FUTURE DIRECTIONS OF URBAN PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION. SYNOPSIS OF PRE-CONFERENCE PAPERS

This section offers a synopsis of the five overview papers that were prepared for and provided to the participants before the Woods Hole conference. In addition, authors of the papers had an opportunity to comment further on their themes and positions. Such comments are highlighted here, and the edited texts of their papers are included for further reference. The authors and their topics are as follows: Effects of Energy Supply and Telecommunications on Urban Mass Transit's Future, Sarah J. LaBelle and Martin J. Bernard III, Argonne National Laboratory; Land Use Trends and Transit Operations, Donald E. Priest, University of Virginia and Priezac Corporation, and Joseph L. Walsh-Russo, New Jersey Department of Transportation; Changes in the Economic Base of Urban Areas: Implications for Urban Public Transportation, Richard V. Knight, University of Akron; Financing Public Transportation, Ronald F. Kirby, Urban Institute; and Does This Bus Go to the Future? Some Thoughts on the Future of Urban Public Transit, Joseph L. Schofer, Northwestern University. The list of points made by the authors includes finance, paratransit, private-sector involvement, private-sector management practices, metropolitan development patterns, and energy. (Author)