PARATRANSIT PROFILE DEVELOPMENT FOR SMALL URBAN CITIES. PHASE I

The need for greater organizational cooperation at the local level and between the public and private sector, can be addressed by focusing on new approaches to the roles of paratransit. This study shows that one way of analyzing the need for more paratransit cooperation is by the use of paratransit profiles. Profile information can assist ridesharing agencies in establishing similar criteria and also in their efforts towards increasing ridership and paratransit system operational longevity. The objective of this research was the development of such profiles. The project was not intended to be a data collection effort, but utilizes existing data banks to develop the profiles. The primary focus of the project was on the development of paratransit profile characteristics for small urban cities (100,000 to 300,000 population) in the southeastern United States. The objectives of the project are to be completed in two phases. This report, Phase I, consisted of the following objectives: 1) to identify data banks currently around the country with available paratransit information; 2) to define and describe the information (data) and paratransit service providers (carpooling, vanpooling, etc.) pertinent to this project; and 3) to identify and correlate the characteristics of the paratransit providers. Phase II objectives will consist of the following: 1) to identify and study 25 existing ridesharing models for validity; 2) to develop initial profiles with these characteristics as identified in Objective 3; 3) to develop final profiles from initial profiles after validation with follow-up consideration; and 4) to print profiles for distribution. In Phase I, after identifying and describing the available data, characteristics are correlated to determine paratransit types, paratransit grouping, and topic areas. The topic areas, when summarized, serve as the basis of developing 167 profiles. The profiles will be used in Phase II of the research.

• Corporate Authors:

  Florida A&M University, Tallahassee

  Center for Transit Research and Management Development
  Tallahassee, FL  United States  32307

  Urban Mass Transportation Administration

  400 7th Street, SW
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Bellamy, N
  • Wright, C
• Publication Date: 1984-10

Media Info

• Pagination: 32 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Carpools; Coordination; Needs assessment; Paratransit services; Ridesharing; Small cities; Travel behavior; Travel demand; Vanpools
• Identifier Terms: Urban Mass Transportation Act
• Geographic Terms: Atlantic Coast (United States); Southeastern United States
• Old TRIS Terms: Umta section 11
• Subject Areas: Economics; Highways; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; Society; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00395231
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: UMTA-FL-11-0008-85-2Intrm Rpt.
• Contract Numbers: FL-11-0008
• Files: TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: May 31 1985 12:00AM