This report was developed by TCRP Project J-8B, "New Paradigms for Local Public Transportation Organisations"; it addresses three basic questions: 1. Why is fundamental change — a paradigm shift — needed in public transportation? 2. What is the scope and scale of change that might be sought? 3. How can fundamental change be most effectively pursued and sustained? The report is concise and easy highly readable. It poses provocative questions, and it challenges readers to consider the situations in their communities and whether a new paradigm for local public transportation should be pursued. The report's four chapters progress logically from an assessment of the current organisation of the transit industry to a summary of the fundamental elements of a public transportation paradigm shift based on lessons learned from other industries. The report addresses why fundamental change is now needed in public transportation and how other businesses and industries have responded to similar factors and forces in the recent past. Six broad challenges that currently drive the need for fundamental change in public transportation are presented: the vitality of our urban areas; socioeconomic trends; the "enabling environment" (characterised by fragmented responsibilities, regulatory constraints, and conflicting policies and goals); organisational dynamics and culture; the focus on customer's experience; and the digital economy and information age. Although the results of this research do not espouse a single model or organisational arrangement for public transportation systems, the report does suggest that in many industries a fundamental shift is occurring toward a strategic focus on managing service to customers rather than on managing the use of a single organisation's assets. The new paradigm focuses on the varying and changing needs of customers — needs that often require the formation of new organisational alliances among former competitors. State-of-the-art information technology is critical for understanding customer needs and providing realtime information. Incentives for innovation at all levels of an organisation must replace historical barriers to change. The appendices to this brief report address the process for change. Emphasis is placed on the importance of organisations being proactive, rather than reactive, thus strengthening their capacity to change. Public transportation systems must recognise the need for change as it arises and must proceed to plan, carry out, and institutionalise new approaches that are responsive to customers and the external environment. (A)
Abstract