EVOLUTION OF TRANSIT INVESTMENT MEASURES IN MINNESOTA
The Office of Transit Administration (OTA) of the Minnesota Department of Transportation has been administering state funds for transit services since 1977. Since the programs started, a data base has been maintained so that OTA could monitor and evaluate system performance. Monitoring involves checking expenses, revenues, and operating statistics monthly so that systems remain in accordance with a formal management plan. Evaluation work is geared to an annual review of the system prior to grant renewal and identifying potential areas of improvement. The evaluation work, which uses a five-year time horizon study and a peer group review, has produced results appropriate to measuring system performance only against local goals. Two levels of performance measures are applied to all systems. An aggregate measure review looks for potential trouble areas, and a disaggregate measure review confirms the source of concern. A very detailed disaggregate review may follow to pinpoint troubles. In order to rationalize and justify the state expenditure of funds, OTA has developed transit investment measures. Benefit and cost measures are used to evaluate the performance of all systems. The measurement systems used by OTA are identified, and reasons why the transit investment measures evolved are discussed.
USE OF FEDERAL SECTION 15 DATA IN TRANSIT PERFORMANCE EVALUATION: MICHIGAN PROGRAM (ABRIDGMENT)
In the first application of its kind, the reporting system of Section 15 of the Urban Mass Transportation Act, as amended, is being used to support the development of a straightforward, routine, and comprehensive transit performance evaluation program in the state of Michigan. The methodology developed for Michigan satisfies the complementary needs to account for public funds invested in transit operation and development and to promote the efficient and effective use of these funds in the delivery of transit services. At the same time, the methodology avoids placing an additional burden of record keeping and reporting on individual transit operators. In the rapidly developing field of transit performance evaluation, these features are essential for state and local funding agenices to consider as part of any plans to develop a continuing evaluation program. In this paper, the Michigan program is described, and the features of the program that have general applicability for other areas concerned with transit performance measurement and evaluation are highlighted. (Author)
AN INTRODUCTION T O THE SOILS OF THE SOUTH-EASTERN PORTION OF THE AUSTRALIAN ARID ZONE
Summary 
 
Seven soil regions, each of which is dominated by soils belonging to one or two great soil groups, are defined and mapped. The outstanding feature is the presence of a variety of soils with widely differing characteristics. The soils are deeper, have more profile differentiation and are finer-extured than those in most-arid regions and are frequently overlain by currently-forming deposits of wind-transported materials. Because the vegetative cover is better developed and there are only small areas of rocky hills and bare rock pediments, water erosion and deposition are not as prominent as in other arid areas.