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Title:

Metrolift: Case Study in Cost-effective ADA Paratransit

Accession Number:

01024592

Record Type:

Component

Availability:

Transportation Research Board Business Office

500 Fifth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001 United States

Abstract:

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) requires that all transit operators provide complementary paratransit service to accessible fixed-route service. ADA paratransit systems have grown across the nation since then, as well as the resources they require. New York City Transit has conducted periodic peer reviews and Houston’s METROLift paratransit services consistently have been identified as the most cost-effective and efficient system of large cities surveyed. This paper explores the reasons why Houston METRO’s program succeeds. METRO has gained experience over 25 years of providing paratransit. They have established successful techniques in three key areas. First, METRO has developed a sound operating structure based upon the transit agency administering, scheduling and dispatching service, while contracting for service delivery. They have controlled costs through providing the van fleet to the operator and introducing taxis to the fleet mix. METRO has developed strong contracting procedures. They use a competitive negotiation for selecting contractor and use financial incentives and disincentives to protect service quality. At the same time they contractually reduce financial risk to their contractors through fuel escalation and service level adjustments. METRO has development strong administration practices as well. These include dedicated resources to manage contractors, to audit areas that are prone to fraud and strategically implementing technology projects that improve service quality while reducing overhead staffing requirements.

Monograph Accession #:

01020180

Report/Paper Numbers:

06-2332

Language:

English

Corporate Authors:

Transportation Research Board

500 Fifth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001 United States

Authors:

Arndt, Jeffrey
Laughlin, James
Edrington, Suzie

Pagination:

18p

Publication Date:

2006

Conference:

Transportation Research Board 85th Annual Meeting

Location: Washington DC, United States
Date: 2006-1-22 to 2006-1-26
Sponsors: Transportation Research Board

Media Type:

CD-ROM

Features:

Figures (2) ; References (3) ; Tables (3)

Geographic Terms:

Houston Metropolitan Area

Subject Areas:

Operations and Traffic Management; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation

Source Data:

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2006 Paper #06-2332

Files:

TRIS, TRB

Created Date:

Mar 3 2006 10:57AM