Challenge

Kittelson was hired by the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) to develop a user-friendly Transit Development Plan (TDP) guidebook to help transit agencies throughout Oregon scope and prepare TDPs (sometimes called transit master plans, mid-range transit plans, or long-range transit plans). ODOT recognizes that TDPs are most effective when they connect with the transit agency’s vision and goals, are informed by high-quality analysis and stakeholder input and are well-coordinated with other planning processes.

Solution

The guidebook’s development was informed by interviews with Oregon transit agencies, input from ODOT staff and an advisory committee, a literature review, and Kittelson staff‘s experiences in developing TDPs and other transit planning studies. The guidebook provides best practices as well as information to help agencies and jurisdictions scale efforts to their available budget and resources while offering critical and optional components. This guidance particularly targets rural and small transit agencies who do not always have the resources or staff experience needed to prepare a TDP, and it aims to help those agencies make the best use of the resources available to them locally, regionally, and at the state level.