IMAGE OF RAIL TRANSIT

Many aspects of rail transit systems are often classified as intangible--that is, they are perceived as beneficial but are difficult or impossible to quantify. Included in this category are the image that the rail system projects; the system's effect on the city's image, marketing and promotional activities, and land use and development; and the perception of what the rail system has done for the quality of life and mobility of an area. To obtain a better understanding of the impacts that rail transit systems have had on these aspects, the Texas Transportation Institute, under contract to the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (Houston Metro), conducted interviews with representatives of agencies and organizations in four cities that recently implemented rail transit systems: Atlanta, Miami, Portland, and San Diego. Similar interviews were conducted in Houston, allowing a comparison of responses in Houston with those from the other cities. The results, which provide a qualitative, rather than quantitative, assessment of some of the less tangible aspects of rail transit systems, should benefit metropolitan areas where rail transit systems are being considered and practitioners attempting to better understand the rail transit decision-making process.