According to APTA, 6,800 organizations— ranging from large multi-modal systems in major metropolitan areas to single-vehicle special demand- response service providers that transport senior citizens and the disabled—provided public transportation in 2013. While it is difficult to establish the exact dimensions of urban and rural transit service because transit providers headquartered in urban areas may also serve rural areas, urban transit providers primarily serve areas with populations of 50,000 or more. Within this category, small urbanized areas are those with populations under 200,000, and include small cities, college towns, and vacation or resort areas, while large urbanized areas are those with 200,000 or more people, including the country’s major metropolitan areas. The 834 agencies that serve urban areas accounted for more than 98 percent of all transit passenger trips in 2013, according to APTA. Non-urbanized, or rural, areas have populations of fewer than 50,000 people. In 2013, approximately 1,400 public transit agencies operated in rural areas, accounting for 1.5 percent of all passenger trips, according to APTA. Transit providers in rural areas operate in a variety of environments, serving areas that may span thousands of square miles in remote areas—meaning that trips may be long with only a few riders at any given time—or be located in more developed rural areas surrounding major cities. Compared to large urban systems, rural transit providers generally have low budgets, few employees, and small vehicle fleets. However, these transit systems provide vital mobility and connections to essential services for the approximately 75 million people who live in rural America. Transit providers serve the public through a variety of transportation modes. In this report, we use the following descriptions of transportation modes: Fixed-route bus service: rubber-tired passenger vehicles that operate on fixed routes and schedules over roadways. Diesel, gasoline, battery, or alternative fuel engines power these vehicles. This category includes bus rapid transit, commuter bus, and trolley bus. Paratransit: accessible, origin-to-destination transportation service that operates in response to calls or requests from riders. It is an alternative to fixed-route transit service, which operates according to regular schedules along prescribed routes with designated stops. Demand-response (also referred to as dial-a-ride): vehicles that operate in response to calls or requests from passengers. Small buses, vans, or taxis to provide transportation service that is not on a fixed route or schedule. For example, transportation may be provided for individuals whose access may be limited or whose health condition prevents them from using the regular fixed-route bus service. Commuter rail: vehicles that operate along electric or diesel- propelled railways and provide train service for local, short distance trips between a central city and adjacent suburbs. Heavy rail: vehicles that operate on electric railways with high-volume traffic capacity. This mode has separated rights-of-way, sophisticated signaling, high platform loading and high-speed rapid-acceleration rail cars operating singly or in multi-car trains on fixed rails. Light rail: vehicles that operate on electric railways with light-volume traffic capacity. The mode may have either shared or exclusive rights- of-way, low or high platform loading, or single or double car trains. ITS encompasses a broad range of wireless and wire line communications-based information and electronic technologies, including technologies for collecting, processing, disseminating, or acting on information in real time to improve the operation and safety of the transportation system. DOT identifies 11 core technologies that are useful for public transit providers to deploy. Figure 1 illustrates how seven ITS technologies are used on a transit bus and how the public may interact with them when utilizing fixed-route bus service. Other ITS technologies not depicted in figure 1 include: Communication technologies: technologies that pass information from one user to another in a useable form via wire, wireless, radio, the Internet, or other links to facilitate interaction among drivers, dispatchers, emergency responders, and other personnel. Geographic information systems (GIS) & data management: systems that manage and create spatial data such as location of bus stops, routes, transit facilities and the regional street network. The management, analysis, communication, and display of this information supports automatic vehicle location, automatic passenger counters, computer aided dispatch, and other technologies. Maintenance management systems: technologies that monitor everything from fuel and other fluid levels to engine temperature. Weather information systems: the hardware, software, and communications interfaces necessary to provide real-time information on weather conditions to transportation agencies and their customers. Deployment of transit ITS may involve a variety of transportation stakeholders in the public and private sectors. Transit ITS technologies may be proprietary systems sold by technology firms in the private sector. Transit providers may also hire consulting firms to assist them in the ITS procurement and deployment process, including developing system requirements and the request for proposals from vendors. Further, the operation of certain ITS, such as a transit signal priority system, involves not only the transit provider but the municipality that owns and operates the traffic signal equipment. Smaller neighboring transit providers may also participate in an ITS deployment, such as a regional electronic fare collection system, spearheaded by a larger transit provider. Metropolitan planning organizations may serve a key role in planning ITS deployment, as they have responsibility for the regional transportation processes in urbanized areas. Transit providers may use FTA formula and discretionary grants, among other sources, for projects that include ITS deployments. They may also acquire ITS components such as security systems through funding provided by the Department of Homeland Security. Additionally, state and local governments may use their own funds to finance ITS projects. The primary formula grant programs that transit providers could use to fund ITS are (1) urbanized area grants, which provide funds to urban areas for capital projects, such as purchasing buses, planning, job access and reverse commute projects, and operating and other expenses, and (2) rural area grants, which provide funds to states and tribal areas to be used for capital, operating, and other expenses to support public transportation in rural areas. The Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act authorizes several competitive grant programs that recipients could use to fund transit ITS projects, including (1) the Advanced Transportation and Congestion Technologies Deployment Initiative, which provides grant funding for recipients to deploy a range of technologies, including transit ITS such as advanced traveler information systems and electronic pricing and payment systems, and (2) the Pilot Program for Innovative Coordinated Access and Mobility, which funds innovative projects that improve the coordination of transportation services with non-emergency medical transportation services, and could include ITS projects. Other FTA competitive funding programs that have been used, at least in part, for transit ITS include: Veterans Transportation and Community Living Initiative (VTCLI): VTCLI has funded projects in urban, suburban, and rural communities to strengthen and promote “one-call” information centers and other tools that enable veterans, active service members, military families, and others to learn about and arrange for locally available transportation services that connect them with work, education, health care, and other vital services in their communities. Mobility Services for All Americans (MSAA) Deployment Planning Projects: DOT’s MSAA initiative aims to improve transportation services and access to employment, healthcare, education, and other community activities through a coordinated effort enabled by various ITS technologies and applications. MSAA funds are awarded to selected local and regional organizations to plan coordinated mobility services. Funded projects use ITS to coordinate deployment of on- demand public transportation systems, such as paratransit, for people with mobility issues. The grants help provide vital services for veterans, seniors, people with disabilities, and others who rely on community transportation providers to access everyday needs such as employment, medical care, and groceries. Transit providers often integrate ITS technologies into other capital purchases, like new buses; therefore, it is difficult to determine the total amount of FTA funds transit providers use solely for ITS. Although this does not represent total ITS spending, FTA officials estimated that the federal funds awarded for engineering, acquiring, constructing, rehabilitating/renovating, and/or leasing signal and communication equipment, surveillance/security systems, route signing, mobile fare collection equipment, vehicle locator systems, and signage (all of which, according to officials, would be considered ITS) totaled nearly $527 million in fiscal years 2012 through 2014. Congress established the federal ITS program in the Intelligent Vehicle- Highway Systems Act of 1991, which was enacted as part of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA) to research, develop, and operationally test ITS technologies and promote their implementation. More recently, the FAST Act authorized $100 million annually for the federal ITS program for fiscal years 2016 through 2020, the same levels the previous surface transportation authorization— Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21)—authorized for fiscal years 2013 and 2014. Within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology, the JPO coordinates the federal ITS program and initiatives in consultation with other surface transportation modal administrations across DOT, including the Federal Highway Administration, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Federal Railroad Administration, FTA, Maritime Administration, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The JPO supports the overall advancement of ITS through investments in major research initiatives, such as research on advanced connected vehicle and automation technologies, exploratory studies, and a deployment support program that includes technology transfer and training. DOT has reported that transit providers located in major U.S. cities have deployed a majority of the core transit ITS technologies described above. To determine the extent to which ITS technologies have been deployed, DOT conducts a survey on a regular basis that measures ITS deployment by state and local transportation agencies—including transit providers.