| Community Based Transit This research is about understanding
and improving the transportation services that are available to
those people who, because of age, disability, poverty, or other
reasons, cannot routinely use automobiles to transport themselves.
Our concern in particular is with the set of specialized, small-vehicle
transit services that lie in the range between large-vehicle,
fixed-route transit, and rides arranged privately with friends
and family. These services, commonly known as "community-based
transportation," can range from a single vehicle, operated
when needed by a nursing home or small human service agency, to
large public and private fleets operating around the clock, and
metro-wide.
There has been for some time a general sense among both the
funders of this system and the practitioners who operate it, that
the overall provision of these services could be better given
the resources that are being expended. Some trips seem to fall
through the cracks at the same time that other services are being
duplicated by multiple agencies. Transportation providers complain
of the difficulty of providing effective services while working
within the multitude of rules from the various funding sources
and regulatory agencies, while the funding sources believe that
the providers could be more efficient if they would coordinate
their activities with each other.
Project description
Our objective in this research was to take as broad a view as
possible of this "system," not focusing on any particular
problem or favoring any point of view. We wanted to understand
the full range of activities that fall within the purview of community-based
transportation, to identify and clarify the possible sources of
inefficiency, and to develop ways to make the system work better.
While our specific recommendations will inevitably tend to address
specific problems, our broader intent is to provide a framework
for thinking about the issue, so that others will have better
tools to develop their own solutions to their own problems.
Major accomplishments
- Day-long conference in October 2003, attended by about 75
Minnesota CBT stakeholders.
- Complete
final report
History
The Center for Transportation Studies at the University of Minnesota
first addressed these issues with a series of "listening
sessions" with CBT stakeholders, leading to a report (available
at http://www.cts.umn.edu/pdf/CTS-01-03B.pdf)
and conference in 2001. Ongoing local interest resulting from
this work led to a request from Hennepin County to examine these
issues further. The current project has been ongoing since September
2002.
Vital stats
This was a one-year project, sponsored by Hennepin County Community
Works with funds from the Federal Transit Association. It ended
in December 2003, with follow-on work to continue under other
projects.
More information: Community Transportation |
