Opportunities for Shared Use Mobility Services in Rural Disadvantaged Communities in California’s San Joaquin Valley

Shared use mobility services largely serve major metropolitan areas. However, increasingly officials who represent rural communities want to know whether these types of services may be able to help them provide more cost-effective access to rural residents than is currently possible by fixed-route and dial-a-ride transit services. Many of these officials must contend with low farebox recovery rates that threaten transit funding and subsequent cutbacks in transit services that are often strongly opposed by constituents. In this study, the cost-effectiveness of existing inter-city transit service in rural disadvantaged communities in the San Joaquin Valley (California) is compared to hypothetical ridesharing and carsharing services. The results show significant potential to reduce transit costs and reinvest those cost saving to expand shared mobility services. However, they also show that transit agencies provide very cost-effective transit services under challenging conditions in many communities. Moreover, current ridesourcing fares are unlikely to generate enough drivers to serve many rural areas of the Valley. Careful analysis is required to avoid undercutting cost-effective transit service and to understand where, when, and how shared-use mobility services can be introduced to expand access to residents of rural communities.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ADD50 Standing Committee on Environmental Justice in Transportation. Alternate title: Opportunities for Shared-Use Mobility Services in Rural Disadvantaged Communities in California’s San Joaquin Valley
• Authors:
  • Rodier, Caroline
  • Podolsky, Laura
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 97th Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 2018-1-7 to 2018-1-11
• Date: 2018

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; Maps; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 5p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Alternatives analysis; Automobiles; Benefit cost analysis; Communities; Cost effectiveness; Demand responsive transportation; Intercity transportation; Low income groups; Ridesharing; Rural areas; Rural transit; Transportation disadvantaged persons; Vehicle sharing
• Candidate Terms: Shared-use vehicle systems
• Geographic Terms: San Joaquin Valley
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Planning and Forecasting; Policy; Public Transportation; Society;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01660046
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 18-05166
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Feb 14 2018 10:47AM