Routes to the Future of Urban Public Transit

This article discusses some of the managerial and technical changes needed to assure that the transit services needed in cities of the future will be available. These include diversification of the types of services provided, reductions in the scale of both service delivery and management bureaucracies, enhancement of the role of private providers, improvement of service efficiency, more productive negotiation with organized labor, service pricing in recognition of costs, and systematic management of travel demand. Factors limiting the potential role of new transit technology are discussed. Finally, the need for transit operating and management institutions to change, to become more responsive to markets, and to invite other, lower-cost providers to enter those markets is suggested.