The results of a year-long study of practices associated with employee absence in the transit industry are reported. The research focused on three subjects: extraboard scheduling, workers' compensation, and occupational stress. An extensive review of prior research was conducted, and new data about both organizational policies and employee attitudes within California transit agencies were collected by mail surveys and analyzed statistically. Twenty-one organizations and 1,039 operating employees from within California responded to the surveys. The research indicated that most organizations use judgmental methods for determining the size of the extraboard and that these methods are likely to result in extraboards that are either too large or too small. Strong relationships were identified between workers' compensation experience and equipment design and maintenance practices. Occupational stressors were strongly correlated with self-reported health outcomes and job attitudes. Suggestions are offered for managerial actions that would mitigate some of the problems identified by the research.

Each day transit managers and administrators are faced with complex issues that affect the productivity of their organizations. Between 1970 and 1980, transit operating expenses rose more than five times faster than operating revenues (1). This difference can, in part, be explained by fares that have been held down to attract ridership, by increases in employee compensation, and by expansion of unprofitable routes into low-density suburban areas. However, because transit agencies were less productive in 1980 than in 1970 there is a need to examine their policies and practices to determine whether improvements can be made. Previous research (2-6) has uncovered substantial inefficiencies in traniit labor utilization. Because labor represents between 75 and 80 percent of transit operating costs, any improvement in labor utilization holds promise for curtailment of overall operating expense. The results and implications of a study supported by the state of California's Business, Transportation, and Housing Agency in 1981-1982 (7) are summarized in this paper. The research explored three facets of human resource productivity in public transit: extraboard scheduling (ie, scheduling practices involving runs left open because of the absence of regular operators, work not selected by regular operators, or charter runs and special assignments): workers' compensation: and operator job stress.