This digest summarizes the results of TCRP Project J-6/Task 46. ... The digest was prepared by Cambridge Systematics, Inc. Robert G. Stanley served as principal investigator.

"TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 569: Comparative Review and Analysis of State Transit Funding Programs examines the levels and types of state funding provided for public transportation. The report provides supplemental analyses of information collected in the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics' annual survey of state public transportation funding and explores a framework for conducting peer analyses and offers ideas on how the annual survey of state public transportation funding might be enhanced so that states could conduct additional analyses"--Publisher's description.

This synthesis will be of interest to transit practitioners and transportation professionals, including technical and research staff, as well as those working with them, with regard to the use of performance measures for the allocation of financial assistance to local transit agencies. The synthesis explores current perspectives, practices, and experiences. It focuses primarily on the extent to which traditional measures of transit performance such as internal measures of economic efficiency, service effectiveness, and productivity are used in allocating funds to transit. The report summarizes the experiences of a variety of transit agencies. In addition, it sought to capture key perspectives of transit and transportation professionals on the relationship between system performance and funding decisions and to identify barriers to more extensive use of performance measures in the allocation of funds for public transportation.

TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Web-Only Document 188: Survey of State Funding for Public Transportationâ€"Ways to Improve It includes suggestions on ways to potentially improve the Survey of State Funding for Public Transportation. Areas covered by the report include definition of major terms, post-submission data checks, improved accessibility, non-transit related ferry funding, and overall data collection. The Survey of State Funding for Public Transportation report, which is prepared under the auspices of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) and the American Public Transit Association, includes information on state-level public transportation funding, the source of funds, the potential use of funds, and the method of funding distribution for each transit program.