RETROSPECTIVE VIEW OF DIAL-A-RIDE SERVICE IN ROCHESTER, NEW YORK

For one year, the Rochester-Genesee Regional Transportation Authority (RGRTA) offered dial-a-ride service to the general public in four suburbs under two different institutional arrangements. The public operator, Regional Transit Service, and a private operator, Paratransit Enterprises, each provided service in two communities. They also provided demand-responsive service to the elderly and the handicapped throughout Rochester. This unique arrangement was part of the Rochester community transit demonstration, an outgrowth of the earlier Rochester integrated transit demonstration, both projects funded by the Urban Mass Transportation Administration Service and Methods Demonstration program. The community transit demonstration was specifically designed to test cost-effective demand-responsive transit strategies. RGRTA sought competitive bids from paratransit operators and asked communities to fund a share of the operating deficits for postdemonstration services. Thus, the demonstration made it uniquely possible to compare service levels, ridership, and costs for public and private dial-a-ride that served both the general public and the elderly and the handicapped. By the end of the demonstration, three of the four communities found that they could not afford to continue paratransit services by using local subsidies. One town, however, developed an innovative funding strategy and supported dial-a-ride services for five additional months. By 1980, no general market dial-a-ride services were operating, although the cost-effectiveness of private operation was successfully demonstrated. Today, RGRTA supports privately operated paratransit services for the elderly and the handicapped throughout the county. The activities of the demonstrations are reviewed and implications are derived that may be useful to others considering implementing demand responsive transit service. (Author)

• Record URL:
  • http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/trr/1981/818/818-005.pdf
• Record URL:
  • https://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?title=RETROSPECTIVE+VIEW+OF+DIAL-A-RIDE+SERVICE+IN+ROCHESTER%2C+NEW+YORK&author=D.+Newman&author=D.+Sharfarz&author=M.+Abkowitz&publication_year=1981
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/0309032598
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Publication of this paper sponsored by Committee on Light Rail Transit. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved
• Authors:
  • Newman, Debra A
  • Sharfarz, David
  • Abkowitz, Mark
• Conference:
  • 60th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board
  • Location: Washington District of Columbia, United States
  • Date: 1981-1-12 to 1981-1-16
• Publication Date: 1981

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 26-33
• Monograph Title: Design of public transport services
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Record
  • Issue Number: 818
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0361-1981

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Aged; Alternatives analysis; Cost effectiveness; Demand responsive transportation; Demonstration projects; Level of service; Paratransit services; Persons with disabilities; Private enterprise; Public transit; Ridership; Suburbs
• Identifier Terms: Rochester-Genesee Regional Transportation Authority
• Geographic Terms: Rochester (New York)
• Old TRIS Terms: Dial-a-bus
• Subject Areas: Highways; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; Society; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00345961
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0309032598
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Feb 27 1982 12:00AM