This report presents results of research conducted under Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Project B-21, "Effective Approaches to Meeting Rural Intercity Bus Transportation Needs." The project identified strategies for initiating, preserving, and enhancing effective rural intercity bus transportation. To identify recent projects and to identify barriers or issues affecting implementation, the research effort included surveys of state rural transit program managers, state rail program managers, and intercity bus carriers. The report includes three parts. Part I contains a review of recent developments affecting the intercity bus industry, an overview of potential funding sources, and a review of barriers to implementation of rural intercity projects. Part II provides strategies for rural intercity service improvements, including methods of identifying intercity carriers and services, planning, program development, operating assistance, capital assistance, marketing assistance, and combining approaches. Each strategy is described, and implementation examples are presented. Part III presents 50 project descriptions based on additional survey interviews with project contacts.

More than three hundred public transportation professionals, government officials, industry vendors, and others attended the conference. The conference adopted the theme "Blazing New Trails: Rural Transportation's Next Mission" and encouraged participants to share insights on how rural transit and the intercity bus industry are finding new markets. Following an opening session, attendees broke into groups organized by topic category and worked to identify the most important issues facing rural transit in six areas. The issues they identified provided a "future vision"--A focus for the conference and for attendees in the next few years. The issues identified fall within the following categories: technology; service delivery alternatives; marketing; funding; human resources; operations; and research.