The Urban Mass Transportation Administration ( UMTA ) technical assistance program is a resource for transit operators , State and local governments , and private industry for improving transit productivity , reliability , safety , and operations ; for reducing costs , particularly in operations and maintenance ; for enhancing the use of information , such as Section 15 National Urban Mass Transportation Statistics and local management informa tion systems ; for better planning techniques for assessing impacts of fare , route , and schedule changes ; and for more reliable and efficient equipment . The program encom passes UMTA ' s research, development, deployment, demonstration, engineering applications, safety, information and statistics collection, management techniques, plan ning and analytical methods, university research, and external training efforts .