SPECIAL TRANSPORTATION ENHANCEMENT DEMONSTRATION PROJECT EVALUATION REPORT

This report documents a post evaluation review of a Special Transportation Enhancement Demonstration (STED) project conducted by Urban Systems for the Regional Planning Commission and the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development. The STED project goals were to inventory 16(b)(2) special transportation services for elderly, handicapped and disadvantaged patrons in rural Tangipahoa and urban Orleans Parishes. The intent was to reduce capital and operating costs and improve special services. The project developed a planning model to coordinate special transportation services statewide and reduce service waste; it identified national implications for other urban and rural systems. This report reviews the following national implication areas of the STED Program: All Coordinating Alternatives; Nationwide Roles and Responsibilities of State DOTs, MPOs, Local and State Social Service Agencies, and RTAs; Concept of Centralization of Special Transportation Resources under a Single Private for Profit Operation; Data Base and Data Collection Regarding Use of UMTA 16(b)(2) Vehicles; 12 Alternatives for Coordinating UMTA 16(b)(2) Programs; and a Comparative Analysis of Operational Economies of Urban Orleans and Rural Tangipahoa Parishes. This evaluation concludes that the STED recommendations are likely to be transferrable nationwide. But it leaves a number of issues for future study. The report evaluated in this study is titled: Coordinating Special Transportation Services in Louisiana, UMTA-LA-06-0007-88-1.