National Academies Press: OpenBook

Partnerships Between Transit Agencies and Transportation Network Companies (TNCs) (2019)

Chapter: Chapter 7 - Suggestions for Further Research

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Page 87
Suggested Citation:"Chapter 7 - Suggestions for Further Research." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2019. Partnerships Between Transit Agencies and Transportation Network Companies (TNCs). Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25576.
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Page 87
Page 88
Suggested Citation:"Chapter 7 - Suggestions for Further Research." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2019. Partnerships Between Transit Agencies and Transportation Network Companies (TNCs). Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25576.
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Page 88

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87 C H A P T E R 7 Research is needed in several areas to increase the transit industry’s capacity for planning and managing TNC partnerships and for applying a matured understanding to an array of new mobility partnerships. • Given the diversity of funding sources and uncertainty around the accounting of partnership outcomes, research is needed to develop a cost/benefit analysis framework for transit-TNC partnerships. Because TNC partnerships do not fall under more traditional transit agency budget or NTD categories, more guidance is needed to accurately account for returns on funds expended. Specific guidance on appropriate budget allocations and resulting returns on investment will help the transit industry develop a clearer understanding of why entering into partnerships might make sense, and if not, why not. • Research is needed to define best practices for transit agency management of partnerships with TNCs and other mobility service providers, such as microtransit and scooters, to help transit agencies succeed. With the rapidly evolving landscape of shared mobility as more part- nerships in varying contexts and with multiple customer types come into existence, this need is pressing. An update to the Partnership Playbook—the result of this research project—may suffice or a new effort may be warranted as the number and variance of partnerships increase. • Research is needed to inventory transit agency strategies employed to comply with ADA requirements in the context of TNC partnerships; to understand the effectiveness of each of those strategies at achieving equivalence standards; and to identify feasible approaches for increasing access to on-demand transportation for all customers of ADA paratransit. Build- ing on this report, a survey of the industry would help governing bodies understand Title VI and ADA compliance issues and inform appropriate strategies for addressing the goals of the regulation. In the short term, transit agencies would benefit from more access to online train- ing materials and other training opportunities that provide necessary guidance for planning wheelchair-accessible service. • A multi-industry research effort to identify feasible data-sharing mechanisms is needed. As highlighted in TRB Special Report 319, Between Public and Private Mobility: Examining the Rise of Technology-Enabled Transportation Services, a centralized data clearinghouse could increase industry access to TNCs’ (and other private mobility service providers’) trip data. This data could inform not only transit industry decision-making, but also land use, legal, and regulatory strategies. Though there are a few examples of tools that aggregate publically avail- able data, few exist that account for data-in-aggregate with privacy concerns. Additionally, in cases in which transit agencies and TNCs have a data-sharing agreement in place, research is needed to outline the feasibility of a third-party entity with audit capabilities to ascertain the legitimacy and soundness of data. • Transit agencies considering partnerships with TNCs need further guidance on procurement and contracting standards based on the experience of transit agency pilot projects to date. Suggestions for Further Research

88 Partnerships Between Transit Agencies and Transportation Network Companies (TNCs) Using existing available contracts, which are public documents, develop a sample blank con- tract as guidance for new transit agencies entering these projects. This contract would serve as a template to advise transit agencies on typical parameters of negotiations with TNCs and the range of procurement and contracting approaches available. • A formal assessment on whether TNCs’ shared ride products qualify as public transportation will help address the data issues that to date have been complicated. To provide clarity to transit agencies in partnerships with TNCs who direct customers to their shared ride products (e.g., UberPOOL, Lyft Line), a determination needs to be made whether these modes meet the statutory definition of public transportation. If they do, there should be guidance on how transit agencies could report trips taken in the context of these partnerships to the NTD. • Several ideas for future scenarios or programs arose during the course of this work, including evaluating the viability for the transit industry and industry groups to deliver these concepts: – A shift of transit agencies’ roles from direct providers of service to mobility managers overseeing a mobility-as-a-service program. – A collaborative industry forum that convenes transit practitioners and TNC staff on a regular basis to exchange ideas. – An annual awards program to highlight best practice partnerships between transit agencies and private mobility service providers.

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Public transit agencies are increasingly partnering with mobility service providers. Among these providers are transportation network companies (TNCs), which include companies like Uber and Lyft and are the specific focus of this research effort.

The transit industry has produced research to describe primary considerations transit agencies should have in mind for partnerships with TNCs, but existing research has yet to identify specific project frameworks for transit agencies that have decided to pursue partnerships.

Findings of the report, TCRP Research Report 204: Partnerships Between Transit Agencies and Transportation Network Companies (TNCs), draw on a thorough investigation of active and inactive partnerships between transit agencies and TNCs. This research is informed by dozens of transit agency surveys and follow-up interviews, past literature, and interviews with TNC staff and industry experts as well as FTA representatives. Transit agencies have a wide range of motivations for engaging in partnerships with TNCs. The motivations, however, are often not tied to specific performance indicators, an area in which transit agencies can be more proactive in setting the approach.

The report presents findings pertaining to data and information requirements of both transit agencies and TNCs; the various benefits and outcomes that transit agencies, communities, and customers have pursued through partnerships; and the challenges faced by transit agencies in developing partnerships with TNCs.

An additional resource is part of the project: the Partnership Playbook offers a brief, 5-step plan designed to help the transit industry be more deliberate in its approach to working with TNCs.

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