UC Irvine Institute of Transportation Studies

Changing economic conditions facing American transit since World War II are reviewed and strategies for coping with current problems are analysed. The most critical issues are financial. The cost of producing transit has been rising at about twice the rate of inflation, while local, state and federal assistance has begun to taper off after a dramatic increase in the early 1970s. Management's response to hard times is analysed: transit performance is being monitored more critically; peak‐period alternatives to regular transit are being implemented and new fare structures which are more effective and equitable are being introduced. Strategies are integrated into a budget‐based, financial planning cycle in which capital acquisitions and service deployment are related to anticipated revenues. Part 1 reviews the changing objectives between 1950 and 1980. Part 2, which will appear in the next issue, outlines management's response to the need for improved efficiency.