Public Transportation: Enhanced Federal Information Sharing on Coordination Could Improve Rural Transit Services
Fast Facts
Public transportation in rural areas is critical to connecting people to medical services, jobs, and shopping. Coordination among transit providers serving large, sparsely populated areas can help cut costs and improve services. However, such efforts can be difficult with few resources, for example, when the transit manager is also the driver and dispatcher.
The Federal Transit Administration is working to improve coordination—with mixed results. Transit providers and others told us they would like more information on the best ways to coordinate their efforts.
We recommended that FTA develop a plan to more effectively share this information.
Rural Transit Bus Service in New Mexico
Bus at bus stop
Highlights
What GAO Found
Coordination of rural transportation services across geographic jurisdictions and federal- and state-funding sources has the potential to reduce costs and improve services. Such coordination by transit agencies in rural areas can lead to efficiencies. A variety of factors, however, adversely affect rural transit coordination, including the availability of resources, according to GAO's literature review and stakeholder interviews. About 70 percent of the selected stakeholders GAO interviewed, including rural and tribal transit providers, explained that it is difficult to coordinate transit services in rural communities with limited resources, such as funding, staff, and technology. For example, three rural transit providers said that program managers sometimes assume multiple duties, such as a driver and dispatcher, a practice that affects their time and ability to coordinate. Other cited factors included the extent to which different requirements of federal programs that fund rural transit are aligned to allow transit providers to coordinate trips for riders with specific needs (e.g., people with disabilities) and the availability of coordinating mechanisms, among other factors (see figure). Nonetheless, selected rural and tribal transit providers said they were engaged in various coordination efforts to improve rural transit services. The most commonly cited efforts under way included coordinating trips—for example, by establishing convenient drop-off points—and sharing resources.
Factors Affecting the Coordination of Rural Transit
The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has several efforts under way to facilitate coordination, but results are mixed. At the federal level, FTA and the federal interagency Coordinating Council on Access and Mobility issued a strategic plan in October 2019, outlining their strategic goals. However, they have yet to submit to Congress a final report containing recommendations for enhancing interagency coordination. FTA officials told us they plan to submit the report by September 2020. At the state and local level, FTA has provided technical support to stakeholders to faciliate coordination. GAO, however, found limitations with FTA's current information-sharing approach. These limitations make information on coordination-related issues difficult to identify and access. Stakeholders want additional information from FTA on leading coordination practices, such as ways to coordinate with other providers. Improving communication and sharing additional coordination-related information could help rural and tribal transit providers identify additional coordination practices they could pursue to improve rural transportation services.
Why GAO Did This Study
Public transportation in rural areas is critical to connecting people to medical services, jobs, education, and shopping. FTA allocated about $2.1 billion in formula grants over the last 3 years to support rural and tribal transit. In 2014, GAO reported that providing transit services in rural areas can be challenging and that coordination of transportation services among federal programs is limited.
GAO was asked to examine ongoing efforts and challenges of coordinating rural transit systems. This report addresses (1) factors affecting rural transit coordination and selected rural and tribal transit providers' coordination efforts and (2) the extent to which FTA facilitates coordination of rural transit services. GAO reviewed program documentation and literature on rural transit coordination. GAO also interviewed federal officials from FTA and the Department of Health and Human Services, which also funds transportation services, and rural transit stakeholders, including state transportation agencies, rural and tribal transit providers, and public transit industry groups. GAO selected states and rural and tribal transit providers based on federal-funding levels and geographic representation, among other factors.
Recommendations
GAO recommends that FTA develop a communication plan that will effectively share information with state and local stakeholders on coordination opportunities in an accessible and informative way. FTA partially concurred with the recommendation. As discussed in the report, GAO continues to believe the recommendation is warranted and should be fully implemented.
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Federal Transit Administration | The Administrator of FTA should develop a communication plan that will effectively share information with state transportation agencies and rural and tribal transit providers on coordination opportunities and leading coordination practices in an accessible and informative way. (Recommendation 1) |
Closed – Implemented
Public transportation in rural areas is critical to connecting people to medical services, jobs, education, and shopping. GAO previously reported in 2014 that providing transit services in rural areas can be challenging and coordination of transportation services among federal programs has been limited, despite the potential for coordination to improve the quality and cost-effectiveness of transit services. In 2020, GAO reported that FTA has taken a number of steps to enhance and facilitate coordination, including trainings to coordinate federal interagency efforts that support rural communities and improve transportation access to health and human services. While FTA had some efforts under way to facilitate coordination, GAO found limitations with FTA's approach to effectively reach state and local stakeholders and provide information on leading coordination practices and opportunities. For example, GAO determined that coordination-related information was fragmented on FTA's website and more than a third of the stakeholders, including rural and tribal transit providers and state transportation officials GAO spoke with (17 of 43) commented that information on coordination opportunities and leading coordination practices are not clearly identifiable on FTA's website. GAO also found that FTA does not have a strategy to share information on coordination opportunities and practices for rural and tribal transit providers, state transportation agencies, and others. Without a communication strategy to effectively reach state and local stakeholders, FTA was missing opportunities to enhance communication and information sharing that can improve coordination among state transportation agencies and rural and tribal transit providers. GAO therefore recommended that the FTA Administrator should develop a communication plan that will effectively share information on coordination opportunities and leading coordination practices in an accessible and informative way. DOT partially concurred with GAO's recommendation, noting examples of communication efforts with stakeholders on coordination opportunities and practices. As an alternative approach to developing a communication plan, the FTA and its five technical assistance centers have been meeting on a quarterly basis to prioritize a coordination communication strategy across FTA and the technical centers, which resulted in each technical center reorganizing their websites and centralizing information and best practices on coordination. In January 2021, a Technical Assistance Coordination Library (online library) was launched to provide a centralized database that catalogs all available resources and information on transportation coordination information. According to FTA officials, since its inception, many rural and tribal transit providers have attended and accessed training webinars via the online library. They cited transit providers from the Yurok Tribe and the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, among other rural and tribal transit providers, who have accessed received training on the online library. FTA officials also commented that its technical assistance center that oversees the library has conducted a national survey to collect feedback on users' experiences with the online library, and the feedback from transit providers have been positive. Survey and webinar participants have requested additional information and resources on many topics, such as sharing vehicles, to be added to the online library. FTA officials stated that they are working with their technical assistance centers to develop new resources on these topics. As a result of these efforts, FTA has met the intent of GAO's recommendation by providing stakeholders with valuable information that could aid them in identifying potential coordination opportunities and leading practices to help inform and facilitate coordination efforts on providing public transportation in rural and tribal communities.
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