Improving Paratransit Services in the Toledo Metropolitan Area

Principal Investigators

Dr. Hokey Min
Bowling Green State University

Project Dates:

04/01/2008 to 08/31/2009

Project year: Year 2

MIOH-UTC Project Identifier: TS 13; Project 1

Focus Area:

Research: Intelligent Transportation Systems

Abstract:

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 pressured the public transit authority to reassess the way that it serves aging populations and physically-handicapped individuals requiring door-to-door services with a fare scheme comparable to regular transit. Due to the rapid growth of aging baby boomers and disabled Iraq War veterans, the demand for paratransit services is expected to double over the next decades. In response to the increased demand for paratransit services, the public transit authority has attempted to incorporated paratransit services into the integral part of the mass-transit system. However, in contrast with the fixed route/schedule based public transportation system, paratransit is more expensive on a per-passenger basis due to its customized service requirement for user-specified origin/destination and time. According to the American Public Transit Association, the total operating expense of paratransit services in the United States surpasses $1.2 billion with meager $173 million collected in fares. To bail out cost overruns for paratransit service providers, the public transit authority often subsidized the greater portions of paratransit services. An the era of budget shortfalls, the public transit authority is faced with the dilemma of controlling paratransit costs without deteriorating paratransit services. To better cope with such dilemma, this project identifies a host of factors such as on-time door-to-door or curb-to-curb services, flexible pickup-/drop-off windows, handling of late-cancellations and no-shows, shared rides, short-notice services, peak-hour feeder services, and overnight service that influence the overall service quality of paratransit in the metro Toledo area.