Project Title:
Crisis Management: Are Public Transportation Authority Leaders Prepared?

Project Objective:
It is expected that the research will create a rich data set that can be used to develop research reports that usefully inform the transportation industry regarding the status of crisis management in small and rural transit systems. Specifically, the following publications are expected to result from the research:
1.      UTI research report
2.      Peer-reviewed journal article
3.      Crisis Management Case Book

Project Abstract:
The events of September 11, 2001, were a shocking awakening as to the extent to which unforeseen circumstances can destabilize corporations, organizations, families, and citizenry.  Private and public entities learned the meaning of the term crisis management, and they also learned that crisis management is a leadership issue.  Public transportation services in New York and Washington, DC were immediately disrupted, but the public transit systems of America’s rural and small cities face equal risks. To what extent are the leaders of these public transportation authorities prepared for major disruptions in service? Have the leaders worked beyond the “crisis management manual” to master the psychological, sociological, and technological issues that accompany disasters? Are they aware that major service disruptions do not have to occur suddenly, but that they can begin as minor operational problems and smolder? The proposal set forth in this document requests the support of the Urban Transit Institute to study crisis management preparedness among public transportation authority leaders.  The continuation of reliable and safe public transit is vital to the physical and economic development of our communities. While numerous transit studies examine security systems and transit operations, few studies have focused on the public transportation leadership issues associated with crisis management. This research seeks to fill that void by using a multidisciplinary approach to examine public transportation leaders willingness and capacity to champion, plan, and implement the tasks associated with effective crisis management.

Technology Transfer Activities:
Research studies addressing crisis management in the transportation related fields, publications primarily present a “to do” listing without integrating managerial research on the factors that inhibit leadership responses during crisis periods.  This study will apply a rigorous research methodology to the study of crisis management in transportation authorities in a manner that will inform other transportation leaders.

Potential Benefits of the Project:
The research effort proposed in this document will be useful to transportation professionals and students. Although crisis management research has long been a rich stream of research in the business management literature, in the public-sector literature, little is written on the subject. Most studies present a one-dimensional view, almost exclusively addressing the event from a public relations point of view (Horsley & Barker, 2002; Shell, 1992).