Public Transportation Systems
Bus and rail systems form the core of this MIT OpenCourseWare offering, which traces how urban public transportation evolved and how it operates today. Topics include methods for collecting and analyzing ridership and operations data, monitoring system performance, designing routes, setting service frequency, and scheduling vehicles and crews. The course also examines how pricing policy and service quality shape ridership decisions, connecting planning theory to the practical tradeoffs transit agencies face. Materials include MIT lecture notes, readings, and assignments drawn from civil engineering and urban planning coursework, aimed at students who already have some grounding in transportation or urban systems. As with other MIT OCW courses, all materials are free to access and use, with no certificate offered. It suits anyone wanting a technical, planning-focused view of how a bus or rail network is actually run.