Unemployment, low wages, poverty, and lack of affordable housing are the main drivers of an increasing homeless population throughout the U.S. in recent years. Transit agencies are being impacted by homelessness. While transit agencies cannot address the underlying causes of homelessness, there are opportunities to work with local partners to be a part of helping individuals in need, while providing a safe, reliable, and customer-friendly experience for all riders. 

TCRP Research Report 242: Homelessness: A Guide for Public Transportation, from TRB's Transit Cooperative Research Program, presents transit agency experiences and lessons learned as they have built on, newly implemented, or are considering programmatic activities that respond to homelessness.

The research was conducted at Portland State University (PSU), in a partnership between PSU's Transportation Research and Education Center (TREC) and Homelessness Research and Action Collaborative (HRAC).