Warner Transportation Consulting has conducted labor studies for transit agecies in Cleveland, Austin, Denver, Boston, San Jose, and Tampa. Project tasks have included estimating the cost of proposed labor contracts, identifying wages and practices at comparable transit and local companies, developing negotiating strategies, and analyzing union interests. Marc Warner's work for the MBTA also included his use of the agency's run-cutting software (HASTUS) to identify new spread penalties, part-time restrictions, and other possible work rules that would benefit both MBTA management and labor.

Warner Transportation Consulting's fare studies have typically involved the design and analysis of a stated-preference survey, a review of past ridership trends, development of a model for agency staff to conduct their own tests, and presenting the results of the study to agency managers. Mr. Warner has conducted these studies for transit agencies in Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas, St. Louis, Portland (OR), Fort Worth, Bangor, and he recently conducted his sixth fare-evaluation project for the STIB, Brussels main transit agency. On his last project in Brussels, he designed and analyzed household and on-board stated preference surveys to develop an integrated fare structure between the urban transit system, two regional carriers, and the Belgian national railways.

Warner Transportation Consulting has managed origin-destination studies at five suburban transit agencies near Washington D.C. and at two transit agencies (Canton and Dayton) in Ohio. The work primarily involved the development and implementation of on-board surveys and passenger on-off counts. Marc Warner scheduled and supervised all survey staff, conducted the full analysis of all survey results (including geocoding) and documented the results and findings in comprehensive reports.

As an on-call consultant for the 130 bus Aspen area transit provider (RFTA), Warner Transportation Consulting has managed several relatively quick studies. These studies have included analyzing transit options for the Glenwood Springs area, documenting survey results, examining opportunities to qualify for a Jobs Access Reverse Commute (JARC) grant, recommending an approach to meet FTA requirements for a data collection and modeling program, estimating the effect of limited fare-free service, and preparing material for the Title VI compliance report.

Warner Transportation Consulting has also contracted with the Boston transit system (MBTA) to provide on-call transit management and operations studies. For this agency, Mr. Warner developed programs to reduce operator absenteeism, and evaluated the monitoring and incentive measures for commuter boats and other contracted operations. He also assessed the MBTA top-management reports, and critiqued the use of state legislation to abrogate the MBTA's transit labor contracts.

Warner Transportation Consulting conducted the 2007 rider survey on this Connecticut commuter rail service. Marc Warner redesigned the survey to determine preferences for service changes in addition to measuring customer satisfaction on a wide range of attributes. Survey analysis involved regression, gap, and quadrant analysis, which Warner Transportation Consulting documented in a comprehensive 120 page report.

Shore Line East subsequently contracted with Warner Transportation Consulting, Inc. to provide similar services for the railroad's 2008 and 2009 rider surveys.

Warner Transportation Consulting managed the non-rider survey for the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority. The job entailed both a telephone survey of 550 service area residents, and an intercept survey of people parking at certain facilities in downtown Springfield and Northampton, Massachusetts.

Warner Transportation Consulting directed all aspects of survey design, data collection, and analysis for a survey of passengers on the Logan Express buses serving four park-and-ride locations each from ten 10 to 20 miles from Boston's Logan Airport. The service carries 1.2 million riders per year, and three of the four routes make a profit for Massport. The study involved the creation of a full choice set and a multinonial logit analysis to understand traveler preferences for taking the bus instead of driving to the airport or using other modes. In a subsequent request from Massport, Warner Transportation Consulting prepared a lengthy report, "Rethinking the Logan Air Passenger Study" that recommended new, more efficient alternatives to the agency's traditional approach of surveying 8000 air passengers every three years. Warner Transportation Consulting also managed Massport's 2001 employee commute survey.

Marc Warner served as the project manager and principal researcher on a study to examine the effect on ridership of changes in headways, service hours, coverage, marketing, passenger amenities, and fares. The evaluation and development of a model involved extensive review of local data from VIA and San Antonio, research into documented experiences of transit systems elsewhere, and a survey of six southwestern transit agencies about their experiences with certain type of actions of interest to VIA. Results included forecasts of ridership and agency costs in response to the various actions. The study also suggested ways to overcome a false image of the system as having a crime problem, and recommended the planting of trees at bus stops to add to system identity and to offer shade for waiting patrons. The agency and the city followed this recommendation with a $2 million tree planting program.

For the Pennsylvania Governor�s Office, Marc Warner analyzed alternative programs to subsidize local transit operations in Pennsylvania. His report led to changes in state legislation including different programs for large and small agencies, and incentives to ensure that state funds led to increases in service, and not just increases in wages. Mr. Warner has also reviewed taxing and non-traditional revenue generators for the Oklahoma City transit system, and developed a formula for allocating capital funds among New York's commuter railroads and transit provider.

Marc Warner was the principal researcher for the Los Angeles Metro Rail security policies recommendations study. His comprehensive, 150 page report presented recommendations and rationales regarding physical features of facilities and vehicles, policing strategies, operator responses in the event of emergencies, and coordination between the transit agency and local police and fire services. In another project, Mr. Warner developed Baltimore's subway safety assurance plan.

Warner Transportation Consulting developed a set of models for transit planners to forecast ridership for new or revised bus services. The models rely on formulas estimated through regression analyses of existing route-level and segment-level ridership and demographic data. The equations feed directly into the agency's ArcView geographic information system. Note that DART called on Warner Transportation Consulting to analyze and ultimately redo the previous regression analysis done by a firm that lacked real statistical expertise. The revised models corrected errors that undermined the accuracy of the prior forecasts, introduced dummy variables to avoid bias created by their omission, and used a two-stage generalized least squares method to account for service variables included with the independent variables.

On a project for the US Department of Transportation�s Transit Cooperative Research Program, Marc Warner designed and analyzed innovative surveys for gauging the value of transit amenities. Mr. Warner's research identified passenger amenities and transit vehicle characteristics that attract ridership, evaluated their relative impact on ridership, determined their relative cost-effectiveness, and provided the transportation industry with practical tools to assist transit professionals and policy makers in analyzing investment decisions.

Warner Transportation Consulting designed and analyzed an on-board survey about transit service quality and the effect of local advertising for Greater Glens Falls Transit. Marc Warner devised the survey plan and the schedule for all survey staff, conducted all analysis and authored the final report.

Warner Transportation Consulting prepared detailed estimates of costs to operate and maintain a proposed magnetic levitation train system under different operating scenarios. Marc Warner conducted all research, wrote the report, and devised a cost model to account for on-board operations, operations control, energy consumption, maintenance of equipment and way, station operations, general administration, insurance, and marketing.