Over the past decade, highway and urban congestion have garnered the attention of commuters as well as government entities. Facility joint-use, by expanding public transit using existing rail corridors, is one approach to solving the constellation of problems occurring as offshoots of congestion. The potential and feasibility of shared use of rail corridors, between light rail vehicles (associated with public transit) and freight railroads, to function compatibly are still being investigated, even as current "near shared-track" operations are evolving.

During the last 30 years, due to the flexibility of light rail transit (LRT), new systems have been implemented, some of which include line segments that share tracks with freight operations regulated by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). To operate on the general railroad system, these LRT systems have obtained waivers from FRA safety regulations by operating with temporal separation. The aim of this research study was to further develop concepts for temporal separation to enable shared use operations in additional locations with more frequent and more flexible operations of FRA-compliant and non-compliant services. Based on the operating concepts and technology that facilitate temporal separation on the NJ TRANSIT River LINE, this project prepared a design for expanding freight and passenger operations while maintaining separation of modes in a configuration that is very similar to designs that have already been accepted by FRA.

The Code of Federal Regulations is the codification of the general and permanent rules published in the Federal Register by the executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government.

This study investigates the perceived safety risks and barriers that might prevent transit and shared mobility services from attracting post-Covid riders in Greater Minnesota. It includes an online survey of Greater Minnesota residents to understand their Covid-related safety concerns and their preferences and perceptions toward existing and potential safety protocols. The survey results show that, during the post-Covid era, driving alone continues to dominate, but desires to use transit and shared mobility modes remain strong. Lack of access, lack of interest, and lack of available better alternatives jointly affect transit-use behavior. Women, people with Covid concerns, urban residents, online shoppers, and transit users are associated with stronger preferences toward Covid safety measures. People with Covid concerns, online shoppers, and transit users are also associated with preferences toward general transit service improvements. We also find that elderly people, hesitant tech users, and transit-dependent users are unlikely to be positively affected by trip-planning tools and contactless payment technology. Furthermore, income and car ownership predict future transit use, and younger age is associated with more interest in carpooling. These results help to inform transit and shared mobility providers about what safety and communications strategies will be most effective in bringing users back.