APTA: 2007 Annual Report

Message from the Chair and the President

As this fiscal year drew to a close, we felt honored to have presided over one of the most significant achievements in our industry in the modern era—the largest number of public transit trips in almost 50 years.

The year marked a great milestone in public transit ridership: More than 10.1 billion trips were taken on public transportation in 2006—the highest in 49 years.

We are particularly proud of how our industry came together to work with Congress to ensure that spending bills included the full level authorized in SAFETEA-LU for Fiscal Year 2007. We would not have achieved this increase in funding without our members communicating to elected officials the importance of fully funding public transit. We saw increases in FY 2007 funding for security, with significant increases authorized for the program in FY 2008.

As global climate change and energy issues took center stage, APTA responded by reminding Congress and the public that public transportation is one of the most energy-efficient and environmentally friendly modes of travel.

We were successful in including public transit in early versions of energy legislation moving through both houses of Congress as one of the solutions to advancing the national goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions. In promoting the environmental and energy benefits of public transportation, groundbreaking research was released showing that public transportation use saves 1.4 billion gallons of gasoline per year.

APTA continued to reach out to encourage more participation among all APTA members and to prepare them for leadership positions. This report outlines many of these activities.

This year’s theme, “Public Transportation: Wherever Life Takes You,” was highlighted through a dynamic Annual Meeting in San Jose, CA. Through general forums and conference workshops, we were fortunate to hear from an array of experts in the business, technical, and environmental arenas.

Toward the end of the fiscal year, APTA embarked on an industrious and far-reaching visionary effort called TransitVision 2050, which will address the role that public transportation will play in the decades to follow.

Lastly, we appreciate your confidence in our association. The comprehensive survey APTA undertook showed you are very satisfied with our work. We plan to work even harder to keep your confidence.

We could not have achieved any of these accomplishments without the dedication and leadership of our Executive Committee and Board of Directors.

As we look back on a year of industry successes, it is clear that none of them could have happened without the daily efforts of our members, whom we thank for their continuing commitment to serving our customers.

Sincerely,

Leading the Way to Continued Investment in Public Transportation

More than two years have passed since passage of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act–A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU).

Funding Legislation

In February 2007, Congress enacted an omnibus appropriations bill that included $8.975 billion for public transportation programs for FY 2007, the full level authorized in SAFETEA-LU. This represented a 5.5 percent increase over FY 2006 levels.

In FY 2007, Congress appropriated $275 million for transit security grants—an increase of $125 million over the previous year—for two tiers of transit agencies, based on risk level.

Setting the stage for future increases, Congress also authorized a $3.4 billion transit security program for Fiscal Years 2008 through 2010, which authorizes both capital and operating assistance for transit systems.

APTA’s Legislative Committee took the lead in soliciting industry views for the development of recommendations on the authorization of the federal transit and highway programs when the current law expires September 30, 2009. The committee drafted broad principles on the national benefits and financing and established a work plan for the process in the year ahead.

Transportation Study Commissions

APTA worked with two study commissions authorized by Congress through SAFETEA-LU. The National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission and the Finance Commission were established to develop America’s transportation policy and determine financing needs and options.

APTA was one of the primary sponsors of the first full hearing in Dallas, Texas, and testified at three others and participated in many of the meetings held throughout the country. APTA also conducted special sessions at its Legislative Conference and the Annual Meeting regarding the commissions’ work. The study commissions plan to issue reports by December 31, 2007.

SAFETEA-LU Rulemaking

This year, APTA worked on final rules for planning, the New Freedom Program, and participated in extensive negotiations concerning an updated Charter Service rule. APTA also worked on recently released final regulations for Buy America requirements. APTA submitted extensive comments on several rulemakings related to the Americans with Disabilities Act and began work with FTA on the New Starts regulation update.

Leading the Way to Energy Independence and Improving the Environment

Implementing the transition of the Public Transportation Partnership for Tomorrow (PT2) program into an APTA core program resulted in development of the Research, Communication, and Advocacy program.

Led by the APTA Marketing and Communications and Legislative committees, APTA identified energy and the environment as key issues for 2007.

APTA continued to advocate for the inclusion of public transportation in legislation aimed at reducing the nation’s dependence on oil, conserving energy, and cutting greenhouse gas emissions. Early versions of energy legislation moving through both houses of Congress included public transit as one of the solutions to advancing these national goals. The House was expected to consider legislation that would raise public transit formula funding for communities that increased service or reduced fares, and also provided a mechanism to help commuter and transit rail systems that seek access to freight rail lines for new passenger service.

Saving Gas by Taking Public Transit

In January, a groundbreaking study revealed that public transportation use saves 1.4 billion gallons of gasoline per year, and reduces household expenses by $6,200—more than the average household pays annually for food. The study, “Public Transportation and Petroleum Savings in the U.S.: Reducing Dependence on Oil,” by ICF Inter national, also showed that this is the equivalent of 108 million cars filling up each year—or almost 300,000 a day.

Dumping the Pump

In June, more than 100 public transportation agencies nationwide participated in the second annual national “Dump the Pump” day to increase awareness of the environmental benefits of using public transportation. The event offered people the opportunity to beat the high price of gasoline by supporting public transportation—and using transit as an option to help reduce our nation’s dependence on foreign oil. To support Dump the Pump day, APTA created an online resource kit with artwork; suggested activities; press releases; and national online advertising. APTA members participated in a variety of ways including offering free or half-fare rides, sponsoring contests, giving away T-shirts, and holding “open houses.”

Going Green

APTA released its first-ever “Green Travel Forecast,” which noted that many savvy travelers used the local public transportation system as an environmentally friendly and cost-effective way to tour some of the hot destinations and summer events a city has to offer. In addition, an APTA survey estimated that 90 million Americans traveled to a large city during the summer months. Slightly more than one out of three people surveyed said they would tour green by using public transportation (34 percent). Travelers’ use of public transportation reached as high as 48 percent in New York City, the nation’s top destination for public transit use for visitors, according to the survey. APTA also provided a Consumer’s Guide that included specific information on day and visitor passes, trip planners, transit maps, and directions.

Leading the Way to Expanding Professional Development Opportunities

Throughout the year, APTA helped expand development and educational opportunities for its members through expert speakers at conferences, continuing progress on web-based educational services, and a strong focus on the next generation of leaders.

Featuring Expert Speakers at Conferences

In keeping with APTA Chair Howard Silver’s theme, “Public Transportation: Wherever Life Takes You,” during APTA’s Annual Meeting in San Jose, business members sponsored Dr. Oren Harari, cited by The Financial Times as one of the “Top 40 Business and Management Minds in the World.” Also featured were Nicole Schapiro, the first woman senior vice president of sales and marketing at Citicorp, who shared her experiences as a teenage Hungarian freedom fighter, and the former chief solutions officer at Yahoo! Tim Sanders. APTA’s spring technical conferences featured key speakers on industry priority issues including energy, the environment, and sustainability. They included environmental business guru Adam Savitz and internationally renowned environmentalist David Suzuki.

Advancing APTA’s Web-based Educational Services

Continuing its progress on virtual learning activities, APTA’s webinar series provided virtual seminars on the basics of human services coordination for transit board members and the impact of “lost time” on transit operations and organizations. APTA created the first online training for the rail industry, the pilot of which—the introduction to track circuits for signal maintenance—was rolled out at the APTA Rail Conference in Toronto. Staff also continued to implement APTA’s online learning management system, which was used for information exchange and to review documents and research products by several APTA committees.

Preparing the Next Generation of Public Transportation Leadership

Throughout the year, APTA sponsored, created, and promoted programs to advance the professional development of the next generation of industry leaders. APTA conducted targeted sessions at conferences and meetings on how best to attract, recruit, and retain employees.

The Leadership APTA Committee selected the 10th class of Leadership APTA (2006 – 2007). The program continued to focus on core competencies in leadership. Through its research projects, it provided an opportunity for participants to work closely with industry leaders and APTA committees to address key industry priorities, challenges, and research needs.

One of APTA Chair Howard Silver’s priorities for this year was to encourage more participation among APTA members and to prepare them for leadership roles within APTA. To that end, a task force was established to promote the value of participation in the association and opportunities to serve in leadership roles, and to establish ongoing mechanisms to address these issues within APTA.

Fostering International Partnerships

APTA continued to develop and foster international partnerships and hosted a series of delegations that included transportation officials from Russia, Colombia, France, South Africa, and Seoul, Korea. The officials learned about a variety of management and technical issues, including specific ITS technology applications.

In addition, APTA organized and sponsored a study mission to London, Paris, and Frankfurt on integrated passenger information systems. Twenty APTA members participated in this study effort, noting where integrated data systems were successfully implemented and where bus, rail, and other modes used the data to communicate with their customers internally.

Leading the Way to Increasing Ridership and Enhancing Mobility Services for All

This was a year of record ridership with a strong focus on improving quality service and enhancing senior mobility.

Achieving Record Ridership

In March, during its Legislative Conference, APTA released national ridership numbers revealing that 10.1 billion trips were taken on public transportation in 2006—the highest in 49 years. Public transportation use rose 30 percent since 1995. This is more than double the growth rate of the population (12 percent) and higher than the growth rate for vehicle miles traveled on our roads (24 percent). The announcement garnered a front-page story in the USA Today Money section and was also mentioned on CBS’ 60 Minutes.

Investing in Quality Service

The APTA Quality Service Task Force continued to see growing delivery of service quality-focused peer reviews. The task force began a Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Quick Study to gain information on quality program lessons learned from organizations outside of public transportation. Through this research, APTA will develop a proposal to establish a permanent quality-related program for its members.

A total of 13 peer reviews were held on safety, operations, and communications, including two specific reviews on quality service.

Enhancing Senior Mobility Options

APTA continued to focus on issues affecting senior mobility through best practices, communications activities, and educational sessions at APTA meetings and conferences, and meetings with stakeholders in the senior mobility area. In partnership with the Beverly Foundation, APTA conducted a survey of transit system members on which best practices most effectively addressed senior mobility issues. Partnering with the Administration on Aging (AOA) and National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (n4a), APTA conducted two forums highlighting mobility choices for seniors in partnership with members in Knoxville, TN (Knoxville Area Transit), and Richmond, VA (GRTC Transit System). These forums will be replicated as model programs for other communities throughout the country. APTA also serves on the national steering committees for two national centers authorized by SAFETEA-LU: the National Center on Senior Transportation and National Center on Human Services Coordination. We continued to forge strong partnerships with AARP through forums, workshops, and reports on senior mobility issues.

Increasing Mobility Services for All Americans

APTA has continued its stakeholder role in the U.S. Department of Labor’s “Mobility Services for All Americans” initiative. This multi-year federal program is designed to use Intelligent Transportation Systems technology to remove barriers to transportation services for people with disabilities, older adults, and the transportation disadvantaged. Over the past year, APTA conducted demonstration workshops with eight project sites across the country that highlighted these new ITS services, including the kickoff workshop in Washington, DC, and an ITS Rural Workshop in Big Sky, Montana.

Leading the Way to a Safer and More Secure America

The safety and security of the industry’s systems and its passengers are paramount. During the year, we saw a number of significant initiatives supporting and strengthening safety and security in our industry.

Strengthening Emergency Response

In the wake of the devastation of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, APTA established an emergency preparedness task force that secured a Federal Transit Administration grant that established the Emergency Preparedness Program (ERPP). Funded with a $303,000 grant, ERPP is a mutual aid program that inventories available transit resources across the nation that can be accessed during local, regional, or national emergencies. Currently, more than 200 organizations have signaled their support, and the ERPP is developing an interactive web site for use as a support tool for both participating organizations and any entities that may need to request support services.

Developing Standards

Continuing our aggressive efforts in developing standards for the industry, APTA moved forward in several areas under the direction of the Standards Development Oversight Council. Universal Transit Fare Standards were completed and released, along with several additional commuter rail and rail transit standards. APTA accelerated security standards and began development of standards in the procurement and sustainability areas. With active participation from the transit industry as well as the disability rights community, accessibility standards were started, with significant progress made in rail gap management, fixed route stop announcements, and paratransit call centers. This year, the Federal Transit Administration continued to support standards by providing more than $2 million in funding. APTA staff also reached out to more than 40 transit systems and business members to inform them about the broad array of available standards and to encourage their use.

Improving Rail Safety

While the public transportation industry’s safety record improves each year, APTA continued to be responsive in addressing safety-related issues. Some of its more significant initiatives were in commuter rail operations, working closely with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) on strengthening hazard assessment and analysis for commuter rail agencies. Collaborative efforts are also underway to address station platform/rail car gaps through the standards program process.

Leading the Way to the Future

Finally, as the fiscal year drew to a close, APTA initiated a far-reaching, visionary effort called TransitVision 2050, which will address the role that public transportation will play in the decades ahead and ensure the industry is prepared to meet the challenges. The TransitVision 2050 web platform at http://www.apta.com/myapta will provide white papers, other research, streaming video, and news articles on the issues and trends. It will also offer discussion boards so members can easily provide input and feedback. Webinars are planned for this fall, as well as a live and online session at the APTA Annual Meeting in Charlotte, N.C.

Responding to APTA Members: Increasing Satisfaction

In January, APTA conducted a comprehensive member survey that was sent to more than 6,000 members.

The good news is that 86.9 percent of members are very satisfied or satisfied with APTA overall; 82.8 percent are very satisfied or satisfied with APTA staff; and 80.1 percent are very satisfied or satisfied with APTA’s focus on the industry’s issues.

Among the top 10 programs and services, members cited conferences, advocacy, and Passenger Transport.

Perhaps the most telling display of member satisfaction is apparent when APTA is compared to other associations. Association Research Inc., which conducted the survey, benchmarked the general satisfaction ratings for 50 associations in three key areas. The median rating for overall satisfaction for the 50 associations was 3.92, while APTA’s median rating was 4.17 on a 5-point scale. APTA was rated higher by our members than three-quarters of the associations. APTA also ranked higher than 75 percent of the associations in member satisfaction with staff (4.26 compared to the 4.10 benchmark) and communications (4.07 compared to 4.03).

APTA staff continue to review and analyze the data to determine areas of improvement, as well as identify new programs or services that should be considered.

	Howard Silver Chair		Michael S. Townes First Vice Chair
	Michael J. Scanlon Secretary-Treasurer		Ronald L. Barnes Immediate Past Chair
	Richard J. Bacigalupo Vice Chair Management & Finance		Allen D. Biehler Vice Chair State Affairs
	Christopher P. Boylan Vice Chair Government Affairs		Mattie P. Carter Vice Chair Transit Board Members
	Thomas J. Costello Vice Chair Marketing and Communications		Michael P. Depallo Vice Chair Rail Transit
	Fred M. Gilliam Vice Chair Bus and Paratransit Operations		Kim R. Green Vice Chair Business Member-at-Large
	Delon Hampton Vice Chair Business Members		John M. Inglish Vice Chair Research and Techology
	Jeanne Krieg Vice Chair Human Resources		Gary W. McNeil Vice Chair Canadian Members
	Hugh A. Mose Vice Chair Small Operations		David Solow Vice Chair Commuter and Intercity Rail