Transit Management
Public transportation systems need managers who can juggle strategic planning, labor relations, maintenance, financing, and marketing all at once, and this MIT OCW course covers the methods behind each. Lecture materials and readings walk through how transit agencies build strategic plans, negotiate with labor unions, schedule maintenance, structure fare policy, and use management information systems to support decisions. The course also examines alternative service arrangements, including contracting out to private operators, and compares these strategies against traditional public provision. Drawing on case material from the transit industry, it treats management not as abstract theory but as a set of concrete tradeoffs agencies face daily. Course materials include syllabus, lecture notes, and assignments from MIT's Civil and Environmental Engineering and Urban Studies and Planning departments, available under a Creative Commons license at no cost.