guidebook introduces the idea of customer-driven transit service attributes and includes general management philosophies. Also included in the guidebook are exemplary practices and "how to" instructions for some topics. Additional sections describing "rules of thumb" or "things to avoid" are included for some management processes. Each chapter of the guidebook discusses a customer-service attribute and how it can be measured and tracked. Some of the customer-service attributes are reliability, safety/security, convenience/accessibility, comfort/cleanliness, and affordability. The guidebook also includes four chapters on the "cross-cutting" topics, including operations management, risk management, vehicle maintenance, and procurement. The self-assessment tool on disk, that accompanies this report, is designed to give the user a baseline or current picture of the status of the transit system. Small urban and rural transportation providers need easy access to management principles and techniques that can be used to enhance performance, within their budget and staffing constraints. Although large- and medium-sized transportation agencies frequently use such principles and techniques, they can be expensive and require considerable staff, making them impractical for small urban and rural transportation providers. Often managers in small transportation operations are not able to attend industry conferences or training seminars. A recent survey, conducted by an association of rural transportation providers, indicated that guidance on basic management principles and techniques is sought at all levels. The survey also indicated a need for management reference materials and management principles and techniques to assist staff in guiding and managing their systems and in selecting and training employees. KFH Group, Inc., in association with the Institute for Transportation Research and Education (ITRE) and Laidlaw Transit Services, Inc., prepared the final report for TCRP Project G-5. To achieve the objective of identifying management principles and techniques for use by small urban and rural public transportation providers, the researchers conducted a comprehensive review of relevant literature. Small urban and rural transportation providers that are using the management principles and techniques identified in the literature search were singled out for further observation. Information was collected from the transportation providers on topics where assistance would be beneficial and on formats useful for presenting the material. On the basis of the information collected from the transportation providers, selected management principles and techniques were compiled, along with a glossary and complete bibliography. Simultaneously, a format for a simple, easy-to-update guidebook was developed. (A)
Abstract