Schaller Consulting
Archive

Bruce Schaller

Bruce Schaller has 25 years of experience with transportation, environmental and economic issues. He has extensive experience in the areas of policy development, market research, economic and statistical analysis, fare policy, taxicab regulation, service design, customer communications and intergovernmental cooperation.

Bruce is currently Deputy Commissioner for Planning and Sustainability at the New York City Department of Transportation. At NYCDOT, he oversees development and implementation of bus rapid transit, congestion mitigation programs, parking policy initiatives, public space planning, public art and design, clean fuels, freight mobility, and other elements of Mayor Bloomberg’s 2030 sustainability plan.

From 1998 to 2007, Bruce was Principal of Schaller Consulting. His clients included local governments, transit and airport authorities, university and non-profit organizations, for-profit companies and federal agencies.

His New York City work includes reports on auto and transit access to the Manhattan central business district, bus rapid transit, congestion pricing, suburban commuter access to Lower Manhattan, mode choice, transit fare policy, transportation operations for special events, intergovernmental coordination, customer communications and funding needs for the New York State Highway Program.

Mr. Schaller's federal and university-sponsored studies cover a diverse range of transportation topics. These include Transportation Research Board reports on intercept and on-board transit survey techniques, transit advertising sales agreements, website development and inter-jurisdictional cooperation. He has completed studies funded by the Federal Highway Administration on special event management, transportation issues in large U.S. cities and innovative sources of transportation financing.

Mr. Schaller has published and presented his work widely, including presentations at the International Association of Transportation Regulators, the Federally-chartered Transportation Research Board (TRB), the American Public Transportation Association and the Taxi, Livery and Paratransit Association.

Mr. Schaller is the author of numerous publications. The scholarly journal Transportation published his paper of the first statistically significant elasticities for taxicab fares and service availability. The Journal of Public Transportation has accepted Bruce's paper on his multiple regression model of the number of taxicabs in 118 U.S. cities. He was the lead author of a three-part series on New York taxicab service in Transportation Quarterly. The Transportation Research Record, Mass Transit and the New York Transportation Journal have published several articles on transit issues. Mr. Schaller has been quoted in numerous publications, including The New York Times, New Yorker, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, London Sunday Times, Financial Times of London, BBC, Moscow Times, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, New York Daily News, USA Today and City Journal.

Prior to establishing Schaller Consulting in 1998, Bruce Schaller played important roles with the nation's largest transit operator and largest taxicab regulatory agency.

From 1986 to 1994, Mr. Schaller served as Director of Policy Development and Evaluation at the New York City Taxi and Livery Commission. He was responsible for developing regulatory initiatives to improve and expand taxi service and for industry financial analyses, service quality analyses and developing driver training programs. He developed a methodology for fare analyses that led to regular reviews of the taxi fare. He also coordinated airport-related and insurance issues.

From 1994 to 1998, Mr. Schaller was Deputy Director for Marketing Research and Analysis at New York City Transit, which operates the city's subway, bus and paratransit services. His work focused on measuring and improving customer satisfaction and increasing transit ridership. He directed over $1.3 million in customer research studies that provided actionable results for the agency. He was responsible for the planning, design and successful implementation of telephone, on-board and intercept surveys, focus groups and one-on-one interviews. His work was instrumental in fare policy initiatives, expansion of the paratransit program, developing customer communications and design of new subway cars and buses.

Bruce Schaller has a Masters in Public Policy from the University of California at Berkeley and a BA from Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio.

Home | Press | Publications | Taxi Research