Keolis North America (Keolis) announced the results of a first-of-its-kind transit industry leadership survey.

More than 90 transit executives responded to an anonymous questionnaire of more than two dozen questions that measured current challenges and priorities, and their anticipated priorities over the next five years.

Highlights of the Study

Responses came from transit system executives representing networks and modes of all sizes in all regions of the U.S.

Key findings include:

• Approximately half (48% of executives are actively planning to expand service areas or trip frequencies in the next five years.

• 72% identified ridership as their top current challenge.

• 58% point to traffic congestion as having a negative impact on operational performance.

• 78% said decarbonization will be their top priority in the next five years.

Results from the survey will show how Keolis further evolves and enhances its partnership with transit agencies.

“At Keolis, we’re constantly looking for ways to better serve our partners and the passengers who we provide with safe and reliable transit. To do that effectively, we are anticipating our partners’ needs by looking around the corners,” said Ryan Adams, Keolis EVP, market development and innovation. “This survey gives us a wide angle look at the entire industry which, in turn, helps our partners to anticipate trends in safety, ridership growth, personnel, operations and maintenance, and more.”

Keolis’ Process

Keolis used third-party research firm Hanover Research to anonymously collect survey responses.

The survey sought to discover what agencies’ goals are and their outlook for the next two to five years.

Additionally, questions probed what agencies’ largest challenges are running for networks and where private operations and maintenance contractors can assist in solving these challenges.