Minnesota transit laboratory: phase 1 conclusions: improving transit service

Abstract

The desire to increase the attractiveness and use of transit has led the Minnesota Department of Transportation, the Center for Transportation Studies, and the Department of Civil and Mineral Engineering at the University of Minnesota to set up a Laboratory for developing improved service and encouraging innovation in transit.

Prior to seeking improvement of transit operations and the attractiveness of public travel, the problems of the transit industry had to be clearly defined. To that effect, an initial set of eight problem areas was defined and prioritized on the basis of short- and long-term by a group of local experts. However, as seeking solution to all the problems hence defined would be a most demanding task, it was desirable to reduce the set to a more manageable size that included the problems that were well defined, important, feasible and desirable for analysis and solution in Minnesota and elsewhere. To conduct this analysis, a well known and proven methodology, the Delphi Technique, was used.

The findings of the Delphi procedure indicate a prioritization that is, in principle, different from what was initially suggested by the group of local experts. Both groups - the Delphi participants and the local experts ? did concur on the ratings of a few problems (e.g., EFFECT OF COLD CLIMATE). The results of the Delphi procedure and the suggested prioritization of the local experts are exhibited on the following page.