This report will be of interest to managers of public transportation and school bus systems, transportation planning and operations professionals, policy makers, and others interested in the potential for coordinating or integrating school bus and public transportation services in non-urban areas. The report identifies and discusses issues associated with such coordination or integration, and provides 13 case studies of communities that have successfully coordinated or integrated some aspect of school and public transportation services. The report also provides an implementation guide that suggests "next steps" for non-urban communities seeking to give serious consideration to the coordination or integration of school and public transportation services.

Presents a method to estimate, on a per-mile and per-trip basis, the relative risks that students face in traveling to and from school by walking, bicycling, riding in passenger vehicles with adult drivers, riding in passenger vehicles with teenage drivers, or taking a bus.

Examines the net economic benefits associated with various strategies and practices for coordinating human service transportation and general public transit, provides quantitative estimates for these strategies and practices, and identifies innovative and promising coordination strategies and practices.

"TRB's Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Synthesis 74: Policies and Practices for Effectively and Efficiently Meeting ADA Paratransit Demand highlights policies and practices that transit agencies may be able to apply to their own paratransit services, often without the need to devote significant funds, personnel, or other resources. The report also examines certain practices and technologies that are still under development or have not undergone extensive testing"--Publisher's description.

More than three hundred public transportation professionals, government officials, industry vendors, and others attended the conference. The conference adopted the theme "Blazing New Trails: Rural Transportation's Next Mission" and encouraged participants to share insights on how rural transit and the intercity bus industry are finding new markets. Following an opening session, attendees broke into groups organized by topic category and worked to identify the most important issues facing rural transit in six areas. The issues they identified provided a "future vision"--A focus for the conference and for attendees in the next few years. The issues identified fall within the following categories: technology; service delivery alternatives; marketing; funding; human resources; operations; and research.