Nelson\Nygaard has an extensive history of helping clients restructure and reallocate their resources to improve ridership, productivity and customer satisfaction. Our experience with bus and rail systems is broad-based, and covers the entire range of operations, from small, 2-bus systems in rural counties, to complex urban networks with 2,000 buses, to historic streetcar systems. In addition, we are especially adept at enhancing connectivity in complex multimodal environments like San Francisco, Los Angeles and Seattle.

Our approach is quite simple. For every client, we develop a comprehensive and dynamic plan that builds upon the unique characteristics of that particular system. Each of our plans, from Short Range Transit Plans to Comprehensive Operations Assessments to Corridor Studies, demonstrates our understanding of the local environment, existing transit services, funding, potential demand, community needs, vehicle technology, system design, operations, facilities, amenities and information systems.

Identifying “community needs” is just one of the things that makes our firm both unique and innovative. Our planners understand how to navigate a community’s intricate politics and geography in order to build consensus on strategies that effectively serve many interests. We are able to do this by using a variety of public outreach methods including community open houses, stakeholder forums, and our own planning exercise, the Smithville Planning Game©.