USER-SIDE SUBSIDIES FOR SHARED-RIDE TAXIS IN KINSTON, NORTH CAROLINA

The Kinston User-Side Subsidy Demonstration Project began operation in September 1977 and involved the provision of reduced-fare conventional taxi service to the elderly and handicapped (E&H). This report summarizes the findings of the independent evaluation of the Kinston project. In Kinston, user-side subsidies were found to be administratively feasible and were utilized almost exclusively by the most mobility-disadvantaged segments of the eligible population. These individuals, of low incomes or few travel alternatives, used the project to increase their frequency of total trip making by 3-4 percent, and to make some trips by taxi that otherwise would have been made by a less preferred mode (e.g. walking). The resulting changes in taxi-use frequency caused some changes in the supply of taxi service, though these were mainly with firms that had a large portion of E&H riders prior to the demonstration. Overall, the Kinston project provides evidence that user-side subsidies can be a viable and practical technique for facilitating the mobility of the E&H.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Service and Methods Demonstration Program.
• Corporate Authors:

  Charles River Associates, Incorporated

  200 Clarendon Street, John Hancock Tower
  Boston, MA  United States  02116

  Transportation Systems Center

  55 Broadway, Kendall Square
  Cambridge, MA  United States  02142

  Urban Mass Transportation Administration

  400 7th Street, SW
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Publication Date: 1980-10

Media Info

• Pagination: 224 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Aged; Demonstration projects; Fares; Fees; Grant aid; Low income groups; Mobility; Motor vehicles; Persons with disabilities; Ridesharing; Taxi services; Transportation; User side subsidies
• Uncontrolled Terms: Fare reduction
• Geographic Terms: North Carolina
• Subject Areas: Operations and Traffic Management; Society; Transportation (General); I70: Traffic and Transport;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00343603
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Technical Information Service
• Report/Paper Numbers: UMTA-NC-06-0002-80-1Final Rpt.
• Contract Numbers: DOT-TSC-1406
• Files: TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Oct 28 1982 12:00AM