POLITICAL AND PUBLIC POLICY ISSUES RELATED TO DEMAND-RESPONSIVE TRANSPORTATION. SPEAKER 2

The paper focuses on UMTA's view relating to the potential of paratransit or demand-responsive transportation (DRT), and discusses some of the policy implications. The future of community paratransit service, characterized by the flexible routing and scheduling of small vehicles to provide shared-occupancy, door-to-door, personalized transportation service within smaller communities and suburban neighborhoods is vertually assured. However, the biggest scope for the future expansion of paratransit lies in its becoming an element of integrated metropolitan transportation systems. An effective urban transportation system, one that will provide a high level of service at the least cost, requires a mix of vehicles, service levels, and operating regimens, tailored to the different demand conditions, widening densities, and travel patterns prevailing in particular corridors and subareas of the metropolitan region. UMTA will encourage applicants to be more mindful of the immediate and near-term transportation needs of metropolitan areas. UMTA will also want to know to what extent long-range transportation plans can be implemented in a more time-phased, incremental fashion. Examples of potential new paratransit applications are listed, and quoted as examples of the ways in which paratransit could complement (not compete with) existing transportation services. UMTA would like to know whether prearranged feeder service to line-haul commuter buses and trains could be provided by private operators at a cost that commuters could afford. It is emphasized that single-mode transportation systems, be it paratransit, rail, or freeway systems, cannot offer a solution to all transportation problems.