Transit Funding Research Articles

Multicriteria Feasibility Evaluation for Rural Transit in Georgia

This article describes transit feasibility analysis features of the Georgia Department of Transportation’s (GDOT’s) Multimodal Transportation Planning Tool (MTPT). Using open databases that are available agencywide, the MTPT can provide a system-level analysis of transportation requirements of rural areas, identify potential implementation constraints early in the planning process, and develop a prioritized project list by mode for an analysis region. In addition to demand-responsive transit, the MTPT addresses intercity bus, intercity passenger rail, commuter rail, highways, aviation, and bicycle modes. This article focuses on the demand-responsive transit component of the MTPT, and provides an overview of how the MTPT can help automate system-level transit planning for the general public in rural Georgia.The MTPT transit analysis assesses service feasibility for nonurbanized areas that do not currently have local transit service for the general public. In the MTPT, transit service feasibility considers the existence of human service transit providers in the county; the percentage of population in certain “target” populations; and estimates of potential ridership, vehicle requirements, capital costs, operating costs, and economic benefits. The first factor indicates if opportunities may exist to coordinate service with existing providers, and helps to address funding issues. The second factor assesses market characteristics of the target area as one determinant of potential service need. The third factor provides a range of potential values for key operating and financial statistics at a system-planning level of analysis. The intent of the analysis is to identify those locations where it makes sense to more seriously analyze new demand-responsive services.This article should be helpful for transportation planners with responsibility for developing system-level transportation plans and programs at the county, region, and state levels. It will also be helpful for decision-makers who are trying to match transit funding to areas with high service needs.

Why we need a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty

Why we need a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty

Perceived service adequacy and unmet need after discharge from brain injury rehabilitation

Purpose The present study aimed to quantify the perceived needs and adequacy of realised access to post-acute services in a sample of people with acquired brain injury in the first 6-months after discharge from inpatient rehabilitation. A secondary focus was the influence of access to funding and specialist transitional rehabilitation on unmet needs. Materials and methods Participants were 51 adults with a median age of 50 (IQR 35–57) recruited from an inpatient rehabilitation unit in an Australian tertiary hospital. The sample was those who had an acquired brain injury, including 23 who sustained a traumatic injury and 28 who sustained a non-traumatic injury. Measures were collected via telephone at 3- and 6-months, in a prospective observational cohort design using the Needs and Provisions Complexity Scale. A series of logistic regression models were used to determine the effects of participation in a transitional rehabilitation program and funding pathway on adequacy and unmet needs. Results Unmet needs for rehabilitation were most commonly reported (60%), followed by unmet needs in relation to health care (40%), social care (35%), personal care (32%) and environment-related (14%). Participants who attended transitional rehabilitation were more likely to indicate unmet health care needs (OR = 6.40, 95% CI = 1.40–29.24, p = 0.02). Conclusions The study highlights the need to look beyond functional impairment when conceptualising appropriate access. Additionally, the present research highlighted the need for greater work into an expectation of services. IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATION The majority of people with an acquired brain injury report unmet needs at 6 months post discharge. Present findings support the utility of patient reported measures when considering treatment evaluation with people with ABI, where assessing the personal appraisal of individuals needs may prove to be a key indicator to facilitate optimal service access. There are specific services that needed and not provided including psychological, speech pathology, family carer needs and vocational rehabilitation, and therefore are a key target for ensuring appropriate support is provided.

Exploring Transit’s Contribution to Livability in Rural Communities: Case Studies of the North Dakota Cities of Valley City and Dickinson

This paper investigates the nexus of transit and rural livability as demonstrated by case studies in the North Dakota communities of Valley City and Dickinson. While there are many factors that influence the livability of a rural community, transit is believed to be an important contributor. For each of the two North Dakota communities considered, public/resident surveys, local transit rider surveys, and stakeholder interviews were conducted to understand differing opinions on livability and how transit contributes to livability.In both Valley City and Dickinson, surveys of residents showed that they believe affordable housing, low crime, quality healthcare, overall cost of living, quality public schools, and available jobs are the most important factors contributing to the livability of a small community. While transit was not among the top factors, survey respondents expressed considerable support for providing transit services and funding transit through various sources. Residents in both cities expressed the opinion that transit should be provided in their community as a transportation option for seniors, people with disabilities, those who choose not to drive, and those who cannot afford to drive. Transit riders in both cities indicated that transit is important to their quality of life, and stakeholders from both communities expressed the sentiment that transit is a critical lifeline for people who are elderly and/or have a disability, individuals with no vehicle, and those who cannot drive.

Embracing policy paradoxes: EU’s Just Transition Fund and the aim “to leave no one behind”

With the adoption of the 2030 Agenda, UN Member States pledge “to leave no one behind” and “endeavour to reach the furthest behind first”. The EU Just Transition Fund (JTF) was designed to meet these policy objectives. It is one of three pillars of the Just Transition Mechanism, aiming at fair delivery of the European Green Deal and reducing adverse social and economic impacts of the transition towards a climate-neutral Europe. We examine the formulation of the JTF Regulation, from January 2020 until July 2021 and analyse seven topics of importance during the JTF formulation. Based on the results, we identify and discuss four paradoxes related to governance scales, offsetting exclusion, equity illusion, and eligibility criteria. The paradoxes arise from tension between the all-inclusive objective to leave no one behind, and selective affirmative actions, seeking to reach the furthest behind first. Results of the analysis enabled us to put forward plausible strategies to embrace these policy paradoxes to offer important lessons learned for the JTF and also to future policies that seek to leave no one behind.

The just transition fund – Did the European Union learn from Europe's past transition experiences?

In 2018, the European Union laid the foundation for a large-scale energy transition: away from fossilbased energy and towards renewable, sustainable energy solutions. A transition of such a large scale comes with challenges. To cope with the ills that an energy transition brings the European Commission proposed the Just Transition Fund in 2021. It serves as a financial buffer and provides strategic support for the successful energy transition to decrease injustices. Programs that aim at resolving transition justice issues are not new to Europe. The question, therefore, arises whether issues that arose or could not be solved with these past programs are addressed by the Just Transition Fund. To answer this question, three case studies that were supported by the Initiative for Coal Regions in Transition were assessed with the just transition framework. This research shows that Just Transition Fund propagates many of the detected past justice issues. The most prominent justice issues found were distributive and procedural due to scarce funding and a lack of stakeholder participation.

Towards a socially fair green transition in the EU? An analysis of the Just Transition Fund using the Multiple Streams Framework

The Just Transition Fund was introduced in 2021 as part of the European Union’s Green New Deal and aims to assuage some of the painful social consequences of the green transition. Relying on the Multiple Streams Framework, this article reconstructs the JTF’s institution. It identifies 2018–2019 as a key conjuncture in the European Union when various social, ideational and political preconditions enabling policy innovation converged. Subsequently, the need to publicly finance a just transition emerged in relation to some Eastern European states’ reluctance to work towards the 2050 climate neutrality target. After a Polish-led configuration of actors propelled the JTF onto the agenda, the von der Leyen Commission assumed the task of designing a less transparently self-serving policy instrument necessary to garner wider political support. The final JTF emerged from the interplay between two policy entrepreneurs in the context of the negotiations on the 2021–2027 European Union budget and the dislocations provoked by the COVID-19 crisis.

Towards a just energy transition: a critical analysis of the existing policies and regulations in Europe

Abstract The concept of just transition is included in the texts that establish the energy policy of the European Union (EU), in particular in the texts relating to the European Green Deal. The idea refers to the need to compensate the inhabitants of those regions where coal-fired power plants or coalmines are closed, to try to maintain employment and activity. There is a proposal for a regulation that establishes a Just Transition Fund, as the main element of the Just Transition Mechanism. The fund is the focus in coal areas. This norm is inserted in the set of norms for the reconstruction of Europe (NextGenerationEU). The same idea of just transition is found in the laws that various European countries have passed (or are proposing to pass), such as the UK, Germany, Spain and Poland. It is assumed that energy justice requires that in those areas where new forms of electricity production are being implemented, using renewable sources of energy, which displace coal, workers must be compensated. This perspective is the one that has become general, due to the influence of the energy policy of the EU and its law. This article does also show that limiting the just transition to coal problems is inadequate, since the transition generates other problems related to energy justice (such as the implementation of renewable facilities in rural areas, environmental impacts, energy poverty, etc). In other words, the article highlights that there are several potential winners and losers in the energy transition, other than coal regions and workers. To illustrate that idea we pick three remarkable examples: (i) the mining of lithium, since it is a key for electric mobility, but can create environmental and/or social problems; (ii) damages to rural areas from wind or sun installations (iii) and the increase of energy poverty.

Agenda‐setting, policy formulation, and the EU institutional context: The case of the Just Transition Fund

AbstractUtilizing Kingdon's Multiple Streams Framework (MSF) as a basis, this article aims to further the understanding of the influence institutional factors have on agenda‐setting and policy formulation in the European Union (EU). It does so by analyzing the policy process of the Just Transition Fund (JTF) from agenda‐setting to policy formulation by the Commission. The research finds that policy entrepreneurship is strongly determined by the characteristics and overlap of institutional policy windows. In the JTF case, the institutional context enhanced the influence of policy entrepreneurs within the European Parliament, especially the S&D party, on the combined process of agenda‐setting and policy formulation. Therefore, this paper illustrates that EU MSF scholarship would benefit from taking institutional factors more into account. The conclusions also indicate that supranational institutions can play a larger role in EU climate policy formulation than some of the current research suggests.

Editorial: The transformation of post-industrial areas and territorial aspects of Just Transition Fund implementation

An introductory text discusses the Just Transition Fund’s core assumptions and origin, in the process revealing stages to the evolution of the approach taken – in the direction of ‘green economy’ assumptions. Activities financed within the framework of the Fund are identified, in respect of the restructuring of Poland’s mining regions. Examples of fields of intervention are then discussed by reference to the Terytorialny Plan Sprawiedliwej Transformacji Województwa Śląskiego 2030, i.e. the 2030 Territorial Plan for the Just Transition of Poland’s Śląskie Voivodeship, in Silesia. A particularly important aspect here is the timetable for closures of mines and conventional power plants. The material also presents selected data on the significance of mining and the extractive industries in both their social and economic dimensions. Particular attention is here paid to the labour-market consequences of the Just Transition. The references are to levels of pay in the sector referred to, as well as the wealth characterising the relevant Polish gminas (areas of local-governmental administration) – as an alternative way of looking at the entire process. The article also points to a large number of research aspects linking up with transitioning in the economy and requiring further study and analysis. Overall, the work points to the challenges that regions subject to restructuring are going to be faced with.

Public Transit Funding and Transit Use: A Panel Study of U.S. 2010-2019

Public Transit Funding and Transit Use: A Panel Study of U.S. 2010-2019

POLAND'S ENERGY SECURITY IN THE CONTEXT OF EU ENVIRONMENTAL INITIATIVES

The current conditions of global development actualize the need for political actors to form a high level of energy security. It expands the state's ability to ensure the sustainability of economic development and the ability to withstand likely threats. The issue of energy security and sovereignty are key on the agenda of the EU, which seeks to implement a strategy of global leadership. The environmental modernization of the EU energy sector and each member state must comply with the main goal of «The European Green Deal», which is to reduce carbon emissions by 55% before 2030. The subject of the study is the substance and peculiarities of the formation of energy security in Poland. The aim of the study is to analyze the mechanisms of energy security of Poland in the context of EU environmental initiatives. Research methodology: systematic approach, method of analysis and comparison. The issue of energy security is recognized as key in achieving sustainable economic development in Poland. The content and basic principles of state energy security are presented in the National Security Strategy and detailed in the Energy Policy. Among the main directions of ecological modernization of the energy sector the following have been identified: efficient consumption of national energy resources; modernization of the energy sector and infrastructure; diversification of natural gas, oil, liquid fuel supplies; optimization of energy market functioning; construction of nuclear power plants; expansion of alternative energy sources; modernization of heating and co-generation energy systems; increasing energy efficiency. Polish officials have emphasized the need for a three-phase energy transition, involving a reduction in the production and use of coal, a gradual increase in the share of natural gas and the expansion of opportunities to use energy from alternative sources. The modernization of Poland's energy sector correlates with the implementation of «The European Green Deal» and other EU environmental initiatives. Energy sovereignty is secured through domestic and foreign financial assistance. The National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management of Poland attracts investments in environmental projects related to the development of geothermal energy and improvement of infrastructure energy efficiency. EU special funds (European Regional Development Fund/European Social Fund, Cohesion Fund, Just Transition Fund and Modernization Fund) provide funding for national or regional projects aimed at the comprehensive modernization of the Polish energy sector and the implementation of commitments to achieve climate neutrality. Poland pursues an active policy of cooperation in the energy sphere with other states – Denmark, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. Projects such as "Baltic Pipe" and "The Baltic Synchronisation Project" are in the active implementation phase. The results of the study: energy security is a key factor in the sustainability of economic development of Poland, the implementation of the modernization of the national energy complex correlates with the EU environmental initiatives, which contributes to the attraction of domestic and foreign investment, as well as the resources of public diplomacy.

Bioeconomy Opportunities for a Green Recovery and Enhanced System Resilience

Bioeconomy Opportunities for a Green Recovery and Enhanced System Resilience

The Deauville Partnership with Arab Countries in Transition: Tracing the Trajectory of a Unique Format

This paper reconstructs the history of the Deauville Partnership with Arab Countries in Transition – a unique multilateral format established at the 2011 G8 Summit in Deauville, France to help the countries affected by the Arab Awakening navigate through the transition. It identifies the Partnership’s particularities, main objectives, pillars and key phases. The conclusion is drawn that this format stood out because of a regional actors’ participation, a deeper engagement of multilateral institutions and all members’ willingness to cooperate with new partners. The Partnership’s umbrella format allowed to unite stand-alone projects, to increase their legitimacy and cumulative effect. This logic manifested itself clearly under the US and the UK chairmanships (2012–2013) when the members’ interest in the Partnership and expectations were the highest, ensuring a visible progress in all dimensions supported by the Middle East and North Africa Transition Fund under the World Bank trusteeship. However, a dramatic deterioration of the global and regional geopolitical environment in 2014 hindered the intensification of efforts, and the German impulse to reinvigorate the format in 2015 did not last for long. The initial enthusiasm of partners waned, which resulted in a discrete reformatting of the Partnership in 2019, despite the new wave of protests in the Arab world. The Partnership has nonetheless had a positive effect: the Arab countries enjoyed interacting with key donors and multilateral institutions on a regular basis, while the external actors have accumulated a valuable experience of coordinating response to macro-regional challenges. Hypothetically, this experience might still be relevant today but the establishment of a novel and inclusive format with such a clear emphasis on democratic transition in the Arab World is beyond possible.

Sustainable Social and Environmental Evaluation of Post-Industrial Facilities in a Closed Loop Perspective in Coal-Mining Areas in Poland

The article discusses issues related to the circular economy ideas applied to post-industrial facilities and infrastructure in Polish coal-mining areas. The aim of the article is to indicate directions for sustainability-oriented actions on reusing the remnants of closed mining plants and reshaping the areas which will be transformed under the just transition principles. For this purpose, the article reviews the terminology related to inventories of such facilities and their classification, and also indicates some locations of such facilities. The authors discuss the problem of legal regulations related to the process of closing a mining plant in Poland and also to EU guidelines on the allocation of financial resources from the Just Transition Fund (addressing the EU coal industry, climate change and the potential for clean energy solutions). This research aims at reviewing current research on the above aspects and at raising the problem of managing post-industrial facilities in light of their discontinued function due to mine closure. The article offers a preliminary diagnosis of the scale of research required to investigate the above problems in the view of the expected coal-exit in the Polish economy.

Финансовые посреднические фонды Всемирного банка как многосторонний механизм трансфера помощи в политически нестабильные регионы (на примере Транзитного фонда «Довильского партнерства»)

In recent years there has been a steady growth of “multi-bilateral aid,” or voluntary earmarked contributions transferred by international donors through multilateral organizations. The World Bank Group’s financial intermediary funds (FIFs) and trust funds have gained an especially wide recognition and have been particularly instrumental in channelling aid to fragile states — a priority group of partners for achieving the United Nations’ sustainable development goals. But researchers have paid much less attention to FIFs than to trust funds.This article identifies characteristic features of World Bank IFIs as a multilateral mechanism to channel aid to politically unstable regions, focusing on the Middle East and North Africa Transition Fund (MENA TF) established in 2012 to support Arab countries undergoing political transitions as a result of the Arab Awakening. The introductory section examines the particularities, benefits and risks of establishing FIFs as multilateral mechanisms to transfer development assistance. These parameters are illustrated in subsequent sections which discuss the MENA TF’s establishment procedures, governance structure, and mobilization and allocation of funds.The article concludes that for each of the parties involved, hypothetically, World Bank FIFs are a quite convenient mechanism for supporting fragile states. However, the example of the MENA TF conclusively shows that everything depends on the concrete political context of their establishment and operation. In terms of some key parameters (establishment procedure, governance structure) the MENA TF mechanism is very similar to other funds of the same type, but its operation is strongly affected by challenges uncommon to the majority of FIFs, which are focused on more politically neutral sectors. These challenges stem from several factors, including the predominance of political decisions within the Deauville Partnership, a unique list of contributors, and a severity of discord among them given the drastic deterioration of the political climate in the Arab world and beyond in 2014. This not only disrupted plans to engage more donors and mobilize the planned amount of funds, but it also stipulated a visible politicization of aid allocation. Political risks which materialized in the MENA TF operations might occur in other FIFs focused on fragile states and situations. The establishment of additional multilateral mechanisms, thus, requires learning from experience and prioritizing risk assessment and mitigation.

P26 Identifying Transportation Access Strategies to Advance SNAP-Ed Programming

Background Insufficiencies in transportation access are associated with a multitude of disparities among low-income families. SNAP-Ed implementers are encouraged to work with sectors of influence to expand and strengthen transportation to and from programming sites. Currently, evidenced-based, program participant-informed transportation access strategies are limited. Objective This exploratory study aimed to understand perspectives from transportation stakeholders and people who are SNAP-Ed eligible on strategies needed to ensure access to transportation for people on a low income. Study Design, Setting, Participants In South Carolina, in-depth interviews (n = 22) were conducted with transportation stakeholders (n = 27), and focus groups (n = 10) were conducted with people (n = 61) recruited from SNAP-Ed programming sites (health clinics, public libraries). Interviews and focus groups were audio-recorded and transcribed. Measurable Outcome/Analysis Transcripts were qualitatively analyzed separately for interviews and focus groups to identify emergent themes. Results Themes among stakeholders included: increasing funding for public transit; creating or strengthening public transit options; changing public and policy maker perceptions of public transit; and increasing collaboration and coordination among stakeholders. Themes among focus group participants included having options outside of individual vehicle ownership (eg, buses, taxis, vans, ride-sharing services) available and affordable where people on a low income live, especially in rural areas, and improving existing public transit options (eg, more routes, more promotion of how public transit systems work). Conclusions SNAP-Ed implementers should: engage with SNAP-Ed participants to inform them of transportation options in their area and identify their transportation gaps and build relationships with multi-sector transportation stakeholders to share the experiences of SNAP-Ed participants and work towards changing policy, systems, and environments to improve transportation systems. Outcome evaluations are needed to determine if strategies implemented improve food security and dietary intake among participants. Funding Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program - Education.

The impact of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) on land and property values: A meta-analysis

Throughout the world, Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) has become a popular transit solution for cities wanting to improve urban mobility and economic opportunities through land and property value uplift (LVU). However, the relevant literature reports a mixed impact of BRT on land and property values. This research aims to explain the variation in impacts by conducting a meta-analysis of 23 empirical studies which have estimated the amount of LVU that is attributable to BRT. Using a random-effects model, four categories of factors that may influence estimates of BRT impacts are analysed: BRT system characteristics; land type and accessibility; research methods; and the spatial and temporal characteristics of the case study. Several factors were found to have a statistically significant impact on estimated LVU impacts from BRT systems including maturity of the BRT system; property or land; type of value (asking price, assessed price or sales price); the distance to BRT stations; the research method; and the geographical location of the BRT system. Using the quantifiability advantages of meta-analysis techniques, we further conducted a broad comparison between our results and the findings from one previous meta-analysis study on Rail-Based Transit (RBT), and discussed how the LVU impact differs between BRT and RBT. The findings from this research suggest several key recommendations for future studies into the impact of BRT on land and property values. They also inform policy analyses on transit funding through land and property value gains.

Refugee entrepreneurship and self-reliance: the UNHCR and sustainability in post-conflict Sierra Leone

AbstractEntrepreneurship has been advocated as a path to self-reliance for refugees, but little scholarship has been produced about refugee entrepreneurs operating in their country of origin during reintegration. In 2003–04, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) implemented a group of ‘entrepreneurial ventures’ in urban and peri-urban locations in Kambia, Sierra Leone. Fifteen years later, 20 per cent of these ventures were still operating—a figure comparable with the success of start-ups in the United States. This paper examines the reasons for the sustainability of some ventures and the limited lifespan of others, using five interrelated metrics: ownership, management, mission and activities, financing and physical capital. It will be argued that, in the start-up phase, the UNHCR had a positive impact on the formation of entrepreneurial ventures by negotiating rules about property rights and credit, and by adopting a bottom-up approach to promote innovation among returnees. In the transition phase, however, the UNHCR’s planned handover to other UN agencies as part of the 4 R’s process largely failed because of inadequate attention to transition funding. In the mature phase, refugee enterprises survived if they could secure property rights to their facilities and adapt their management structures, activities and financing, while still preserving their social missions.

Can we estimate accurately fare evasion without a survey? Results from a data comparison approach in Lyon using fare collection data, fare inspection data and counting data

In a context of worldwide urbanization and increasing awareness for environmental issues, it is undeniable that public transport will play an important role in the cities of the future. This will require increased attractiveness of public transit and adequate funding. In this regard, fare evasion could be considered as a threat that needs to be quantified accurately. To do this, transit operators often rely on on-site surveys that are limited in terms of spatiotemporal coverage. Yet, new data sources such as farebox transactions, fare inspection logs and automated passenger counter are now available and little research examines how they could help in estimating the fare irregularity rate. In this paper, we initiate research in this direction. To do this, we followed the operator’s viewpoint and used a comparative approach to analyse the potential of those new data sources. We introduced a classification of fare irregularities and then applied data fusion methods to derive two fare irregularity rates. Results are then compared to a survey and the area of relevance of each data source is discussed. The research is done with data from the public transport network of Lyon which is an interesting case study because different access control types coexist (open and closed environment). The research results suggest that the fare inspection logs might have significant limitations to measure accurately the level of fare evasion. They also suggest that the merging of automated count and farebox transactions is a more promising direction of research. Still, it will probably not be enough to completely replace on-site manual survey. These findings can help operators in identifying the pros and cons of all data sources and implement new measurement methods.