APTA's membership includes operating transit authorities, their suppliers and other advocates of improved public transportation. More than 95 percent of transit passengers in the U.S. and Canada are carried by APTA members. The purpose of MTAP is to facilitate information sharing for successful state technical assistance efforts and practices among state transit officials. This is the only effort aimed at technical assistance that focuses on state-level activities. One of the primary objectives is to increase the ability of state transit officials to interact effectively with local transit systems.
Member states contribute dues to fund the program based on their populations.
Annual program funding depends upon the number of member states participating each year. Because MTAP is a cooperative program, member states are able to leverage their funding contributions and receive benefits of much greater value than they could have accomplished without pooling their resources. The primary goal of the consortium is the resolution of mass transit-related problems that are common among its members. The consortium also serves as an information exchange forum and provides a unified, regional voice for expressing the common concerns and interests of its members to the federal government. Consortium members consist of representatives of state or commonwealth departments of transportation, public transportation divisions and departments of health and human services.