INTRODUCTION It should come as no surprise to transit professionals that the number of law suits and the size of damage awards are growing faster than ridership. At a conference in August, 1999, one insurance official claimed his Company’s pay-outs for transportation clients were 15% above premiums. According to a Transportation Research Board report on the subject, “…the number and amount of personal injury recoveries against public transit operators continue to run higher than can be accommodated within the confines of public budgets and rider fees.”(1) Sociological factors may help to explain these trends. But they have their roots largely

Roughly 15 percent of all transit riders are schoolchildren. But unlike their European counterparts, U.S. and Canadian transit systems are, for the most part, just beginning to “accommodate” them – just as they have dramatically altered the structure of service to accommodate individuals with physical and developmental disabilities. Like the transformation of transit and paratransit services to meet ADA requirements, this effort faces similarly daunting problems. Yet a handful of unusual efforts have demonstrated what can be done – and what the benefits can be for transit riders in general. This document overviews the design and operating features of one