October 2003

The Newsletter for Kansas Rural and Specialized Transportation Providers ● The University of Kansas Transportation Center

..............................................................Inside:

Stretchthose dollars, continuedPage 2

Interstateregulationsupdate,continuedPage 3

Riders’ rightsand responsibili-tiesPage 5

Drug testingrules clarificationPage 6

Transit +Business =MarketingSuccessPage 7

Developing aSEPP foremergencyprepared-nessPage 10

Backing upisn’t just forbusesPage 12

CalendarPage 14

ResourcesPage 15

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Increasing operating costs havebegun to limit services offeredby transit agencies throughout

the country. Faced withrising costs, manyagencies havechosen to cutback services,increase para-transit eligibilityrequirements or raisefares. Before takingthese steps, however, agen-cies should be sure thatthey have explored all cost-savingoptions. This article provides avariety of ideas for saving money.

Linda Yeager, executive director atMissouri-based OATS transit,understands the frustrations manyagency officials feel in today’s fiscalenvironment. When asked why shethinks so many agencies now godirectly to cutting services when

costs increase she said, “Wehave been cutting and

cutting for years andthere is nothing leftto cut but service.”

Her agency must,however, begiven credit, forit continues toexplore differentoptions forreducing costs

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .by Matthew Kaufman. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Stretch Those Dollars InterstateTransportation: AnOngoing Discussion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .by Pat Weaver. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Questions about interstatetransportation regulationscontinue, with many agen-

cies and individuals working toresolve confusion and make theprocess easier for rural agencies thatfall under Federal Motor CarrierSafety Administration (FMCSA)requirements. This article brings youup to date on some of the efforts atthe state and national level toimprove the administration of inter-state regulations and provide assis-

2 KTR ● October 2003

Features

its liability coverage, it will be liablefor all damage their agency causes toother property and people.

Some Kansas agencies may alsoconsider self-insuring for liability.If you are a governmental agency you can self-insure with no approvalrequirements. If you are a privateentity you must own 25 or morevehicles and apply with the KansasDepartment of Insurance before

you can self-insure. Only privateentities that are deemed by theDepartment of Insurance to haveadequate financial assets are allowedto self-insure.

Whether you are a private orgovernmental agency you should notconsider self-insuring unless youhave determined that your agencycan withstand the financial burdenof a major accident or loss.

Pool resources and risksTransit agencies in some states arealso participating in insurance pools.These arrangements allow multipleorganizations to join together andself-insure their agencies. By joiningtogether as a group these agencieslimit their risks and bring togethermore assets to cover losses. Because

other than cutting back service.OATS has recently broadened itsrisk management activities. Yeagernotes that her agency has had to“really beef up [risk management]because of rising insurance costs.”The agency now has one staff person

who continually looks at how safetycan be improved. Reducing thenumber of accidents at an agencywill reduce maintenance costs andcould have significant effects oninsurance premiums.

Insure yourselfReduced insurance costs are one ofthe main goals of the OATS riskmanagement program. After seeinginsurance premiums increase bymore than 150 percent last year, staffknew they must take action. So lastyear OATS began covering its owncomprehensive and collision insur-ance and is now looking at covering its own liability insurance.

As its own insurer, OATS man-agement recognizes the importanceof risk management. By providing itsown comprehensive coverage, OATSaccepts the financial loss it may incurfrom an accident—it will be respon-sible for repairing or replacing anyvehicles it owns that are damaged orlost in an accident.

If OATS chooses to self-insure

Stretch those dollars,continued from page 1

financial assets are pooled, no oneagency will be responsible for cover-ing the whole cost of an accident.

According to Dick Cook at theKansas Insurance Department,municipalities may form insurancepools under the Municipal PoolLaws. These laws are fairly generaland allow municipalities to createpools that cover them against variouslosses, including vehicular losses.Private entities, however, are not cov-ered by these laws. If your agency isprivate you are limited by regulationsthat allow for insurance pools thatcover only worker’s compensation.Expansion of these laws to allow forvehicle liability coverage wouldrequire legislative action. Becauseagencies could experience substantialcost savings with pooling, this is a

subject that should be discussed dur-ing meetings with other agencieswithin both your region and the state.

Join a risk purchasing groupAn existing option for private agen-cies may be risk-purchasing groups.These groups consist of multiplemembers who have similar or relatedliability exposure and business activi-ties. Group members join together topurchase liability insurance from aprivate insurer. By working as agroup, member agencies may be ableto demand greater discounts or, min-imally, avoid cancellation of insur-ance coverage.

Creating a risk-purchasinggroup is a complex task. As a firststep, you should consider approach-ing the Kansas Department of

OATS has a staff per-son who continuallylooks at how safety canbe improved to reducecosts of accidents.

Joining a risk-purchasing groupwith similar agencies can helpyou all save money on liabilityinsurance.

KTR ● October 2003 3

Features

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Insurance for assistance. You cancontact the Topeka office by calling(800) 432-2484 or the Wichitaoffice by calling (800) 432-2484.The department has a checklist withall of the steps purchasing groupsmust follow to register in the State.This will help guide you through theprocess. In all likelihood it will benecessary for you to hire a lawyer toassist with creating and registeringyour risk-purchasing group.

Redesign your servicesAnother effective method to reduceyour agency’s costs is to look at acomplete service re-design. Takingthis step will be time consuming and difficult, but the results may besignificant. Some agencies have usedservice re-designs to reduce the sizeof the vehicles they operate. Besidesbeing cheaper to operate, smallervehicles appear fuller. When localresidents see full vehicles they will bemore likely to support transit.Smaller vehicles could also lead tosignificant savings on insurance premiums.

During service re-design youmay also consider the possibility ofallowing some of your fixed routes, ifany, to deviate slightly to pick upparatransit riders. While difficult toarrange, this change could reduceyour vehicle, salary, and maintenancecosts. By looking at your entire sys-tem at once you can make changesthat would otherwise be difficult orseem impossible, and they can leadto significant cost savings.

Your agency may also be able tosave money, resources, or boththrough the use of coordinationefforts. While some coordination ofregional services already exists inKansas, we can do better. We willfeature an article soon on benefits ofcoordination and provides steps forpursuing it.

Volunteers can save you moneyAnother way to save money is to usevolunteers. Yeager’s agency receivedspecial recognition from theCommunity TransportationAssociation of America for its volun-teer program. OATS has volunteerslocated strategically throughout vari-ous counties. Riders wanting toschedule service call the volunteerswho later coordinate with drivers forpick-ups. The system saves theagency money on wages and signifi-cantly reduces long-distance billsbecause volunteers are located withinevery major telephone exchange.

Our January 2003 issue con-tained an article on the pros andcons of using volunteers along withsome helpful hints. If you missed thearticle, you can download it from ourwebsite (www.ksrtap.kutc.ku.edu) orcall us at (800) 248-0350.

Ultimately it may be necessaryfor your agency to make cuts in ser-vice or increase eligibility require-ments. Rising fuel and insurancecosts along with wage demands mayprevent your agency from offering allof the services it wants. However, ifyou have seriously looked at all ofyour costs and considered how theycan be reduced, service cuts can beexplained to riders and made in goodconscience.

Sources“Stabilizing Paratransit Costs,”

American City & County, December2002;

“Belt Tightening: How toSurvive in Lean Times,” TechnicalAssistance Brief Number 17, CTAA;

Kansas Statutes-Insurance Laws,Chapter 40, Article 41, “RiskRetention and Purchasing Groups,”(www.ksinsurance.org), 2003. ▲

Interstate regs update,continued from page 1

tance to rural transit agencies incomplying.

State legislature exempts Kansas transitagencies from KCC regulation. Asreported in the April 2003 KansasTrans Reporter, legislation had beenproposed to exempt agencies operat-ing public transportation servicesfrom Kansas Corporation Comm-ission (KCC) regulation. The 2003Kansas legislature passed that legis-lation. It includes language thatexempts vehicles used exclusively byorganizations operating public trans-portation systems under the Sections5307, 5310 and 5311 programs.Now, agency efforts for complianceshould be directed at meeting thefederal motor carrier regulations.

KDOT completes technical assistancepacket for providers. Staff at KDOT’sOffice of Public Transportation puttogether a packet of materials toassist agencies who may need to reg-ister for interstate authority. Thispacket includes the list of stepsrequired for application and samplesof the forms you need to complete.If you are traveling across state lines,and would like assistance in deter-mining the requirements for authori-ty to do so, contact your KDOT rep-resentative (Bret, Kathy or Stacey)for assistance at (785) 296-5194.A copy of the packet is available atthe Kansas RTAP website at www. ksrtap.kutc.ku.edu. Checkunder “What’s New.”

National efforts continue toclarify proceduresA panel discussion on interstate reg-ulations was held in Washington inlate July as part of the Federal

4 KTR ● October 2003

Features

Interstate update,continued from page 3

Transit Administration’s (FTA) StateManager’s Meeting. Panelists includ-ed FMCSA representative LarryMinor, Beth Wilson of CommunityTransportation Association ofAmerica (CTAA), andRosemary Amiet, Admini-strator for the Office ofTransit for the Ohio DOTwho also has been workingwith the providers in her stateto clarify requirements. I wasalso a panelist, sharing infor-mation about the issuesencountered in Kansas andrecommendations forimprovements.

In his remarks, Mr.Minor acknowledged thattransit agency compliance hasnot generally received a lot ofattention from his agency.FMSCA is a relatively newagency, and it inheritedrequirements for economiccompliance (e.g. insurance,etc.) from the now defunctInterstate CommerceCommission. So far FMCSAhas not successfully stream-lined requirements or ensuredthat federal regulation match-es the federal statutes.

FTA, CTAA and others contin-ue to work with FMCSA with an

expectation that some questions canbe resolved. One change recom-mended by Beth Wilson of CTAA isa modification to the OP-1(P) form,the Application for Motor PassengerCarrier and Broker Authority. This

form is now available on theFMCSA web site, but does not pro-vide a place to designate the insur-ance level and does not provide forthe filing fee exemption for recipi-ents of Sections 5307, 5310, 5311 asspecified in the statute.

Another issue is the insurance cover-age regulation which is currentlyinconsistent with the statute. Some

FMCSA staff have been unaware ofthe stipulation in the statute allowingrecipients of Sections 5307, 5310 and5311 funds to insure at a level nohigher than the highest state intowhich they travel. Even when this

discrepancy is known, it is not alwayseasy to determine which minimuminsurance limit within a neighboringstate applies to the transit provider.

New FMCSA Regulations issuedin August may affect some

rural agenciesEven as we work to clarifyexisting regulations, theFMCSA is amending them.In a final rule published in theFederal Register on August 12,2003, the FMCSA changedits distance limits regardingsafety requirements for busand van drivers transportingfrom nine to 15 passengers ininterstate commerce. Theeffective date was September11, 2003. All affected motorcarriers must be in complianceby November 10.

Is your agency affected?See box at left.

Affected operators willhave to abide by four newrequirements in theseFMCSA regulations:● maintain an accident registeras detailed in 49 CFR 390.15,● maintain a current MotorCarrier Identification Report(better known as FMCSA’sform MCS-150) as required

under 49 CFR 390.19,● comply with the pertinent federalvehicle markings of 49 CFR390.21(a), and in particular,● have the FMCSA-issued motorcarrier number on the vehicle, as per49 CFR 390.21(b)(2), although noother identifying information isrequired.

For more information about thisnew regulation, contact Larry Minor,FMCSA’s chief of Vehicle andRoadside Operations, by phone at(202) 366-4009, or by e-mail atlarry.minor@fmcsa.dot.gov. ▲

Who’s Affected by the Amended FMCSA rules?Operators of passenger transportation servicesusing vehicles designed to seat between nineand 15 passengers (including the driver), forwhich the operator is directly compensated(such as through the collection of cash fares, orthe payment of a charter service contract),AND for which the transportation is consid-ered “interstate commerce,” AND for which thedriver of the vehicle operates it beyond a 75 airmile radius (86.3 statute miles) from his or hernormal work-reporting location will be requiredto comply.

Who’s not? Regulation of transportationservices provided by units of state or local gov-ernments or by statutorily-exempt motor carri-ers are not changed by these newest rules. Thenew rules do not affect interstate transporta-tion operations within the 75 air mile radius,nor do they change any regulations concerningvehicles more than 15 or fewer than 9 persons.Finally, these rules only concern operations forwhich transportation providers are directlycompensated.

FTA, CTAA and others continue to work withFMCSA with an expectation that some questionscan be resolved.

KTR ● October 2003 5

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An attendant can be requiredonly if you would otherwise have theright to refuse service. In no otherscenario can attendants be required.For additional assistance definingviolent and seriously disruptivebehavior, refer to your local ordi-nances, which likely define unaccept-able public behavior. Local ordi-nances are often available from yourcounty clerk, public library, or cityand county websites.

Creating a no-show policyIf an individual has a pattern ofmissing scheduled rides you maysuspend service to him or her.The public meetings you hold whencreating your riders’ rights andresponsibilities document mustdetermine what constitutes a pattern;you may not make the designationon your own.

Public discussion should deter-mine if no-shows will be trackedbased on an absolute measure or arelative measure. An absolute mea-

sure might say that three no-showsin three months are excessive. A rel-ative measure could say that missingthree percent of trip requests in athree-month period is excessive.While the absolute measure is easierto track, the relative measure is fairerto your passengers who ride fre-quently. Allowances must be madefor missed trips that are beyond thecontrol of the rider.

Any suspension must not exceed

Management

Riders’ Rights and Responsibilities

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .by Matthew Kaufman. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Your transit agency should havea written document detailingpassengers’ rights and respon-

sibilities. Making your riders aware oftheir rights and responsibilities willhelp prevent problems from occur-ring and make dealing with them,when they do occur, easier. This doc-ument will also help you comply withAmericans with Disabilities Act(ADA) regulations.

A riders’ rights and responsibili-ties document is just what it says, alist of assurances you make to yourpassengers and a list of rules theymust follow. Creating this documentis not difficult, but you are requiredby the ADA to seek public inputwhen creating the document.

Look at other agencies’ riders’rights and responsibilities documentsbefore approaching the public forcomment. We have an excellentexample from the FloridaCommission for the TransportationDisadvantaged on our website(www.kutc.ku.edu). If you do nothave web access, call us at (800) 248-0350 and we will mail you a copy.

Once you have gathered enoughinformation to create a sample list ofrights and responsibilities, schedule a

public meeting. Provide the atten-dees with your list and allow them tocomment on ideas they like, orwould like to see removed or added.

Allowing attendantsTo ensure that the rights of your dis-abled passengers are protected, a fewADA rules must be followed. Allriders who qualify as disabled underADA guidelines must be allowed apersonal care attendant. In addition,you must allow one companion toaccompany the disabled individual.While the personal care attendant isallowed to ride for free, the compan-ion must pay. You may require allindividuals to be picked up anddropped off at the same locationsand require passengers to reservespace for personal care attendantsand companions.

Refusing serviceYou may, under ADA guidelines,refuse service to persons with dis-abilities if they engage in “violent,

seriously disruptive, or illegal con-duct.” A caveat to this rule is thatservice cannot be refused if the con-duct is related to the individual’s dis-ability. For example, you may notrefuse service to an individual suffer-ing from Tourette’s syndrome whomakes involuntary profane state-ments. However, if the relatedbehavior is distracting enough todisrupt service, you may refuse ser-vice or require the individual to ridewith an attendant.

Protect your agency and your riders byspelling things out.

6 KTR ● October 2003

Management

New Drug Testing Clarifications

The United States Departmentof Transportation (USDOT)issues occasional interpreta-

tions on 49 CFR Part 40. This regu-lation requires transportationemployers to conduct drug and alco-hol testing programs, and it makesemployers responsible for the com-pliance of their officers, employees,agents, and consortia. While Kansasperforms its drug testing via a con-sortium, individual transit providersstill have obligations under Part 40.

The USDOT issues interpreta-tions in response to questions itreceives about 49 CFR Part 40. Theinterpretations provide clarificationwhere confusion has existed, and aremeant to assist agencies/employersin understanding their responsibili-ties—and ensure that employeesknow their rights.

Should all forms be signed? Someagencies have been confused aboutthe need for a certifying scientist’ssignature on Federal Drug TestingCustody and Control Forms (CCFs).These forms are used to recordresults from drug tests, and scientistsmust sign them if a test result is pos-itive. If a test result is negative, how-ever, the scientist may simply initialand date the form. If you receivesuch a form, the results are valid.

Marked-up forms. Your employ-ees should know when they reportfor a test that MROs may markthrough preprinted information onCCFs that is not correct. A newform is not required and such actionswill not invalidate test results.

Calling employees at home. MROsmay contact your employees at theirhomes if they can’t reach the

employees at work.“Interim” results. Some employers

have received calls from medicalreview officers (MROs) reporting“interim” or “preliminary” results.This is not allowed and you shouldnever accept such results. Any MROproviding results before all work iscompleted is doing so in direct viola-tion of Part 40.

Insufficient samples. If one ofyour employees reports for a urine orbreath test and fails to provide a suf-ficient sample, he or she has fivedays to obtain an exam by a licensedphysician explaining the insufficientsample. The definition of five dayshas previously caused confusion.These are business days; holidaysand weekends do not count towardthe five-day limit.

How often can you test?Substance abuse professionals(SAPs) make decisions regardingfuture testing and treatment require-ments for employees with substanceabuse problems. The SAP’s decisionsare final, and you may not conductfollow-up testing that goes beyondwhat the SAP determines necessary.As the employer your actions arelimited to normal follow-up and ran-dom testing. You may monitor youremployee’s compliance with theSAP’s recommendations for continu-ing treatment and education as partof a return-to-duty agreement, andyou may discuss the employee’s con-tinuing sobriety and drug-free statuswith him or her.

Requesting split tests. Employeesshould be aware of their rightsregarding split tests. Any urine sam-ple an employee provides may besplit into two samples. An employeemay challenge the primary speci-men’s results by requesting that thesplit specimen be tested. Only the

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .by Matthew Kaufman. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

employee has a right to make such arequest; employers, unions, and laborrepresentatives may not act on behalfof employees to request that a splitspecimen be tested. Employeesshould be made aware of this rightand know that requests should bedirected to the MRO.

Employees have a right to viewmedical records. Each employee alsohas the right to view all his/her ownmedical records held by MROs. Thisincludes CCFs, written notes, check-lists, and comments. On occasion theMRO may need to withhold orinterpret sensitive medical, psychi-atric, and mental health record infor-mation.

Trained testers. In addition tobeing aware of these rights andresponsibilities, Tim Harris, with theKansas Consortium, noted that tran-sit agencies must ensure that theirlocal collection sites have trainedpersonnel for breath testing andurine collection. Request documen-tation of training from your localcollectors and keep it on file. Thisdocumentation will help ensure thatyour collector, and thereby youragency, are in compliance with 49CFR Part 40.

Keeping abreast of drug testingrules and responsibilities will helpyour agency maintain compliancewith the law and help you ensurethat your employees’ rights are notviolated. If you would like to see thecomplete clarifications listed by theDOT visit:www.dot.gov/ost/dapc/qandq.html.

Sources FTA Drug And Alcohol RegulationUpdates, Federal Transit Administra-tion, Issue 21, Spring 2002.

KTR ● October 2003 7

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You have probably already reada fair bit about marketing totarget individuals. But what

do you know about Transit toBusiness Marketing (TBM)? TBM isincreasingly being recognized as avaluable tool in marketing efforts.

So what is Transit to BusinessMarketing? Very simply, it is a set ofpractices aimed at encouraging busi-nesses to participate directly in tran-sit. Ridesharing, employer passes,transit vouchers, and reverse com-mute programs are examples of thesort of links between business andtransit that result from TBM.

In this article, we will concen-trate on employer passes, as well asco-marketing and partnerships. Theother programs mentioned abovedon’t fit Kansas providers as well, asthey are mostly for agencies in oraround metropolitan areas. We willalso identify effective strategies forsmaller transit agencies trying toreach out to businesses.

Employer passesOf the various ways businesses canparticipate in transit, employer passesare most relevant to smaller agencies.This is also the most popular pro-gram marketed to businesses by tran-sit agencies of all sizes. Employerpass programs put selling passes inthe hands of employers, which makesbuying transit passes much moreconvenient for their employees.

The two major types of employerpass programs are employer-basedsales and subsidized employer-basedsales. In employer-based sales, which

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .by Ira Allen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Marketing

is more common, aparticipating businessacts as a sales outletfor its employees.That is, the compa-ny buys ticketsfrom the transitagency, thenresells them toemployees.

Because sell-ing weekly passesor single tickets ismore logisticallycomplicated, sales areoften limited to monthly passes,which may be sold at the companystore, credit union, or cafeteria. Inother cases, a designated office man-ager or transportation coordinatormay be in charge of sales.

Because of this flexibility in howthe company sells tickets to itsemployees, employer pass programscan work for relatively small as wellas large companies. For instance,OCCK could work out an employerpass program with a screen-printingcompany in Salina, who would thensell monthly bus passes to employees.

With subsidized employer-basedsales, the company not only sells pass-es, but also provides a subsidy to theemployee. This subsidy is generallyeither a flat amount taken off theusual ticket price, or a percentage dis-count. Subsidies offered to employeescan vary with their level of senioritywithin the company, or their perfor-mance, thus allowing businesses touse the program as a motivationaltool—a selling point to mentionwhen talking to businesses.

In many cases, the transit opera-tor will sell the passes to the companyat a discounted rate, as long as the

company agrees to at least matchthat discount when the sale

is made to anemployee. The cooperation

between agency and business requiredfor this sort of effort can lead tocooperation in other areas. We’ll dis-cuss these in the next section.

Co-marketing and partnershipsPartnerships. The TCRP report“Marketing Transit Services toBusiness” cites the United Way’s part-nership with the National FootballLeague (NFL) as an example of aneffective partnership.

“The NFL’s relationship with theUnited Way is part of a new trend incorporate philanthropy, in whichcompanies now tie corporate givingdirectly to business strategy,” says thereport. Also known as corporateresponsibility, this type of partnershipcan enhance the company’s publicimage and employee satisfaction.

Be open about what you seek insuch a relationship. The report notes,“Like the NFL, most companies aregiving far more than cash assistance.Many are providing non-profits withmanagerial advice, technological andcommunications support, and teamsof employee volunteers. They arefunding these initiatives not onlyfrom philanthropy budgets, but also

Transit + Business = Marketing Success

With subsidizedemployer-based sales,the company not onlysells passes, but also

provides a subsidy tothe employee.

8 KTR ● October 2003

from business units such as market-ing and human resources.”

We are not so lost in the cloudshere at KUTC as to suggest that theNFL will want to partner withPrairiegrass Transit in Littleville, KS.The idea of partnership can certainlywork on a smaller scale, however. Forinstance, suppose your agency part-nered with a local factory. They mightencourage their employees to volun-

teer or might provide managementadvice, in addition to (hopefully)some cash to go toward the localmatch for that new 30-foot bus. Youmight give keychains or other knick-knacks promoting your services to thecompany, and ask them to distributethese to employees. You might tweakbus routes to better fit the company’swork commute schedule, if possible.

Co-marketing. This is anotherpopular linkage technique throughwhich two or more companies canbenefit from a marketing partnership.For instance, you might organize apromotion whereby certain bus tick-ets will be randomly selected to comewith a free milk shake from yourlocal ice cream shop. The ice creamshop would donate the milk shakes,because such promotions are good fortheir image and increase name recog-nition, and your agency would alsobenefit from the increased name

recognition. Perhaps some peoplewould buy bus tickets in hopes ofwinning a milk shake. In any case,promotions like these are good foryour agency.

The TCRP report mentions several transit and ridesharing agen-cies that have had success with co-marketing techniques. For example,in Connecticut, The Ride Stuff program gives retail discounts toemployees who use transit orridesharing for commuting. The pro-gram provides incentives donated by

businesses in exchange for the pro-motion they receive.

In San Francisco, The Bay AreaCommuter Check program places itstelevision station sponsor’s logo on its marketing materials; in exchange,the station provides television cover-age for the program. The TCRPreport notes that mass marketing andproduct validation have considerablevalue to the local media outlets (whohave their call letters on programbrochures, flyers, and posters).

You may want to consider thissort of sponsorship or co-marketingin conjunction with your own localtelevision or radio station, or theprinting company that prints yourflyers, as a way of cutting costs whileat the same time broadening yourmarketing efforts.

How to approach businesses“Okay, that’s all very well,” you may

say, “but how do I convince localcompanies to participate in these pro-grams?” After all, times are tough,and these programs are not bigmoney-makers for businesses. Insome cases, as with employer passeswhere the business foots the adminis-trative costs of selling the passes,these programs will cost money.

So what to do? First, have a pro-gram. Remain open to ideas andinnovations from the company youare approaching, but make certainyou have a clear plan for what you

want to do before you approach any-body. Next, choose appropriate meth-ods for approaching businesses.

A common method of solicitinginterest is direct mail, where agenciesor businesses send out identicalpieces of mail to hundreds, thou-sands, or millions of people in hopesthat a few will respond. While thismethod may work well enough forthe long distance telephone compa-nies, or the corporate pizza joints,keep in mind that appealing to busi-nesses is different in important waysfrom appealing to individuals. If yousend out a glossy flyer to everyone intown with one free transit pass, thatmight increase ridership significantly,at least for a little while. If, however,you send out glossy flyers describingyour employer pass program to all ofthe local businesses, the response isnot likely to be overwhelming. TheTCRP report mentioned above

Marketing

Transit to business marketing,continued from page 7

SEPTA’s Survey Results for their “ComPass” Employer Bus Pass Program:● Prior to the ComPass program, around 63 percent of the 773 respondents had purchased another type of monthly

pass. Around 35 percent had previously used tokens, cash, or other payment forms.● 19 percent said their use of SEPTA transit service for work trips increased since joining ComPass.● 32 percent said their use of SEPTA for non-work trips increased since joining ComPass.● 59 percent said the ComPass program had a positive effect on their opinion of their employer.● 55 percent said the ComPass program had a positive effect on their opinion of SEPTA.● 79 percent said that the ComPass program and SEPTA had made getting a monthly pass easier.● 64 percent said the ComPass program had improved the cost of getting to work.

KTR ● October 2003 9

found that direct mail was not nearlyas effective in this particular arena aspersonal contact.

For small transit providers, this isgood news. Many local agencies sim-ply do not have the marketing bud-get required for a massive, direct mailcampaign (or in some cases, any realmarketing budget to speak of ). Butsmall agencies are ideally suited formaking personal contacts with localbusiness representatives. One goodplace to start is at the local Chamberof Commerce. If your town has anyfactories or other large employers,contact their marketing or humanresources director, or even the plantmanager. Breakfasts or luncheons forbusiness leaders, where you can pitchyour ideas, are yet another option.

Linkage benefitsCite already-successful programswhen pitching your ideas to business-es. The list of statistics on page 8,from a survey taken of riders inSEPTA’s employer pass program(ComPass) in Philadelphia, PA, is agood example.

These statistics clearly show thepositive effects of a good employerpass program, both for a transit sys-tem and participating businesses.

When talking to prospective par-ticipants, by all means, mention themorale boost provided by involve-ment in such a program, as well asthe motivational possibilities dis-cussed earlier in this article.

Get excited, and let the business-people you’re talking to get excited aswell, as they see a vision of how part-nering with transit could increasetheir employees satisfaction withtheir company and their community.

Source“Marketing Transit Services toBusiness,” TCRP Web Document 8,National Academy of Sciences, 2000,www.nap.edu. ▲

a “reasonable period of time.” A sus-pension may be long enough to be adeterrent, but it cannot cause unduehardship. Public meetings should beused to determine what’s reasonablein this scenario.

Your no-show policy mustaddress the following items:● The amount of notice that ridersmust give if they want to cancel ascheduled trip;● The frequency of no-shows thatwill constitute a pattern or practice;● The length of time for which ser-vice will be suspended;● The amount of notice you requirefor trip cancellations cannot exceedthe amount of advanced noticerequired to make a trip reservation.

While the rules listed aboveapply specifically to paratransit riders,be sure to apply them, when applica-ble, to all of your riders. Having aseparate set of rules for disabled andnon-disabled passengers is not rec-ommended and may be illegal.

Other topicsIn addition to the topics discussedabove, your rights and responsibili-ties document should discuss itemssuch as the cleanliness and reliabilityof vehicles, the amount of time pas-sengers should be expected to waitfor a ride, what type of assistancedrivers will provide, the procedurefor filing complaints, and rules thatmust be followed while riding invehicles, to name just a few. For amore detailed list, please view theexample document on our website.

Before publishing the final doc-ument, it should be reviewed by thepublic. Participation is requiredwhen creating guidelines and itshould be sought again before yourguidelines are made permanent.Remember, the purpose of creating a

riders’ rights and responsibilitiesdocument is to improve the interac-tion that occurs between your agencyand its passengers.

Getting the information outMake your final document availablein pamphlet format, and ensure thatcopies are available on your transitvehicles and at your office. If youhave a website, put the informationthere, and be sure to post thespecifics of your no-show policy inall of your vehicles.

Be sure to make the documentavailable in a format that visuallyimpaired individuals can read. Ournext newsletter will include an arti-cle on this topic that can assist youin creating this format.

Also consider having new riderssign a copy of the pamphlet toacknowledge they have read andunderstand their rights and respon-sibilities.

After taking the time to create alist of riders’ rights and responsibili-ties, make sure that both you andyour passengers adhere to it.Document infractions and enforcerules equally and fairly.

When riders who use youragency’s services know their rights,they are generally happier. Andwhen they understand their respon-sibilities, and live up to them, youragency will function more smoothly,making your staff happy as well.

SourcesAmericans with Disabilities Act

(ADA) Paratransit Eligibility Manual,Federal Transit Administration, 1993.

Customer’s Rights andResponsibilities (draft), FloridaCommission for the TransportationDisadvantaged OmbudsmanProgram Committee, 2003;

Riders’ Rights & Responsibilities,Albuquerque Job Access SubscriptionService, January 2002. ▲

Marketing

Riders rights/responsibilities,continued from page 5

10 KTR ● October 2003

It seems an awful lot of newslet-ter articles focus on variousforms of emergency prepared-

ness. If you’ve noticed this pattern,you may also have guessed it’s notcoincidental. Emergency situationshappen to everybody. The troublingtruth is, if they haven’t happened atyour agency yet, they probably will.What will you do? What will thedriver involved do? Howabout your dispatcher? Doyou know? If you do, that’sgreat. But if you’re a littleunclear, it’s time to create aSecurity and EmergencyPreparedness Plan(SEPP).

Sandy Throne,President of California-basedEmergency Planning Services, says“It’s time for people to really wakeup...every company should have a[Security and EmergencyPreparedness Plan].” Thisarticle will give you somebasic tools to use in prepar-ing that plan.

First things firstDecide your priorities; understand-ing these will be invaluable in guid-ing your decisions throughout thisprocess. For most agencies, the firstpriority will be protecting human lifeand safety. Preserving vehicles andequipment might edge out maintain-ing good public relations for secondpriority. While these are commonpriorities, there is nothing saying

they must be your agency’s. Perhapsthe safety and well-being of yourdrivers and passengers is mostimportant, with a minimization ofbad publicity coming in second.Whatever the case, you will need to

determine whatis most important to your agency.Your mission statement should helpwith that. From there, you can moveon to the actual process of preparingan emergency response plan.

Get input from all quartersThe ideal emergency response planwill include input from those most

likely to be involved in an emer-gency: drivers. Do not overlook dri-vers as potential treasure troves ofinformation and ideas about howbest to deal with emergency situa-tions (and various other aspects of

transit, for that matter). Many dri-vers in Kansas have been workingin the industry for years, evendecades. It would a shame to let alltheir experience, knowledge and

ideas go to waste simply because of acommunication lag between man-agement and drivers.

By the same token, solicitinginput from the rest of your staff alsocan be valuable. Dispatchers andoffice staff bring different perspec-tives and can have fresh ideas fordealing with emergency situationsfrom their individual viewpoints. Ifyour agency has several departments,as some transit providers in Kansasdo, every department should be rep-resented. Also involve the employ-ees’ union, if applicable. Althoughunions are not common in Kansas,some agencies’ employees, such asthose of the ‘T’ in Lawrence, havevoted to unionize.

Make sure all employees areaware of what you are trying toaccomplish; this way, you will get asmany ideas as possible. Once again,a clear mission statement can be veryhelpful. The idea here is, the broaderyour information base, the more

Prepare for a successful response: Develop asecurity and emergency preparedness plan

Safety

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .by Ira Allen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

In the event of an emergency, whether an accident,terrorism or tornado, what will you do? What will

your drivers do? Your dispatcher?

KTR ● October 2003 11

detailed and comprehensive youremergency/disaster plan can be.Throne’s firm has compiled a work-book that can help agencies uncoverthe information they will need inplanning. For more information,contact Sandy Throne at (408) 342-9035 or at sthrone@epserve.com.

Who’s the boss?While it can be helpful to have anemergency preparedness team orcommittee composed of variousindividuals from within your agency,someone must lead this team. ThePublic Transportation System Securityand Emergency Preparedness PlanningGuide, from McCormick, Taylor &Associates, has this to say:

“At a particular transportationsystem, security and emergency pre-paredness management responsibilitygenerally should be assigned to oneperson. That person may or may notbe designated full-time to this pro-gram, but some person should be incharge of this effort, even if he orshe has other responsibilities.”

This is to prevent the planningand emergency response processfrom becoming haphazard and topreserve accountability. Someonemust be directly responsible for theplanning process, as well as imple-menting and enforcing the plan. TheGuide has a couple of recommenda-tions about this position: The “secu-rity manager” should a) reportdirectly to the agency’s executivedirector or Board, and b) receive aseparate budget line-item for securi-ty/safety activities.

In terms of the plan itself, thereare two basic approaches, accordingto Helen Cope, Emergency PlanningOfficer for the London Borough ofHackney: “One side argues that ashort, concise document to act as a‘grab guide’ highlighting the proce-dures of departments and agencies ismore than adequate, while the other

side believes that the EmergencyPlan should be all-encompassing,which often results in a lengthy,often unread document.”

Cope’s approach in creating theLondon Borough of Hackney’sEmergency Plan was to develop acomprehensive document, with a“grab guide” given as an appendix.The benefit to her approach is that itoffers all the traditional informationfor review at any time, but also givesleaders the ability to glance throughan abbreviated guide in times ofemergency to ensure nothing is for-gotten. This could be particularlyuseful in an emergency that affectsthe transit facility itself, such as a fireor tornado.

Cooperating with othersYour SEPP will obviously need tofocus on issues specific to yourlocale, but some issues affect all tran-sit providers. One of these, whichhas received a considerable amountof media attention since September11, is integration with local policeand emergency agencies and person-nel in providing emergency/disasterrelief support. To achieve this goal, itmay be necessary to initiate formalmeetings and committees with localpublic safety officers and communityemergency planners.

Sometimes emergency responsecenters say they will help you, butthey are not always as forthcomingwith the actual help when it comesdown to it, according to Throne. Youmay need to make a special effort tointegrate your SEPP with the emer-gency response plans of other agen-cies. Remember, in the event of a dis-aster affecting a large area, transit canbe invaluable in providing supportand transportation for victims, soyour SEPP might cover more thansimply the safety of your own facili-ties and personnel.

Help with plan designCreating an emergency responseplan can be time-consuming andlabor-intensive, and although mostof us recognize the necessity, somemay be pressed for the time to actu-ally sit down and compile the plan(or update the relic you’ve beenworking with, unchanged since1978). If this description fits you,consider using a consulting firm tohelp prepare your plan. SandyThrone answered a few questionsabout how her company (an emer-gency issues consulting firm)addresses this process.

She noted that her job is to be afresh (and expert) set of eyes. “It’s asafety awareness thing,” she said, “Ido a safety check and call attentionto various possible scenarios.”

Because agencies can’t always seehow everyday activities might bedetrimental if circumstances altereddramatically (as they do in the caseof an emergency), it can be helpfulto have a safety expert there to callattention to various possible scenar-ios and assist in thinking throughthe issues.

Let’s face it: When someone intransit says “emergency,” most of usprobably think, “accident.” A SEPP,however, should also cover responseto and recovery from tornadoes,floods, terrorist incidents and anyother emergencies that could possi-bly arise. A new pair of eyes can helpyou see possibilities that may other-wise have gone unnoticed.

You may be thinking, “Yeah, butwho can afford all that?” Perhapsyour agency can, if you budget for it.“An average cost is $1500-$2000,”says Throne. That seems like a rea-sonable operating expense for safety,particularly as a plan needs to bedeveloped only once. After the planis in place, Throne recommendsupdating your plan quarterly, either

Safety

Go to page 14

In the January 2002 issue of theKansas Trans Reporter I wrote anarticle entitled “To Back Up,

or to Back Up...” In that article Iwent over the basics for backingup your files: What needs to bebacked up, what media to back up onto, and how often to back up. In thisarticle I will explore these top-ics a little further and also dis-cuss backing up on a network,copyright laws governing yourbackup policy, and finally, whereto store your backups.

When, and how often. First though, Iwould like to reexamine something Idiscussed in the first article. It’simportant to ask how often to backup files, and also what time of day.

How often you back up is basedon how often you change your filesand how important they are to youragency’s success. Ideally you wouldlike to back up your files every timeyou make a change on them, but thisis probably overkill. For most peoplea simple backup once a week is morethan enough, while others may needa more demanding daily back-up.The frequency will depend on thevolume of entries during the timeperiod you are considering. Decidehow much data you would be pre-pared to re-enter if there were acomputer “crash.” Set a backupschedule that you feel fits, as well asprotects your agency.

Another important aspect is thetime of day you back up. You don’twant to make backups while peopleare working on files. First of all itcan cause problems in your backed

If you can back up all your filesonto a single CD-R, you may thinkthere isn’t a need to upgrade toDVD-Rs. However, a DVD-R canhold up to nine times the data as aCD-R, meaning that you can backupyour system nine times on a singleDVD-R. Not only does this save youspace on your back up media, butalso in the area you store your media.

This brings up another impor-tant point: How long should yousave your backups? The appropriatequestion to ask is: How long areyour backups going to be useful? Toanswer that question, ask yourselfhow often you change the backed-upfiles; you need to save at least twocopies of the current files to be onthe safe side.

Removable media. Other mediainclude several types of removablemedia, such as USB drives, Firewiredrives, and NESTS. While most PCusers may not be as familiar withFirewire as Mac users, PC users willsoon learn more, as it is being builtstandard into newer PCs. Both USBand Firewire are simply externalhard drives with either Firewire orUSB wires connected to them, simi-lar to lower-capacity and lower-

up files, by creating discontinuitywithin the code, as well as not actu-ally backing up the changes the user

has made, if the changes arenot yet saved. The

best

time to back upis at the end of the day, when usersare done working on files.

Back-up devices. The type of mediayou back up your files onto is impor-tant; it can affect your cost, time, andstorage space. In my last article Itouched on the most popular mediaformats of the day, such as CD-Rsand removable media. Today I wouldlike to mention some newer formatswhose prices have come down toeveryday user prices, and a few moreexotic types of backup media.

DVDs. DVD-Rs1 and DVD-RWshave come down dramatically inprice over the last year. DVD-Rshave a distinct advantage over nor-mal CD-Rs in terms of file capacity.While the cost is still considerablyhigher, the price-to-capacity ratio issmaller for DVD-Rs. DVD pricesstill have not bottomed out, so lookfor the prices to continue to drop asthe popularity of the drives increase.

12 KTR ● October 2003

Technology

Backing up isn’t only for buses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .by Craig Damlo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1. *-R is a write-once media. Thismeans that once something is writtento the media it is permanent and cannot be removed. *-RW is a multi-write media. That means that you canwrite to the media, and then latererase what you wrote and write some-thing new. Unlike hard drives, thereare a limited number of a times youcan do this based on the media andthe manufacturer.

KTR ● October 2003 13

speed zip drives. These drives aregood for backing up files because filesize can be very large, and the drivesare capable of providing enoughroom to do many backups per drive.External drives are very usefulbecause they are easily moved to dif-ferent computers and are hot-swap-pable, that is they can be plugged inand unplugged without having topower down the computer. The onlydifference between the Firewire andUSB ports is that Firewire is a mag-nitude faster than the USB port.

Another option for large backupsare NEST drives. These are remov-able, hot-swappable hard drives.These have NESTs, or docking ports,mounted into the computer and thedrives simply slide in and out, muchlike the way a disk drive works, onlythese can handle much larger filesizes, and are much quicker.

All types of removable drivessuch as the ones discussed here arevery useful for backing up data andfor sharing data over non-networkedcomputers. This brings us to anotherimportant issue in the world of com-puter back ups: networks.

Backing up on networks. Most work-places (and many of our homes) nowcontain networks. While most ofthese networks exist to share a singleInternet connection over manymachines, you can still use them forother purposes, such as a backupdevice.

Manual. The simplest networkbackup solution would be to setup afile-server, i.e., a computer whoseonly purpose is to hold all the filesfor your office in a central location.This has two advantages; 1) it’s easyto share files if they are all found in acentral location, and 2) it’s easy tobackup the entire office’s files fromthis same location. While it is idealto have a separate machine providethis task of a file server, you can also

Technology

designate an employee’s workstationto perform this task, and then assurethat the employee keeps additionalbackups on removable media in caseof a crash.

Automated. If you want to createan automated backup system with acentral file-server you would berequired to set up a separatemachine, but for this you don’t needa fast machine; you could easily useone a few years old, such as an earlyPentium-based machine. For anautomated system use a spider, ornetwork crawler. These work verymuch like search engines; they scanall the computers in your networkperiodically and copy data file typesthat you define as ones that need tobe backed up. The spider is a handytool, because it doesn’t require a lotfrom you. All your files will getbacked up even if you forget aboutit. It is still important however toperiodically backup the files on thefile-server to a storable media, forthe same reason you use removablestorage on your desktop, but youcould most likely get away with onlydoing this once a month or less.

Copyright concerns. When you backup your files, back up your data andnot program files, such as .exe files.In other words, back up only thefiles you create. Why? Because copy-right laws protect all software, andsince the 1997 No Electronic TheftAct made simple copyright viola-tions a federal crime, you want to

ensure your backups aren’t infringingon someone’s copyright. While mostopen source software programs carrythe GPL2 copyright license, mostcommercial software carry individualcopyright agreements, most of whichdeny the user the ability to copy anyprogram files to another mediumafter the original install action(s).

Copyrights also define howmany computers on which you areallowed to put the software. Forexample, you can only put MicrosoftOffice on a single computer unlessyou purchase multiple licenses or asite license. While not all copyrightagreements deny you the ability tocopy the software, such as the GPLagreement, it is usually a safer bet toonly back up the files that you havecreated. This also will save you timeduring your backup process and allowyou to back up more per medium.

Keep them safe. Finally, anotherimportant aspect to consider iswhere to store your backups. Whilemany people simply copy their filesto CD-Rs and place them next tothe computer, what happens if youare robbed, or if there is a fire? Inboth of these cases, the CD-Rs won’tdo you any good. The safest place foryour backups is in a fireproof safe,offsite. The second best is a fireproofsafe onsite. However most agenciescan get away with simply keepingthe backups in a different room in alocked filing cabinet.

While it is probably true thatyou will never need to restore yourfiles from a backup, there may beone time in your life that you willneed to, and if this happens, you willthank yourself for the 10 minutes aweek you spent backing up yourfiles. You will be very happy to spendanother 10 minutes restoring thosefiles instead of spending hundreds ofhours trying to restore those fileswithout backups. ▲

2. GPL stands for General PublicLicense and is used, in one form oranother by the open-source commu-nity. The advantage of the GPL overmost copyright licenses is that theuser has the ability to change or dis-tribute the original source code inany way or form as long as they givecredit where credit is due.

Kansas RTAP Driver Training September 30—Dodge City October 1—Wichita October 2—Emporia October 7—Great Bend October 8—Salina October 9—Hays October 14—Chanute October 15—Topeka October 17—Manhattan October 22—Olathe Contact: Rose LichtenbergPhone: (785) 864-2594Email: rosemary@ku.edu

October 11-14, 2003Kansas League ofMunicipalities Fall MeetingTopeka, KSContact: Kansas ChapterAPWA through www.apwa.net

October 12-14, 2003Transit Planning and MarketingSeminar and Spotlight Awards. San Antonia, TexasContact: SouthWest TransitAssociation, (210) 366-1436Website: www.swta.org/market.html

November 13-14, 2003Transit System SafetyDallas, TexasContact: TransportationSafety Institute (TSI)Phone: (405) 954-3682Website: www.tsi.dot.gov

December 4-6, 2003International Conference onAging, Disability, andIndependence (ICADI)Arlington, VAContact: www.asa.org/calendar

December 15-18, 2003Instructor’s Course in BusOperator TrainingFort Worth, TXCall TSI at (405) 954-3682Website: www.tsi.dot.gov

14 KTR ● October 2003

Calendar

Rural Transit Conferences and Workshops

Editor’s Note: To include meetings or work-shops in our calendar, sendinformation to:Kansas Trans Reporter, KUTC,1530 W. 15th St., Room 2011,Lawrence, KS 66045.E:mail: weaver@ku.edu

SEPP, continued from page 11

through the services of a companysuch as hers ($500/year) or on yourown. She notes, “If you [update] itfour times a year, it might take you10 or 15 minutes...if you wait 12 or15 months it becomes a bigger pro-ject—especially if the previous pre-parer has left the company; then it’sa major project.”

Do it yourselfShould you decide to prepare yourplan entirely in-house, there are acouple things you should remember.First, it requires making a commit-ment and sticking to it, which can behard, because you will need to setaside blocks of hours to deal withthis. It may be tempting to let thatslide, especially if your agencyalready has some sort of plan. Don’tlet it slide. Make a commitment todo this, and keep it.

Second, many transit managershaven’t had a great deal of training onhow to prepare plans. “It’s a learningcurve about what you need to do,how to do it and how to put it onpaper,” says Throne. So don’t get toofrustrated with yourself if things don’t

proceed smoothly right away.One way to get some free help is

by talking with someone who hasalready prepared a SEPP. Anotherrelatively inexpensive method is topurchase a fill-in-the-blanks manualfrom a company like Throne’s. Thesecan cost around $500, and shouldhelp you create “a totally workableplan that is customizable for youragency,” according to Throne.

Other options for help in prepar-ing a SEPP include a one-day work-shop, like the one offered by KansasRTAP in November 2002 in Salina,or the CTAA’s safety audit service.There is also a CD-ROM producedby the Colorado DOT called TransitSafety & Security (see page 15 to bor-row this). And transit agencies aredeveloping more manuals every year.I probably don’t need to tell you mostpeople in transit are friendly enoughto share some experience, strengthand hope when asked.

Whatever route you go, knowthat this process is vital to the futureof your agency. “There are a lot ofstatistics out there,” Throne notes,“showing that unprepared companiestend to go out of business in thewake of a serious emergency.” ASEPP is a commitment, not only to

your agency’s future, but also to youremployees and to your community.Transit agencies have the opportunityand the responsibility to be assets totheir communities, and an emergencypreparedness and response plan isone key facet of that responsibility.

Finally, once you have developeda plan, don’t let it go to waste. Train.And train. And when you’re donewith that, train some more. Butthat’s another article. For now, bestof luck with your planning!

Sources “National Transit Institute

Course Overviews: System SecurityAwareness for Transit Employees andSecurity Incident Management forTransit Supervisors,” 2002;

“Transit’s Role in EmergencyResponse,” Technical Assistance Brief(draft), National Transit ResourceCenter, 2003;

Transit Bus Safety Program:Task 3—Development of a ModelTransit Bus Safety Program, FederalTransit Admin., July 16, 2001 draft;

Public Transportation SystemSecurity and Emergency PreparednessPlanning Guide, by John N. Balog etal, McCormick, Taylor & Associates,Inc., August 8, 2002. ▲

KTR ● October 2003 15

Resources

Resources for loan Website resources

Resources Order Form

Please use the order form on this page to borrow the videotape described here. It is available for a two-week loan. Feel free to keep the publications.

❏ Public Transportation System Security andEmergency Preparedness Planning Guide, a publi-cation by John N. Balog, August 2002, availablefrom KUTC.

❏ Kansas Transit Interstate TransportationInformation Packet, Kansas Department ofTransportation Office of Public Transportation,September 2003. Materials available from KUTCand online at www.ksrtap.kutc.ku.edu.

❏ Transit Safety & Security, PrototypeApproach, a CD-ROM produced by the ColoradoDOT, December 2002.

Customers’ Rights and Responsibilities, availablefrom KUTC web page: http://www.kutc.ku.edu/pdffiles/ridersrights.pdf

CTAA Safety Review Program, available atwww.ctaa.org/training/safety

Various FTA safety and security publications, available at:http://transit-safety.volpe.dot.gov/publications/default.asp#security

Where to Send Order FormFax your completed order form to 785/864-3199 or send it by mail to:

Lending Library Request/TransitKUTC1530 W. 15th Street, Room 2011Lawrence, Kansas 66045-7609

Name Title

Agency Phone

Street Address Email Address

City State Zip + 4 Date Materials Needed

The Kansas Trans Reporter is an educational publication published quarterly by the Kansas University TransportationCenter. The newsletter is distributed free to rural and specialized transit providers and others with an interest in rural andspecialized service.

The Kansas Trans Reporter is co-sponsored by the Federal Transit Administration under its Rural TransportationAssistance Program (RTAP) and the Kansas Department of Transportation. The purposes of the program are to: 1) educatetransit operators about the latest technologies in rural and specialized transit; 2) encourage their translation into practical application; and 3) to share information among operators.

October 2003, Volume 16, Number 4. Copyright Kansas University Transportation Center. All rights reserved.Reproduction of material appearing in the Kansas Trans Reporter requires written permission.

For a free subscription to the Kansas Trans Reporter or to contact one of our faculty or staff,call toll-free 800/248-0350 (in Kansas) or 785/864-2595 (outside Kansas). Send correspon-dence to Kansas Trans Reporter, Kansas University Transportation Center, 1530 W. 15thStreet, Room 2011, Lawrence, KS 66045. Send e-mail messages to Patricia Weaver atweaver@ku.edu or Lisa Harris at LHarris@ku.edu. Visit our web site at www.kutc.ku.edu

Send us the inside form with your corrected address, or fax your changes to 785/864-3199.

In addition to publishing the Kansas Trans Reporter, the Kansas RTAP program offers a variety of other educational services. Following is a partial list of these services:● Publication dissemination ● Program planning assistance● Technical assistance ● Video lending library● Telephone consultation ● Computer database searches ● Training development ● Referral services ● Web site ● E-mail discussion group

Assistance can be obtained by contacting a Kansas Trans Reporter staff person at the numbers or address above.

Project Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pat WeaverEditor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lisa HarrisEditorial Assistant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ira AllenStudent Writers . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ira Allen, Matthew Kaufman

Co-sponsored by the Kansas DOT and the Federal Transit Administration

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