Guidebook for recruiting, developing, and retaining transit managers for fixed-route bus and paratransit systems.

The Guidebook is designed primarily to address the needs of rural and smaller urban bus transit systems; however, large and mid-sized urban bus and rail transit providers may find suggestions in this Guidebook helpful and are welcome to modify guidance to meet their needs. Brief descriptions of related practices within transportation and other industries are also included. The Guidebook is organized into three major sections: Recruitment Recommendations; Training and Development Recommendations; and Retention Recommendations. Each section provides strategies that have been effective in transit agencies and other types of organizations. Effective implementation of the strategies assumes skill and knowledge in human resources management and will require adjustment to unique organizational circumstances. There are four appendices to the Guidebook. Appendix A contains figures which support Guidebook recommendations. Appendix B is a checklist for transit manager recruitment, training and retention excellence. Appendix C contains summaries for 20 case studies of transit systems that provide examples of practices. Appendix D includes a glossary of commonly used acronyms from the Guidebook. The accompanying CRP-CD-77 is a useful tool for the development of job descriptions. It provides information on what should be included in job descriptions to ensure legal defensibility of hiring practices and to promote retention of managers. A job matching matrix has been created to help transit systems select the Model Job Description Guide that best suits their needs. Five sample job descriptions are provided as well. These job descriptions were created for transit systems and provide real-world examples of how final job descriptions should appear once the Model Job Description Guides have been utilized. A separate report presenting the research methodology, the results of a literature review, and the results from focus groups held with 15 other non-transit public and private sector organizations is available on the TRB website at http://www.TRB.org. (Author/publisher)