Improving Performance and Productivity: Technology Impacts on Paratransit Services in Florida

This paper discusses the impacts of various technologies applied to paratransit services to increase operational efficiencies to provide quality transit service, even with funding limitations and increasing demand for paratransit. This paper defines paratransit services as complementary Americans with Disabilities Act services and door-to-door services including those provided by Community Transportation Coordinators. This paper summarizes the findings of an online survey conducted in February 2015 as part of a study that investigated the impacts of applying technologies in paratransit, in particular: reservation, scheduling, and dispatching software, mobile data terminals, global positioning systems, automatic vehicle location, advanced telephone systems, and vehicle security cameras. The performance measures studied included system productivity (passengers served per revenue hours), on-time performance, reduction of no-shows, driver performance, and customer satisfaction. Respondents rated security camera systems as providing the most ‘bang for the buck’. The most cited technologies affecting customer satisfaction were mobile data terminals (60%) and vehicle security cameras (59%). On-time performance was most impacted by mobile data terminal deployments (64%) followed by scheduling software (63%). Since many agencies deployed technologies a few months prior to the survey rendering assessment of return on investment premature, a follow-up survey is recommended. A national survey is also recommended to collect data and develop means to analyze the benefit/cost from deploying the different technologies.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was sponsored by TRB committee AP060 Standing Committee on Paratransit.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Georggi, Nevine Labib
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 95th Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 2016-1-10 to 2016-1-14
• Date: 2016

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References;
• Pagination: 19p
• Monograph Title: TRB 95th Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Paratransit services; Performance measurement; Productivity; Technological innovations
• Identifier Terms: Americans with Disabilities Act
• Geographic Terms: Florida
• Subject Areas: Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01590289
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 16-4207
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Feb 16 2016 2:36PM