How Vontas Supports APTA’s Strategic Plan for the Future of Transit

Public transportation is navigating a highly consequential period. Ridership patterns continue to evolve, workforce constraints remain acute, and funding pressures persist, even as expectations for safety, sustainability, and customer experience continue to rise.

Against this backdrop, the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) released its Strategic Plan for FY2026–2028, outlining a clear, industry-wide vision for how public transportation can meet this moment and deliver a bright future for the communities it serves.

For transit agency leaders, the plan provides clarity on what will matter most over the next three years. The challenge now is how to operationalize those priorities in a complex, data-rich, and resource- constrained environment.

Honing in on APTA’s 2026-2028 Roadmap

APTA’s FY2026–2028 Strategic Plan centers on six priorities designed to strengthen public transportation’s role in building thriving communities:

• Aggressive advocacy for sustained investment
• Harnessing innovations in mobility and technology
• Elevating transit as a career and strengthening the workforce
• Enhancing safety, security, resilience, and sustainability
• Evolving procurement, project, and service delivery models
• Strengthening APTA’s reach, impact, and influence

Together, these priorities reflect a shift from short-term recovery to long-term transformation. APTA is calling for an industry that is more agile, more data-informed, and better equipped to demonstrate value to both riders and policymakers.

While the plan sets direction at an industry level, execution ultimately happens at the agency level. And increasingly, execution depends on how effectively agencies use data to understand change, measure performance, and make confident decisions.

Why Data Matters to APTA’s Vision

There is a common thread across APTA’s priorities: success requires timely, trusted insights. APTA aims to demonstrate the economic return of public transportation investment, adapt service models to changing demand, measure the impact of technology adoption, and align planning, operations, and funding decisions.

None of these outcomes can be possible without strong analytics, consistent performance metrics, and integrated data. This is where organizations like Vontas will contribute to these priorities. We will help agencies turn that strategy into measurable action.

How Vontas Contributes to APTA’s Strategic Priorities

 

Supporting Advocacy Through Ridership Analytics and Forecasting

APTA emphasizes the importance of clearly conveying the economic value of public transportation, noting that every dollar invested generates approximately five dollars in economic return. For agencies, that message is strongest when backed by local, forward-looking data.

Vontas supports agencies with ridership analytics and forecasting that help answer critical questions: How is demand changing by mode, time, or geography? What service scenarios best support access and economic activity? How might future investments affect ridership and system performance?

In practice, this can mean utilizing forecast models to demonstrate how targeted service improvements enhance workforce access, downtown recovery, or regional growth. These efforts can provide agency leaders with credible, data-driven narratives for funding and policy discussions.

Enabling Innovation Through Performance Measurement and KPIs

APTA’s plan recognizes that, above just adopting new tools, innovation requires agencies to understand whether those tools deliver results.

Vontas helps define and track these key performance metrics. By establishing consistent KPIs across services and time periods, agencies can evaluate the real-world impact of new mobility options, on- demand services, or operational changes.

For example, agencies can assess how flexible service models impact ridership recovery, cost efficiency, and customer experience, using evidence to inform scaling decisions and drive continuous improvement. Performance measurement turns innovation from experimentation into an informed strategy.

Strengthening Integration and Data Governance Across the Agency

Many of APTA’s priorities depend on breaking down silos across departments, disciplines, and data systems. Fragmented data makes it challenging for leadership teams to align their planning, operations, and advocacy efforts.

Vontas supports agencies by helping them integrate data from multiple sources into a more cohesive and governed environment. Clear data standards and governance practices improve trust in the numbers and reduce friction in decision-making.

In practice, this can manifest as leadership dashboards that provide a shared view of ridership trends, service performance, and strategic outcomes, enabling more aligned and transparent conversations across the organization and with external stakeholders.

Advancing the Vision Together

APTA’s FY2026–2028 Strategic Plan sets an ambitious but necessary direction for public transportation. Achieving it will require agencies to continuously adapt, measure, and communicate progress.

That work depends on partners who understand both the strategic vision APTA has laid out and the operational realities agencies face every day. Vontas’s role is to support that journey by providing the analytical foundation agencies need to plan with confidence, evaluate tradeoffs, and demonstrate impact. APTA has outlined what the future of public transportation should look like to serve communities effectively in the new mobility era. Turning that vision into reality will be a collaborative effort across agencies, partners, and the broader industry.

And while data-driven insights are not the strategy, it is essential to execute them well. Vontas is committed to working alongside transit leaders as they bring APTA’s priorities to life through informed planning, measurable performance, and integrated decision-making.

Want to learn more about how Vontas enables agencies to utilize data to plan, measure, and lead with confidence?