Reconnecting Rural America: Recommendations for a National Strategy

Federal Transit Administration 50th Anniversary1989PDFTech ReportUnited States. Department of AgricultureUnited States. Dept. of Agriculture. Office of TransportationWashington (District of Columbia)United StatesRural areasPublic transitStrategic planningConferencesTransportation planningHighwaysPlanning and ForecastingPublic TransportationResearchSocietyI72: Traffic and Transport PlanningUMTA-OH-06-0056-91-1This report was developed by participants at the National Conference on Reconnecting Rural America, held in Omaha, Nebraska, on August 22-24, 1988. This conference represented the culmination of a joint, 18-month effort of a wide range of participating organizations to address the mobility needs of rural America. After a review of changing rural structural trends and the transition occurring in the transportation industry, the Conference focused on the nine components of a national strategy which emerged from the regional symposia. To examine service realities facing rural areas, the Conference included a discussion of an isolated rural area in danger of losing its intercity bus service. Discussion culminated in the development of Recommendations for a National Strategy on Reconnecting Rural America. Conferees linked each of the following nine components to a specific set of actions, actors, and timeframes: (1) foster public-private cooperation; (2) mobilize support for rural passenger transportation; (3) encourage community participation; (4) define and coordinate complementary government roles; (5) link rural transportation services into a transportation system; (6) encourage market research and development; (7) encourage diversification of funding sources; (8) maximize flexible management of rural transportation; and (9) identify and eliminate regulatory barriers to cooperation.95