Information Sheet for Participation in a Research Study
Principal Investigator: Andrew Krum, MS
IRB #22-696
Title of Study: TCRP C-25 Bus Operator Barrier Design
You are invited to participate in a research study. This form includes information about the study and contact information if you have any questions.
What I Should Know?
The purpose of this study is to:
- identify traditional and novel barrier designs that have recently been used or developed by North American and European transit agencies to support bus operator security and safety
- identify the boundaries for barrier configurations for retrofit on existing buses.
We are conducting a Survey to inform guidance to public transportation agencies on designing, procuring, and installing bus operator barriers to prioritize the health and safety of essential operators and the public.
You are eligible to complete this Survey if you are a representative from North American or European transit agencies and/or unions.
The survey should take approximately 15-20 minutes of your time. You can choose whether to be in this study or not. If you volunteer to be in this study, you may withdraw at any time without consequences of any kind. You may also refuse to answer any questions you don’t want to answer and remain in the study. The investigator may withdraw you from this research if circumstances arise which warrant doing so. We do not anticipate any risks from completing this study.
If you decide to participate in this study, you will complete an online Survey. Data collected in the Survey includes:
- basic demographics related to your job and work history
- bus operator barrier use, purpose, requirements
- descriptions of bus barrier designs in use and operational features
- barrier maintenance requirements
- barrier costs
- barrier effectiveness
- implementation challenges
- training
- benefits and positive outcomes
- return on investment
- future design recommendations and suggestions
- option to email images of bus operator barriers in use at your agency
Confidentiality
We will do our best to protect the confidentiality of the information we gather from you, but we cannot guarantee 100% confidentiality.
Any data collected during this research study will be kept confidential by the researchers and your responses will not be linked to your agency of employment. Your responses will be uploaded to a secure VTTI password-protected server.
Who Can I Talk To?
If you have any questions or concerns about the research, please feel free to contact Erin Mabry, emabry@vtti.vt.edu, from the research team. You are not waiving any legal claims, rights or remedies because of your participation in this research study. If you have questions regarding your rights as a research participant, contact the Virginia Tech HRPP Office at 540-231-3732 (irb@vt.edu)
Please print out a copy of this information sheet for your records. 
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