FUNDING OF DEMAND-RESPONSIVE TRANSPORTATION FOR THE ELDERLY IN PENNSYLVANIA WITH STATE LOTTERY FUNDS

The funding of demand-responsive transportation has taken a unique turn in Pennsylvania since the passage of Act 101 of 1980. Through Section 406 and a subparagraph of Section 203, funds have been made available for counties to plan, establish, and operate shared-ride demand-responsive transportation systems that are preferentially for the elderly and also open to the general public. Senior citizens age 65 and above ride at 25 percent of the established shared-ride fare, and the balance is paid by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania through the State Lottery Fund. The general public rides at the regular fare. The lottery funding has provided a stable source of revenue for demandresponsive systems because there is no ceiling on operating funds. The program has strengthened existing providers and enabled new ones to begin service in previously unserved areas, thereby making inexpensive transportation available to hundreds of thousands of elderly individuals. The development and details of the program are reviewed, and its evolution through the first 3 years of operation is summarized. Data on payments and ridership are included, as is a review of the impact that the program has had in its short history: making general public demand-responsive transportation services available in most areas of the state and contributing enormously to the mobility of Pennsylvania's citizens, particularly those in rural areas who had previously had very little public transportation service.

• Record URL:
  • http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/trr/1984/973/973-004.pdf
• Record URL:
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• Supplemental Notes:
  • Publication of this paper sponsored by Committee on Transportation for the Transportation Disadvantaged. 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
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

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• Authors:
  • Brown, Michael
• Publication Date: 1984

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Tables;
• Pagination: pp 22-27
• Monograph Title: NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN TRANSPORTATION FOR THE ELDERLY AND HANDICAPPED
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Record
  • Issue Number: 973
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0361-1981

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Aged; Finance; Financing; Legislation; Paratransit services; Ridership; Rural areas; Social service agencies; State government; Subsidies
• Geographic Terms: Pennsylvania
• Old TRIS Terms: Lottery
• Subject Areas: Finance; Highways; Law; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; Society; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00395406
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0309037557
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: May 31 1985 12:00AM