| Federal, state and regional transit programs increasingly encourage inter-agency service integration via technology integration. Realizing both kinds of integration at the same time is difficult. Inter-agency integration requires transit agencies to address two layers of complexity at the same time: the identification of standards for shared hardware, software and communications platforms; and the marriage of different transit cultures through shared operations, including fare and schedule coordination. Shared operations and other institutional changes may be politically unpopular. It is therefore possible to pursue institutional change but only realize technological change. The integration is even more difficult when multiple agencies are involved.; This dissertation examines the process of technology adoption in multi-agency public transit settings and finds that technically operational technology does not necessarily guarantee project success, particularly when more than one transit provider is involved. Rather, institutional issues drive project outcomes. Technology deployments work best in the context of pre-existing and formal relationships.; Six case studies of recent transit technology tests are analyzed to illustrate both conditions for successful multi-agency integration and the consequences of not meeting these conditions. The case studies are from Washington, DC; Chicago; the San Francisco Bay Area; the San Gabriel Valley in Los Angeles County; Santa Clara, CA; and Ventura County, CA.; This case study analysis requires a synthesis of three distinct areas of literature: transit management, innovations adoption (and the use of innovation in the planning realm); and public sector decision making, particularly by multi-agency and regional bodies. The transit management literature helps to explain why transit agencies behave the way they do. Reasons include the institutional structure of the industry, spatial monopolies on service, and the incentives generated by sources and provisions of transit subsidies. The innovations literature helps explain how political, economic and social factors have historically influenced the ways in which a given institution, community or nation adopts and adapts innovation. The public administration literature offers lessons on the effectiveness of public institutions in making decisions and in using tools of analysis to direct decision-making. |
