Taxis in Paratransit: Considering the Ecological Footprint
Many communities in the US and around the world--whether urban, rural, or suburban--are interested in providing effective paratransit services that are also reasonably good performers from the viewpoint of environmental sustainability. Herein, paratransit will be understood in the general sense of flexible passenger transportation that does not follow fixed routes or schedules, and often serves the transportation needs of the handicapped or elderly. Typically, paratransit systems exist because laws and regulations require the services to be provided, and because governments are able to provide the needed subsidies. Public or private operators who deliver paratransit services often do so via fleets of vans or mini-buses. Paratransit ranges widely in terms of the flexibility of the provided services, which can range from relatively inflexible transportation along a more or less defined route, to fully "demand responsive" service that offers door-to-door transportation, on-demand. Given the governmental subsidies needed to support paratransit, policymakers are increasingly considering ways to operate paratransit systems more effectively. Likewise, they are increasingly interested in the environmental sustainability of paratransit. In New York City (NYC), the Metropolitan Transportation Authority - New York City Transit ("NYC Transit") provides paratransit services by administering Access-A-Ride (AAR), which offers three types of services: shared-ride, door-to-door, or feeder service. Feeder service refers to a trip in which AAR transports the customer for the first leg of the trip, from the starting point to a fixed-route bus/subway stop. The AAR service area encompasses the five boroughs as well as a ¾ mile corridor beyond fixed-route service across the NYC borderline into nearby areas of Nassau and Westchester counties. Services are provided by private carriers who contract with NYC Transit and use lift-equipped vans, or sedans. In addition, service is also provided by private taxis, livery and black car services. Attention has been given to the potential financial benefits of such integration, and some have estimated that cost-per-trip can be reduced more than 50% by using yellow cabs instead of the more costly AAR vans. This study will focus on paratransit services provided by NYC Transit, and in particular on the integration of taxis (and livery and black car services) into the mix of service-providing vehicles. The overall focus will be on how such taxi integration affects the environmental sustainability of paratransit systems. A working hypothesis is that there are types and degrees of taxi integration that will provide the same levels of paratransit service, for approximately the same cost, but with a measurably smaller ecological footprint. The project aims to provide a foundation for a follow-up externally-funded study (or studies) that could expand the scope of the analysis in various directions.
Language
- English
Project
- Status: Active
- Funding: $15000.00
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Contract Numbers:
49111-29-22
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Sponsor Organizations:
Research and Innovative Technology Administration
University Transportation Centers Program
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC United States 20590Research and Innovative Technology Administration
Department of Transportation
1200 New Jersey Avneue, SE
Washington, DC United States 20590 -
Project Managers:
Mooney, Deborah
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Performing Organizations:
City College of the City University of New York
30 West Broadway, 11th Floor
New York, NY United States 10007 -
Principal Investigators:
Daus, Matthew
- Start Date: 20120501
- Expected Completion Date: 0
- Actual Completion Date: 20130430
- Source Data: RiP Project 30057
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Demand responsive transportation; Greenhouse gases; Paratransit services; Taxicabs
- Identifier Terms: Access-A-Ride
- Geographic Terms: New York (New York)
- Subject Areas: Environment; Passenger Transportation; Public Transportation; I15: Environment;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01468636
- Record Type: Research project
- Source Agency: University Transportation Research Center
- Contract Numbers: 49111-29-22
- Files: UTC, RIP
- Created Date: Jan 8 2013 1:00AM