Tag: pilot project

Transportation network companies (TNCs) like Uber and Lyft and bike-share providers like Zagster improve options and expand accessibility. Can they support the needs of vulnerable populations and smaller markets? Transportation for America attended the Shared Use Mobility Summit to learn more. (This is the second post of a two-part series. Read Part 1 here.)

In our last post, we discussed some of the innovations that transportation network companies (TNCs) like Uber and Lyft are pioneering, and how niche solutions are popping up to serve an increasingly diverse base of customers.

While added choice is generally good news for the consumer, these programs do raise new issues for government agencies.

“There are underlying differences in the traditional service vs. new TNCs,” says Jana Lynott, senior policy advisor for AARP’s Public Policy Institute. “For one, TNCs do not do fingerprint background checks. The Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) compliance office has also raised concerns that they do not do drug and alcohol testing. And the FTA has even questioned whether it’s legal per federal rules for federally funded transit agencies to sign these types of contracts.” Additionally, despite their concerns, FTA is also trying to figure out their role and the impacts these projects can have on communities. Earlier this year, through their Mobility on Demand Sandbox grant, they awarded $8 million to transit agencies across the country to test some of these innovative projects.

Data concerns

 Another challenge for public agencies is that TNCs typically don’t share their ridership data, which would have immense value for local leaders, policymakers and planners.

For large cities trying to forecast trips, lack of data from TNCs hinder their ability to forecast ridership and plan accurately. “We can’t model what we don’t know,” says David Leininger, Executive Vice President of Dallas Area Rapid Transit. “Supposing all these innovations work, how does it affect our traditional methods of analysis? We don’t know the market share of these trips,” he says. That makes it harder to plan around them. Across the summit, many participants expressed a desire for public agencies to access TNC trip data.

Data challenges are just as pronounced with rural and paratransit services. Major transit providers use a common standard for public transit timetables: the General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS). Using GTFS data, apps and extensions is how services like Google Maps can make it easy to map, plan, and track trips across a wide range of providers and transit services. There is no such common language for paratransit.

“We’ve created a system where human service agencies have to buy proprietary software packages that don’t talk to each other well,” says Lynott. Now, a group has formed for software developers, transportation professionals, and other interest parties to work together and develop and propose common data specifications. And the Transportation Research Board is currently studying an open-data specification for transit providers, Lynott reports.

Equity issues

Data is only the tip of the iceberg for skeptics of TNCs. There are legitimate and growing concerns about how they are subverting existing markets and their ability to truly meet the needs of vulnerable populations. Many advocates and industry veterans are about the suitability of TNCs in this space.

“The idea of having on-demand services provide paratransit is unacceptable,” says Carol Tyson, transportation equity advocate.

Tyson reports that to discuss concerns over a request for proposals that the District of Columbia put out for TNCs to provide paratransit service. The assembled group demanded widespread wheelchair access, enough training for drivers to work with people with disabilities, performance measures to gauge wait times and fares, and protections against cuts to bus lines. Most of all, they want a seat at the table. “The people who rely on these services are often missing from the discussion,” says Tyson.

Also often missing in these discussions are the drivers and their perspectives. Advocates demand living wages, paid sick leave and fair hiring policies. Their anxieties are likely to grow as TNCs embrace a future of automated vehicles that would remove the driver entirely along with their associated costs. That would end hundreds of thousands of U.S. jobs. Economic concerns have led Zipcar founder Robin Chase to champion an unconventional policy: a universal living wage.

Watch a video that Robin Chase shared at the Summit about the future of autonomous vehicles: https://youtu.be/DeUE4kHRpE

Bike-share considerations

As TNCs look toward smaller markets, bike-share providers have followed suit. “People often think about systems in New York City, Washington D.C., or Chicago, but it’s actually thriving in a lot of places,” says Nate Taber, head of marketing for the Zagster bike-share company. Zagster operates 142 systems in North America. The company works around the challenges of smaller marketplaces — including lower density and tax bases — by developing service-based purchasing, locating near parks and major destinations, centralizing its operations, and working with community partners to attract sponsorships.

Coalitions of community groups and businesses are key to success in these markets, and they take part for good reason. “We have seen communities use bike-sharing as more than a new mode of transportation, but as an amenity and a way to be more competitive,” says Taber. “Cities use it as a lever to draw in new businesses.”

But bike-share systems, too, pose hurdles for elderly and disabled populations. For one, most standard bike-share bikes are heavy. Providers are working to develop new, lighter-weight models, but they are built heavy for a reason; it reduces theft and can withstand lots of wear and tear. Zagster also offers a line of accessible bikes. These include hand-cycles for people with disabilities, and tandems that allow people who travel with a guardian the ability to use the program. One small pilot program recently launched in Rome, New York, includes a three-wheeled bike with two seats for this purpose.

Making bike-share accessible is especially important as more communities realize its public health benefits. Recognizing that higher active transportation levels lead to reduced rates of chronic disease, local health insurance companies often co-sponsor bike-share systems. In some places like Corvallis, OR, Medicare will reimburse recipients the cost to use the system. In our forthcoming policy paper on Healthy MPOs, we outline how leaders in Corvallis took several steps to make bike-share convenient for people in need, such as incorporating easier-to-ride tricycles, locating stations near Medicare recipients’ homes, and allowing users to check out a bicycle via text message.

Looking ahead together

More communities are partnering with shared use mobility providers. The market is expanding to meet diverse geographies, age groups, and ability levels. The private sector is powering ahead, promising new options, service improvements, and cost savings. These options raise questions about equity, access and data. And the public sector must strike a balance.

We can learn from other leaders.

In Boston, MA the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority worked directly with disability advocates on a program to incorporate TNCs. In Detroit, MI the Department of Public Health piloted a program to provide transportation for individuals with HIV/AIDS. In Portland, OR, the nonprofit Ride Connection taps a robust volunteer network to serve people with limited options. And Marin County, CA has implemented over a dozen strategies to improve mobility, led by a diverse set of stakeholders.

Cities will need to take the reins to ensure these monumental shifts in transportation doesn’t shape their cities without their input and produce a new generation of transportation haves and have-nots. And with so many new questions looming over the impacts these projects will have, working together to solve these challenges will be crucial.

These are just some of the challenges that T4America’s Smart Cities Collaborative is beginning to work on. Cities are partnering together to explore the positive and negative impacts of these new transportation models, develop appropriate policies, and test on the ground solutions because change is coming….Fast.

 

 

Transportation network companies (TNCs) like Uber and Lyft and bike-share providers like Zagster can improve options and expand accessibility. Can they support vulnerable populations and smaller markets? Transportation for America attended the Shared Use Mobility Summit to learn more. (This is part one of a two-part series.)

In the United States, individuals miss over 3.6 million medical appointments every year due to lack of transportation, according to a 2013 article in the Journal of Community Health. And according to the Kessler Foundation, access for people with disabilities has not improved since 1998; it’s actually getting harder to get around. This has a disproportionate impact on vulnerable populations.

Senior shuttles and paratransit fill some of these gaps in access, which are growing unfortunately, but they are often limited in the populations, destinations and hours that they serve. These services can be expensive for providers, and inconvenient for customers, who often need to order a ride 24-48 hours in advance.

In towns, cities and places of all sizes, questions are emerging about the role of new mobility providers like Uber, Lyft and other TNCs in filling these gaps and becoming part of how we ensure mobility for these groups of people. What would it look like? What are the concerns that cities need to be aware of as they think about using any of them to help meet their needs?

The Centennial pilot

Centennial, CO, a suburb 13 miles south of Denver, has a fairly typical first- and last-mile problem; its Denver Regional Transportation Authority light rail station is far away from its residential, retail, and job centers. Cost and hour-plus wait times have made its dial-a-ride service unappealing. But in August of 2016, the city partnered with ride-hailing service Lyft to launch a six-month pilot program in an effort to change that. (Centennial is also one of the 17 cities in our Smart Cities Collaborative, and we heard a great deal about these efforts during our inaugural meeting back in November.)

The Go Centennial pilot allows residents to catch a free (subsidized by the city) Lyft ride to or from the light rail station. A local paratransit company has also joined the Lyft platform with accessible vehicles to enhance service. And to help serve people who would prefer to call for a ride rather than using a smartphone application, the city has partnered with a developer to create a web application that the city can use to dispatch rides to those customers.

For Centennial, the project has so far been a fiscal success: total project costs for the city have been about half of subsidizing the previous dial-a-ride service.

“Public-private partnerships with aging, disability, and other groups have become a growing mandate as we come to realize how much we have in common,” says Andrew Salzberg, head of Transportation Policy and Research at Uber. Uber is currently partnering with 20 cities to provide wheelchair accessible vehicles & lease them to drivers. Many cities have joined Centennial in subsidizing TNC services to supplement paratransit service.

A pioneering transit agency

Some cities are working to get ahead of the curve by developing their own solutions. Kansas City, Missouri partnered with Bridj to pilot an app-based, on-demand shuttle service in select areas of the city to make it easier for people to get around.

“We have to look beyond traditional transit, even reinvent what transit agencies are,” says Robbie Makinen, president & CEO of the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority (KCATA), showing a remarkable amount of foresight to think outside the conventional work of a transit agency. “As we explore new mobility options the opportunity to partner with the private sector is tremendous.” he says.

This winter, the KCATA will launch an on-demand paratransit service called RideKC Freedom. “RideKC Freedom is going to start with the paratransit piece and build out, which is the opposite of what typically happens,” he says. While many transportation systems offer paratransit as a supplementary service, the goal of RideKC Freedom is to begin as a paratransit service before eventually expanding as a shuttle service intended for all users.

Makinen believes that for too many years, the most vulnerable riders have been left to navigate a transportation system that limits their ability to access opportunities. “We will leverage our private sector partnerships to reduce per trip paratransit costs, and then expand RideKC Freedom into serving the broader retail market, he says.” This business model is designed to eliminate social stigmatism associated with using paratransit service, and create a new funding stream.

Service for seniors

Based in San Francisco, CA one company fills a special niche. SilverRide provides call-ahead, escorted rides for senior citizens or anyone who needs additional help due to physical or cognitive challenges. Drivers receive extra training from the company on how to handle common medical conditions and provide physical assistance. The service also provides notes about any special help passengers may need.

“Seniors and those with disabilities tend to need more hand-holding than the general public,” says SilverRide CEO Jeff Maltz. That’s why passengers receive personalized customer care and frequent reminders about their scheduled rides. And the escort aspect ensures those who need door-through-door assistance can use the service.

SilverRide comes at a slightly higher price tag, which Maltz says is the necessary to provide a resource tailored to serve populations with different needs.

“Any service that offers the extra assistance to accommodate folks who have special needs has added cost to accommodate the extra need.  We have removed as much cost as possible by offering a TNC-plus model that can plug into any system in a variety of ways to make sure the needs of all riders are met.” He notes that a one-size-fits-all approach has traditionally led to poorer service and higher costs, and argues that tailored solutions combined with technology and improved regulations are a better approach.

Designing for the elderly and people with disabilities is important in all systems, notes Sarah Rienhoff. Rienhoff is the public sector lead at Via, another TNC. Her perspective is informed by her past experience working at the global design and innovation firm IDEO. “We should aim to design for inclusivity, looking at ‘extreme’ users, the elderly in this case, to guide our work,” she says.

Rienhoff explains, “When designers take on a problem, they spend time in the edges of the bell curve, with the extremes. By designing for people that most acutely experience the positives or negatives of a product or service, you can also benefit the middle, people who likely experience those same positives or negatives, but to a lesser degree. Rienhoff argues that this is something that many of our transit agencies already do well. “They think about designing services to be universally accessible,” she says.

Maltz agrees it is wise to take best practices from each tailored solution and incorporate those across the board where improvements can be made.  he says. And Jana Lynott, senior policy advisor for AARP’s Public Policy Institute, reconciles, “While public transportation should be designed to serve the needs of everyone, there may be cases where older adults are too frail or suffer from dementia where it would not be safe for them to use fixed route public transit on their own.”

Services like SilverRide and Via, when licensed to a transit provider, can serve an important niche. “We also need to design for caregivers,” she says. “They want to be able to schedule rides remotely and track that progress as well.”

Rural coverage

As TNCs grow into smaller cities and suburban markets, options for rural regions lag behind. Uber, for example, considers regions just under 100,000 in population its smallest market.

Lynott notes that more services are coming online in rural areas. The national franchise ITN America is the nation’s largest provider of transportation for seniors, providing demand-response service, and more recently Liberty Mobility Now has launched a ride-sharing service intended to compliment the existing transportation in rural communities and provide gap coverage.

 

As more services come online, it is clear that the market is adapting. But what challenges does that present? And can the public sector and local stakeholders keep up? In our next post, we’ll take a closer look at some of the issues these new TNCs pose. We’ll also review how the bike-share market is responding to different market considerations.