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32 TRANSIT COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM SYNTHESIS TOPIC SB-16 OPERATIONAL EXPERIENCES WITH INTEGRATION OF PARATRANSIT AND FIXED-ROUTE SERVICES QUESTIONNAIRE Purpose and Background Your cooperation is requested in documenting the current state-of-the-practice in integrating paratransit and fixed-route services in public transit. We are seeking information about situations where the compelling reason for setting up an integrated service has been the need to manage paratransit costs or reduce the need for separate paratransit services. This synthesis aims to help transit systems understand how the appropriate integration of paratransit and fixed-route service may help them accomplish their missions. For purposes of this project, âparatransit serviceâ is defined as demand-response service that primarily serves people with disabilities. The study is focused on examples of integration in which riders can include both those with disabilities and general public riders. Examples of integration in which a shift in paratransit ridership has occurred, even when that was not the initial impetus for setting up the new service, would also be of interest to the study. If your agency operates some form of integrated service, whether paratransit feeder to fixed-route or some other alternative, please complete this questionnaire on-line. If this presents a problem, please contact: Richard Weiner Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates 785 Market Street, Suite 1300 San Francisco, CA 94103 Tel: (415) 284-1544 Fax: (415) 284-1554 e-mail: rweiner@nelsonnygaard.com Person completing this questionnaire Name and Title: _________________________________________________________________________________________________ Agency: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Address: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ PART 1: TRANSIT AGENCY DESCRIPTION 1. Please indicate annual ridership of your fixed-route system: ____________________________________________________________ Our agency does not provide fixed-route service ________________________ (survey skips to Part 2) 2. In what types of areas does your fixed-route system operate primarily? a. Urban b. Established suburban c. Low-density, recently developed suburban d. Small town e. Rural 3. Please describe the fares on your fixed-route system (including local, express, transfer, zone, senior discount) Briefly describe your integrated service(s): (If you operate more than one example of integrated service, please list each of them separately) Name of service: ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Description: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ APPENDIX B Survey Tool
33 Name of service: ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Description: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Which of the following best describes the operating method of your integrated service(s)? (check all that apply.) a. Paratransit for people with disabilities that provides connections to/from fixed-route service (âfeeder serviceâ). b. General public dial-a-ride connecting to conventional fixed-route service in which providing service to people with disabilities was a prominent feature of service design (âdemand-responsive connectorâ). c. âCirculatorâ or âCommunity Busâ services that were designed to serve people with disabilities (including older people) but also serve the general public. d. Point/Route Deviation services that eliminated the need for separate ADA paratransit services or were designed to reduce the need for ADA paratransit services. e. Other: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ [Depending on the response to the above question, survey will skip to the appropriate following model(s)] PART 2: SERVICE DESIGN In what year did your agency begin operating feeder service? _____________________________________________________________ How do you determine which riders should be offered or required to use feeder service? _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Do you have a formal process for determining which paratransit trip requests should be considered as candidates for feeder service? a. No b. Yes, we use the following criteria to screen for feeder service _______________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Is feeder service provided on a voluntary or mandatory basis (i.e., offer feeder or no trip at all)? a. Voluntary b. Mandatory c. Other/depends (please explain): _______________________________________________________________________________ Do you have designated locations for transfer points between paratransit and fixed-route service? a. No b. Yes. Please describe: _______________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ When dropping off a passenger for a transfer to fixed-route service, are paratransit drivers instructed to wait for the arrival of the fixed-route vehicle or do passengers wait without driver assistance? a. Drivers wait with passengers b. Passengers receive no additional assistance after being dropped off at transfer location c. Other/depends (please explain): _______________________________________________________________________________ What is the average wait time for passengers after being dropped off by the paratransit vehicle? a. __________ minutes b. Donât know What is the average wait time from passenger drop-off from a fixed-route vehicle until arrival of the paratransit vehicle? a. __________ minutes b. Donât know Do you offer services that require more than one transfer; e.g., paratransit to fixed-route to paratransit, or paratransit to fixed-route to fixed-route? a. No b. Yes. Please describe: _______________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ a. Feeder Service for People with Disabilities
Please provide the following fare information: ADA Paratransit Fare ___________________________________ General Public Demand Response Fare (if available) ___________________________________ How do you handle fare coordination between the two modes? a. Rider pays on the feeder leg but not on fixed-route b. Rider pays only on fixed-route c. Rider pays for both legs d. Other: __________________________________ Has your agency conducted any analysis to determine if feeder service is providing financial savings to your agency? a. No b. Yes. What were the results? _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Did your agency document any reduction in paratransit ridership once feeder service was introduced? a. No b. Yes. What were the results? _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ PART 3: MARKETING Please describe any special methods you have used to market this service and to educate the public about how it works. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ PART 4: PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT AND STANDARDS Basic service statistics: Feeder Paratransit (including feeder) Annual ridership (unlinked boardings): _______________________ _______________________ Annual vehicle revenue hours: _______________________ _______________________ Peak vehicles operated: _______________________ _______________________ Productivity (boardings/Veh.Rev.Hr): _______________________ _______________________ Time period of this data: _______________________ _______________________ What is the average operating cost per trip for feeder service, and how does this compare to similar measures for other services? a. Feeder service: _______________________ b. Conventional fixed-route, local, bus: _______________________ c. General public dial-a-ride: _______________________ d. Specialized paratransit: _______________________ PART 5: OPERATIONS Please describe the use of any technology that has facilitated the design and operation of feeder service in your system _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Please describe any special training provided to personnel that operate feeder services that is different than the training provided to staff that operate other services. a. Drivers: __________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ b. Schedulers or dispatchers: ___________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ How are drivers selected to operate the feeder service? _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 34
35 PART 6: BARRIERS AND OPPORTUNITIES Have you encountered any barriers that may have prevented you from implementing feeder service (e.g., internal resistance to a new spe- cialized service, objections from other transportation providers, opposition from human service agencies or riders)? a. No b. Yes. Please describe: _______________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Have you had to discontinue or limit your use of feeder service? a. No b. Yes. To what do you attribute this? ____________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Is there anything else you would like to add that may be helpful to other transit systems considering feeder service? __________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ PART 2: SERVICE DESIGN In what year did your agency begin operating demand-responsive connector service? _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Was serving the disabled riding public incorporated into your original service design? a. No b. Yes. Please describe: _______________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ How are the demand-responsive connector and fixed-route schedules coordinated? a. Drivers wait with passengers b. Passengers receive no additional assistance after being dropped off at transfer location What is the average wait time for passengers after being dropped off by the demand-responsive connector vehicle? a. __________ minutes b. Donât know What is the average wait time from passenger drop-off from fixed-route vehicle until arrival of the demand-responsive connector vehicle? a. __________ minutes b. Donât know What is the average frequency on the fixed-route service that is used for meets with demand-connector service? a. __________ minutes b. Donât know Please provide the following fare information ADA Paratransit Fare (if provided) ___________________________________ Demand Response Connector Fare ___________________________________ b. Demand-Responsive Connector Service
How do you handle fare coordination between the two modes? a. Rider pays on the connector leg but not on fixed-route b. Rider pays only on fixed-route c. Rider pays for both legs d. Other: ______________________________________ Has your agency conducted any analysis to determine if connector service is providing financial savings to your agency? c. No d. Yes. What were the results? __________________________________________________________________________________ Did your agency document any reduction in paratransit ridership once integrated service was introduced? a. No b. Yes. What were the results? __________________________________________________________________________________ c. Paratransit didnât exist prior to introduction of connector service _____________________________________________________ Does your connector service tend to serve specific trip purposes? a. No b. Yes. Please explain: _______________________________________________________________________________________ PART 3: MARKETING What types of riders are the principal users of the service? (check top two) a. Commuters b. Students c. Seniors d. Youth e. People with disabilities f. Other: ________________________________________________ Please describe any special methods you have used to market this service and to educate the public about how it works. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ PART 4: PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT AND STANDARDS Basic service statistics: Connector Annual ridership (unlinked boardings): _______________________ Annual vehicle revenue hours: _______________________ Peak vehicles operated: _______________________ Productivity (boardings/Veh.Rev.Hr): _______________________ Time period of this data: _______________________ What standards or performance targets do you use in evaluating demand-responsive connector service? _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ What is the average operating cost per trip for your connector services, and how does this compare to similar measures for other services? a. Connector service: _______________________ b. Conventional fixed-route, local, bus: _______________________ c. General public dial-a-ride: _______________________ d. Specialized paratransit: _______________________ PART 5: OPERATIONS Please describe the use of any technology that has facilitated the design and operation of connector service in your system _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 36
37 Please describe any special training provided to personnel that operate connector services that is different than the training provided to staff that operate other services. a. Drivers: __________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ b. Schedulers or dispatchers: ___________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ How are drivers selected to operate the connector service? _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Which of the following describes the use of vehicles for connector service? a. Specific vehicles are dedicated to connector service. b. Vehicles used in connector service also used in other services. Which services? _________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ PART 6: BARRIERS AND OPPORTUNITIES Have you encountered any barriers that may have prevented you from implementing connector services in places where it appeared to be appropriate? a. No b. Yes. Please describe: _______________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Have you had to discontinue or limit your use of any connector services? a. No b. Yes. To what do you attribute this? ____________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Is there anything else you would like to add that may be helpful to other transit systems considering connector services? ______________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ PART 2: SERVICE DESIGN In what year did your agency begin operating circulator service? ___________________________________________________________ Was serving the disabled riding public a prominent feature of your original service design? a. No b. Yes. Please describe: _______________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Do you have data on the proportion of your service that is used by people with disabilities versus the general riding public? a. No b. Yes. Please provide data: ____________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Has your agency conducted any analysis to determine if circulator service is providing financial savings to your agency? a. No b. Yes. What were the results? __________________________________________________________________________________ Circulator and Community Bus Services (referred to as âcirculator servicesâ below)
Did your agency document any reduction in paratransit service once circulator service was introduced? a. No b. Yes. Please explain: _______________________________________________________________________________________ Please provide the following fare information a. ADA Paratransit Fare (if available) ___________________________________ b. Circulator Fare ___________________________________ Does your circulator service tend to serve specific trip purposes? a. No b. Yes. Please explain: _______________________________________________________________________________________ PART 3: MARKETING What types of riders are the principal users of the service? (check top two) a. Commuters b. Students c. Seniors d. Youth e. People with disabilities f. Other: _______________________________________________ Please describe any special methods you have used to market this service and to educate the public about how it works. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ PART 4: PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT AND STANDARDS Basic service statistics: Circulator Paratransit Annual ridership (unlinked boardings): _______________________ _______________________ Annual vehicle revenue hours: _______________________ _______________________ Peak vehicles operated: _______________________ _______________________ Productivity (boardings/Veh.Rev.Hr): _______________________ _______________________ Time period of this data: _______________________ _______________________ Is there a minimum ridership level that you consider necessary for retaining circulator services? If so, what is it? (If possible please state ridership in terms of boardings per vehicle revenue hour.) _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ What is the average operating cost per trip for your circulator services, and how does this compare to similar measures for other services? a. Circulator service: _______________________ b. Conventional fixed-route, local, bus: _______________________ c. General public dial-a-ride: _______________________ d. Specialized paratransit: _______________________ PART 5: OPERATIONS Please describe the use of any technology that has facilitated the design and operation of circulator service in your system _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Please describe any special training provided to personnel that operate circulator services that is different than the training provided to staff that operate other services. a. Drivers: __________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 38
39 b. Schedulers or dispatchers:____________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ How are drivers selected to operate the circulator service? _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Which of the following describes the use of vehicles for circulator service? a. Specific vehicles are dedicated to circulator service. b. Vehicles used in circulator service also used in other services. Which services? ___________________________________________________________________________________________ PART 6: BARRIERS AND OPPORTUNITIES Have you encountered any barriers that may have prevented you from implementing circulator services in places where it appeared to be appropriate? a. No b. Yes. Please describe _______________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Have you had to discontinue or limit the use of any circulator services? a. No b. Yes. To what do you attribute this? ____________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Is there anything else you would like to add that may be helpful to other transit systems considering circulator services? _______________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ PART 2: SERVICE DESIGN In what year did your agency begin operating deviation service? ___________________________________________________________ Was serving the disabled riding public a prominent feature of your original service design? a. No b. Yes. Please describe: _______________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Do you have data on the proportion of your service that is used by people with disabilities versus the general riding public? a. No b. Yes. Please provide data ____________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Has your agency conducted any analysis to determine if deviation service is providing financial savings to your agency? a. No b. Yes. What were the results? __________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Point and Route Deviation Service (referred to as âdeviation servicesâ below)
Did your agency document any reduction in paratransit service once deviation service was introduced? a. No b. Yes. Please explain: _______________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Please provide the following fare information a. ADA Paratransit Fare (if available) _____________________________________ b. Deviation Fare (over and above regular fixed-route) _____________________________________ Does your deviation service tend to serve specific trip purposes? a. No b. Yes. Please explain: _______________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ PART 3: MARKETING What types of riders are the principal users of the deviation service? (check top two) a. Commuters b. Students c. Seniors d. Youth e. People with disabilities f. Other: ___________________________________ Please describe any special methods you have used to market this service and to educate the public about how it works. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ PART 4: PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT AND STANDARDS Basic service statistics: Deviation Paratransit Annual ridership (unlinked boardings): _______________________ _______________________ Annual vehicle revenue hours: _______________________ _______________________ Peak vehicles operated: _______________________ _______________________ Productivity (boardings/Veh.Rev.Hr): _______________________ _______________________ Time period of this data: _______________________ _______________________ Is there a minimum ridership level that you consider necessary for retaining deviation services? If so, what is it? (If possible please state ridership in terms of boardings per vehicle revenue hour.) _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ What is the average operating cost per trip for your deviation services, and how does this compare to similar measures for other services? a. Deviation service: _______________________ b. Conventional fixed-route, local, bus: _______________________ c. General public dial-a-ride: _______________________ d. Specialized paratransit: _______________________ PART 5: OPERATIONS Please describe the use of any technology that has facilitated the design and operation of deviation service in your system _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Please describe any special training provided to personnel that operate deviation services that is different than the training provided to staff that operate other services. a. Drivers: __________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 40
41 b. Schedulers or dispatchers: ___________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ How are drivers selected to operate the deviation service? _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Which of the following describes the use of vehicles for deviation service? a. Specific vehicles are dedicated to deviation service. b. Vehicles used in deviation service also used in other services. Which services? ___________________________________________________________________________________________ PART 6: BARRIERS AND OPPORTUNITIES Have you encountered any barriers that may have prevented you from implementing deviation services in places where it appeared to be appropriate? a. No b. Yes. Please describe: _______________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Have you had to discontinue or limit the use of any deviation services? a. No b. Yes. To what do you attribute this? ____________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Is there anything else you would like to add that may be helpful to other transit systems considering deviation services? _______________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ PART 2: SERVICE DESIGN In what year did your agency begin operating integrated services other than the service models indicated in the previous questions? _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Was serving the disabled riding public a prominent feature of your original service design? a. No b. Yes. Please describe: _______________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Do you have data on the proportion of your service that is used by people with disabilities versus the general riding public? a. No b. Yes. Please provide data ____________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Has your agency conducted any analysis to determine if your integrated service is providing financial savings to your agency? a. No b. Yes. What were the results? __________________________________________________________________________________ Did your agency document any reduction in paratransit service once integrated service was introduced? a. No b. Yes. Please explain: ________________________________________________________________________________________ e. Other Integrated Services
Please provide the following fare information ADA Paratransit Fare (if available) ___________________________________ Integrated Service Fare ___________________________________ How do you handle fare coordination between the two modes? a. Rider pays on the integrated service leg but not on fixed-route b. Rider pays only on fixed-route c. Rider pays for both legs d. Other: _______________________________________ Does your integrated service tend to serve specific trip purposes? a. No b. Yes. Please explain: ________________________________________________________________________________________ PART 3: MARKETING What types of riders are the principal users of the service? (check top two) a. Commuters b. Students c. Seniors d. Youth e. People with disabilities f. Other: _______________________________________ Please describe any special methods you have used to market this service and to educate the public about how it works. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ PART 4: PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT AND STANDARDS Basic service statistics: Integrated Service Paratransit Annual ridership (unlinked boardings): _______________________ _______________________ Annual vehicle revenue hours: _______________________ _______________________ Peak vehicles operated: _______________________ _______________________ Productivity (boardings/Veh.Rev.Hr): _______________________ _______________________ Time period of this data: _______________________ _______________________ Is there a minimum ridership level that you consider necessary for retaining integrated services? If so, what is it? (If possible please state ridership in terms of boardings per vehicle revenue hour.) _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ What is the average operating cost per trip for your integrated service, and how does this compare to similar measures for other services? a. Integrated service: _______________________ b. Conventional fixed-route, local, bus: _______________________ c. General public dial-a-ride: _______________________ d. Specialized paratransit: _______________________ PART 5: OPERATIONS Please describe the use of any technology that has facilitated the design and operation of integrated service in your system _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Please describe any special training provided to personnel that operate integrated services that is different than the training provided to staff that operate other services. a. Drivers: __________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 42
43 b. Schedulers or dispatchers: ___________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ How are drivers selected to operate the integrated service? _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Which of the following describes the use of vehicles for integrated service? a. Specific vehicles are dedicated to integrated service. b. Vehicles used in integrated service also used in other services. Which services? ___________________________________________________________________________________________ PART 6: BARRIERS AND OPPORTUNITIES Have you encountered any barriers that may have prevented you from implementing integrated services in places where it appeared to be appropriate? a. No b. Yes. Please describe: _______________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Have you had to discontinue or limited the use of any integrated services? a. No b. Yes. To what do you attribute this? ____________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Is there anything else you would like to add that may be helpful to other transit systems considering integrated services? ______________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
