INTERNATIONAL TRANSIT STUDIES PROGRAM
Sponsored by the Transit Cooperative Research Program of
the
Transportation Research Board
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Team members meet with leaders of public transport agencies, governmental organizations, and transit advocacy groups throughout the world to discuss common concerns and innovative approaches to addressing those concerns.
Not all meetings take place in conference rooms. Here, team members get a firsthand look at a depot in Berlin. |
| International Transit Studies Program |
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Since 1994, the International Transit Studies Program (ITSP) has been providing opportunities for U.S. public transit managers to meet face-to-face with their peers in cities throughout the world. They talk about common concerns and challenges, and they learn firsthand how transit systems in communities of various sizes and cultures are planned, funded, operated, and maintained. They come home with a broader perspective and with new ideas for improving their own agencies. The International Transit Studies Program is a project (J-03H) of the Transit Cooperative Research Program. The Transit Cooperative Research Program is managed by the Transportation Research Board and sponsored by the Federal Transit Administration. The goal of the International Transit Studies Program is to promote the professional development of U.S. transit managers by providing them with unique opportunities to learn about transit systems abroad. Team members are selected on the basis of nominations submitted by transit agencies. Two study missions are conducted each year—one in the spring, and one in the fall. Each mission focuses on a theme that is of great interest to public transport agencies in the United States.The cities to be visited are selected on the basis of their experience with the challenges posed by the mission theme and their ability to demonstrate new ideas or approaches to meeting those challenges. Study teams typically consist of 15 individuals—a team leader, who must be a general manager at a transit agency; 12 team members; a representative of the Federal Transit Administration, and a mission coordinator, who is a member of the ITSP contractor staff. To date, 34 study missions have been conducted, and 500 transit professionals have participated in the program. The call for nominations for team members is issued at least three months prior to each study mission. A call for applications for team leader positions is issued annually. Mission themes, team members, and team leaders are determined by the ITSP project oversight panel. All travel expenses associated with the study mission are covered by the International Transit Studies Program. Mission participants are expected to share what they learned from their international experience with their organizations and the U.S. transit industry as a whole. Each participant is required to submit a trip report describing what was learned about a seleted aspect of the mission theme. The team members' individual reports are then consolidated into a mission report that is published by TCRP and widely disseminated within the transit industry. International Transit Studies Program • Sponsored by the Transit Cooperative Research Program of the Transportation Research Board |