To study, evaluate, oversee, and make recommendations to improve the coordination, availability, accessibility, efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and safety of transportation services provided to the transit public. (1) compile information on existing transportation alternatives for the transit public, and serve as a clearinghouse for information on services, funding sources, innovations, and coordination efforts; (2) identify best practices and strategies that have been successful in Minnesota and in other states for coordination of local, regional, state, and federal funding and services; (3) recommend statewide objectives for providing public transportation services for the transit public; (4) identify barriers prohibiting coordination and accessibility of public transportation services and aggressively pursue the elimination of those barriers; (5) recommend policies and procedures for coordinating local, regional, state, and federal funding and services for the transit public; (6) identify stakeholders in providing services for the transit public, and seek input from them concerning barriers and appropriate strategies; (7) recommend guidelines for developing transportation coordination plans throughout the state; (8) encourage all state agencies participating in the council to purchase trips within the coordinated system; (9) facilitate the creation and operation of transportation brokerages to match riders to the appropriate service, promote shared dispatching, compile and disseminate information on transportation options, and promote regional communication; (10) encourage volunteer driver programs and recommend legislation to address liability and insurance issues; (11) recommend minimum performance standards for delivery of services; (12) identify methods to eliminate fraud and abuse in special transportation services; (13) develop a standard method for addressing liability insurance requirements for transportation services purchased, provided, or coordinated; (14) design and develop a contracting template for providing coordinated transportation services; (15) recommend an interagency uniform contracting and billing and accounting system for providing coordinated transportation services; (16) encourage the design and development of training programs for coordinated transportation services; (17) encourage the use of public school transportation vehicles for the transit public; (18) develop an allocation methodology that equitably distributes transportation funds to compensate units of government and all entities that provide coordinated transportation services; (19) identify policies and necessary legislation to facilitate vehicle sharing; and (20) advocate aggressively for eliminating barriers to coordination, implementing coordination strategies, enacting necessary legislation, and appropriating resources to achieve the council's objectives.