REGULATING AND INSURING PRE-ARRANGED RIDE SHARING

The report describes possible approaches to regulating and insuring pre-arranged ride sharing (inc. carpools, vanpools, subscription buses), and summarizes the arguments which have been put forward on behalf of various approaches. Also it surveys the approaches actually being adopted in a cross section of the states. The possible regulatory approaches described vary from no regulation to comprehensive regulation covering entry, fares, service, safety, insurance, and competition with other operators and other modes. The arguments pro and con are found to center on the question of protection of pre-existing conventional transit operators. The survey results (from a 12 state survey undertaken in cooperation with the Federal Energy Administration and the Federal Highway Administration) indicate that carpools are not regulated in any state while subscription buses are regulated as common or contract carriers in 11 of the 12. The situation with respect to vans is varied with four states not regulating any vanpools four states regulating all types of vanpools and the remainder regulating some types of vanpools, generally those operated by third parties. The general trend is found to be toward de-regulation with all four of the states not regulating vans adopting this stance since 1973.

• Corporate Authors:

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  Center for Transportation Studies, Room 1121
  Cambridge, MA  United States  02139

  Department of Transportation

  Office of University Research, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Womack, J P
• Publication Date: 1976-9-30

Media Info

• Pagination: 59 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Benefit cost analysis; Buses; Carpools; Coordination; Insurance; Level of service; Local government; Mode choice; Paratransit services; Planning; Regulations; Safety; Surveys; Urban transportation; Vanpools
• Uncontrolled Terms: Services; Subscription bus service
• Old TRIS Terms: Modal selection
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Highways; Law; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00166436
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Technical Information Service
• Report/Paper Numbers: DOT/OS-76T-33 Final Rpt.
• Contract Numbers: DOT-OS-50240
• Files: NTIS, TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Sep 28 1981 12:00AM