The Policy Development and Research Program at APTA is the think tank for the public transportation industry. Through polling, surveys, original research, and long-term strategic development the program ensures that the nation is informed on the benefits of public transportation investment. Recent products are shown below.

• The New Real Estate Mantra - March 2013
  This paper shows that average sales prices for residences near public transportation were more resilent during the Great Recession than their respective regions as a whole.
• The Business Case for Investment in Public Transportation - March 2013
Public Transportation is an attractive market for both public and private investment and offers a significant ROI for investors. Demographic shifts and changes in consumer preferences ensures a dynamic market future.
• Acts of Nature and Public Transportation - November 2012
  This white paper reviews the ways in which acts of nature – particularly extreme weather events – can impact transit’s $77 billion investment backlog, identifies strategies transit agencies can pursue to reduce weather-related risks, and discusses resources and opportunities for the transit community.
• Transit on the Cutting Edge of Clean Technology - September 2012
  This white paper reviews the substantial progress that transit agencies have made in investing in innovative clean technologies and fuels, such as electricity, hybrid vehicles, electric storage, biofuels, natural gas, and hydrogen fuel cells. Transit, in fact, has often been on the cutting edge of adopting these clean technologies, driven in part by a range of federal and state policies, programs, and incentives.
• Opportunity Cost of Inaction: High-Speed Rail and High Performance Passenger Rail in the United States - July 2012
  This paper addresses the initial investment and on-going cost of operation and maintenance of high-performance passenger rail (HPPR) in four of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) sanctioned HPPR regional networks – Northeast, Chicago Hub, California, and Northwest – over a 40 year period. The system can generate a net benefit of at least $660 million annually. If the nation should forgo this opportunity, it stands to sustain a cost of at least $26.4 billion in foregone economic benefits over the next four decades.
• High-Speed Rail: On the Move in America - July 2012
  High-speed rail is critical to America’s economic future. Congestion on our highways and runways already costs $130 billion a year, and our population is expected to grow by another 100 million people in the next 40 years. That is the key rationale behind the Obama Administration’s more than $10 billion investment in high-speed and passenger rail projects across the country.
• Public Transportation Protects Americans From Gas Price Volatility - May 2012
  This paper highlights the role that public transit plays in protecting Americans from price volatility, as well as strategies that can buffer Americans from future gas price shocks.
• Economic Recovery: Promoting Growth - March 2012
• Rural Communities: Expanding Horizons - March 2012
• House Proposal Erodes Credit Ratings, Ties Hands of American Communities - February 2012
• An Inventory of the Criticisms of High-Speed Rail - January 2012
  This report is the summary of extensive research that examined the criticism that has been leveled over the past three years at the national efforts to improve intercity passenger rail and introduce true high-speed passenger rail in the United States.  The report defines eight broad categories of criticism of high-speed rail and offers several counterarguments to each.
• New Appropriations Bill Saves Transit Jobs - December 2011
• An Analysis of Proposed U.S. House of Representatives Actions and Their Impact on Public Transportation - September 2011
• Impacts of the Recession on Public Transportation Businesses -- August 2011
• Impacts of the Recession on Public Transportation Agencies: Update -- August 2011
• Business Member Economic Outlook for 2011 - February 2011
• Impacts of the Recession on Public Transportation Agencies -- March 2010
• Challenge of State and Local Funding Constraints on Transit Systems: Effects on Service, Fares, Employment, and Ridership -- June 2009
• Rising Fuel Costs: Impacts on Transit Ridership and Agency Operations -- September 2008
• Impact of Rising Fuel Costs on Transit Service -- May 2008