The Federal Transit Administration is offering this grant to identify performance measures for transit’s contribution to community livability.

FTA seeks proposals for research in these three separate, but related, areas:

1) Data Needed to Support Livability Performance Measures

FTA needs an affordable and consistent source of national data on where transit service exists to support calculation of livability metrics. This data will need to be able to be updated on an annual basis. FTA is seeking ideas for an approach that can leverage how agencies are already making this data available to the public.

Data on the location of bus stops and rail stations, as well as schedule information, is increasingly available in an open source public format from Google called the General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS). Procedures for building a comprehensive database using this data need to be developed.

Data strategies for rural areas and areas not covered in Google Maps will need to be developed to support analysis over the entire nation. It will also be necessary to consider practices for archiving data. The data may also need to be supplemented with various layers of demographic and geographic data so as to give FTA the ability to explore livability issues using spatial and temporal analysis.

As a final product of this effort, Database applications should be demonstrated across a geographic region selected for data availability and for a variety of urbanized areas.

2) Urban Livability Performance Measures

FTA needs a set of metrics that characterizes how transit systems contribute to the quality of life in the urban communities they serve. These metrics need to make sense from a national perspective but also be compatible with regional and local planning efforts. This work will expand on previous work at local and regional levels to explore measures that could meet Federal needs. The work should result in a set of practical recommendations for implementation by FTA.

Candidate measures shall be evaluated across a geographic region selected for data availability and for the variety of its urban environments.

3) Rural Livability Performance Measures

FTA needs a set of metrics that can characterize how rural transit systems contribute to the quality of life in the communities they serve. These metrics must make sense from a national perspective but also be compatible with regional and local planning efforts. FTA is looking for proposals to explore various metrics in an academic environment that allows innovative ideas to be tested with community planners and transit practitioners included in the evaluation process.

Candidate measures shall be evaluated across a geographic region selected for data availability and for the variety of its rural environments.

Requirements for all Proposals

-Term of proposed projects is to be 18 months from start of agreement.
-An applicant may apply for any or all of the three areas.
-Separate proposals must be submitted for each area.
-Proposals may include use of Federal, State, or other research funds for additional work as part of the overall project, or to continue the project past the 18 month final presentation.

All proposals should include travel funds to meet with FTA staff in Washington, DC, for:
• An initial meeting to discuss goals,
• A half-way progress report, and
• A final presentation to discuss results.