THE MINNEAPOLIS RIDESHARING COMMUTER SERVICE DEMONSTRATION--EVALUATION PLAN

In April 1977, the Metropolitan Transit Commission initiated a two-year ridesharing brokerage demonstration project designed to increase work trip-vehicle occupancy at three employment sites located outside the Minneapolis/St. Paul Central Business District: South Central Minneapolis, Pentagon Park/Normandale, and Central Bloomington. The key elements which differentiate this ridesharing demonstration from previous efforts are the use of a regional transit agency to serve as a broker in marketing, coordinating, and monitoring the program; the promotion of a wide range of ridesharing services; and the choice of multi-employer sites. The program is marketed under the name Commuter Services and provides carpooling, vanpooling, subscriptions and regular bus services to commuters to and from the employment sites. The marketing strategy is to make personal calls to the largest employers and to use an audiovisual presentation for smaller employers and business groups. The major objectives of this project is to provide a detailed, chronological process description of brokerage service and a statistically sound assessment of the results of the demonstration project. Issue areas to be analyzed include level-of-service changes; demand shifts; and the costs, productivities, and economics of the ridesharing modes promoted. While all of the demonstration elements cited in the study should serve to stimulate ridesharing activity, they should be viewed against several off-setting factors that are discussed in the report, and which may discourage significant increases in work trip-vehicle occupancy. However, overall, the study should serve as a reference guide to interested agencies, indicating the type and range of issues they may confront. This report contains a Listing of References and a Report of New Technology. /UMTA/