Abstract
The author discusses four major types of data needed for national transit strategic planning. They include factors that influence transit demand, the system extent, system operations and related costs, and system condition. The umta section 15 data set and its effectiveness in providing national analysis of transit productivity and efficiency is reviewed. The author also identifies transit rehabilitation and replacement and transit safety and security as increasinglyimportant issues for the coming decade. This paper appears in transportation research record no. 1271, Transportation data and information systems: current applications and needs 1990.