The need for passenger transportation is widely recognized by rural communities. Shrinking federal funding has led many communities and human service agencies to experiment with innovative approaches to provide transportation services. One such approach is the use of cooperative organizations to provide needed services. A study conducted by the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets developed three rural transportation alternatives based on the cooperative model. The first alternative provides for a cooperative composed of public and private human service agency transportation providers and the users of that transporatation service. The cooperative could begin with a simple clearinghouse function and move toward providing all transportation services for its members. The second cooperative model would consist of service club members, human service agencies, and community residents and would depend on volunteers to maintain a transportation network for rural residents. The third alternative incorporates rural postal carriers into either the human service agency cooperative or the service club cooperative. Rural postal routes--extending into virtually all isolated rural areas--would provide a ready-made transportation system to augment existing systems at a low cost. Among the benefits of the cooperative model would be the ability to shape state and federal programs to local needs. (JHZ)