Bus Rapid Transit Workshop
April 8-9, 2002
"Action Plan for a Thriving BRT Market"
On April 8-9, 2002 at Los Angeles, CA a Bus Rapid Transit Workshop was held on "An Action Plan for a Thriving BRT Market." Participants at this workshop including the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) officials, community transit representatives, manufactures and suppliers, and other industry stakeholders all contributed ideas, suggestions, viewpoints and perspective on the workshop topics.
The FTA shared the results from this workshop in an initial Action Plan. One of the areas of interest by the participants was the need for help in community education to help raise the public conscience about the availability of a new mass transit option, which can be funded and immediately provide needed service.
Conversations are needed on a federal level, and local transit groups must talk with their state and regional agencies to strategize funding options, so that both sides are working toward a middle community ground.
The FTA acknowledges the need to encourage competitive BRT vehicle production domestically. Adjustments and reviews to the "Buy America" program, the procurement process, R&D incentives and program payments, risk sharing and establishing a stable funding process are on the table, and industry representatives clearly asked for policy revisions and a process that works.
The New Starts process, the ability to undertake joint/shared procurement, and collaboration between regulators, manufactures, supplier and transit agencies to identity the best designs, criteria and technology were commonly noted as areas for improvement.
Finally, transit agencies and community representatives asked the FTA to study how existing programs that fund rail and highway projects can be expanded or modified to include various types of BRT projects. FTA representatives suggested working with the states, because a critical period for reauthorization in tranportation funding is approaching, and getting this message across to legislators and Congress is important.
The April 8-9, 2002 proceedings, "Action Plan for a Thriving BRT market," are available for your review.
For more information contact: Lawrence Wnuk, PhD, CALSTART, 2181 East Foothill Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91107; Email: [lwnuk@calstart.org] or via telephone at 626-744-6685.
*Credit for Information: This information was extracted from the West-Start-CALSTART BRT Newslane Newsletter, a monthly electronic publication in partnership with and funded by the Federal Transit Administration.