TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Research Report 861: Best Practices in Rural Regional Mobility addresses the role of state transit program policies and regional planning agencies in the development of services that fall in the middle ground between intercity bus service and rural public transportation. This middle ground is defined as rural regional services. The report provides lessons learned on how to address needs for rural regional mobility, and includes a checklist for developing a rural regional route. -- cf. http://www.trb.org/main/blurbs/176823.aspx.

NCHRP Report 582 explores how to integrate land use and transportation in rural communities. The report also highlights programs and investment strategies designed to support community development and livability while providing adequate transportation capacity.

This digest summarizes key findings of research performed under NCHRP Project 20-65, Task 42, Rural Public Transportation Strategies for Responding to the Livable and Sustainable Communities Initiative, by ICF International. For the study, ICF conducted a nationwide survey of state departments of transportation (DOTs) and their rural livability activities; conducted follow-up interviews about grants from the Partnership for Sustainable Communities (PSC); and created a primer highlighting strategies that state DOTs, transit operators, and their partners can use to help rural organizations applying for discretionary grant programs. The strategies discussed in the primer are: (1) Building awareness of PSC resources and livability in rural communities; (2) Providing programmatic and financial support; (3) Creating statewide or regional partnerships; and (4) Encouraging transit coordination at the regional level.

NCHRP Report 582 explores how to integrate land use and transportation in rural communities. The report also highlights programs and investment strategies designed to support community development and livability while providing adequate transportation capacity.

This guide was written as a quick primer for transportation professionals and analysts who assess the impacts of proposed transportation actions on communities. It outlines the community impact assessment process, highlights critical areas that must be examined, identifies basic tools and information sources, and stimulates the thought-process related to individual projects. In the past, the consequences of transportation investments on communities have often been ignored or introduced near the end of a planning process, reducing them to reactive considerations at best. The goals of this primer are to increase awareness of the effects of transportation actions on the human environment and emphasize that community impacts deserve serious attention in project planning and development-attention comparable to that given the natural environment. Finally, this guide is intended to provide some tips for facilitating public involvement in the decision making process.