Strategies for Providing Cost
Effective Community
Transportation Service
Dan Dalton, KFH Group
Florida Commission for the Transportation Disadvantaged
22nd Annual Best Practices and Training Workshop
July, 2014
Session Overview
• The case for change -- why community
transportation providers must be responsive
and adapt to new ways of doing business
• Potential strategies to reduce costs or improve
productivity at your community transportation
system
• Applying this to your system or community
Key Areas for Discussion
• Evaluating and Implementing Management
Practices and Procedures
• Assessing Service Design and Providing the Right
Service for the Need
• Working with the Private Sector
•Proactive Innovators
The Case for Change
Some Realities
• Demand for community transportation services
will continue to increase, i.e. as residents “age
in place”
• Expenses to operate services will continue to
go up
• Funding levels will probably not keep pace
How can a community
transportation provider respond?
• Embrace change
• Manage the system like a business
• Lower costs through
productivity improvements
• Maximize the use of scheduled
services
• Implement appropriate
technology improvements
Organizational Culture of Innovation
• Systems with successful programs/practices:
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Serve as community agents of change
Optimize rural resources
Embrace technology
Act as entrepreneurs
Provide effective, quality service
Maintain fiscal diversity
Evaluating and Implementing
Management Practices and
Procedures
Some Management Practices to Consider
• Implementing employment practices to maintain
veteran drivers and to reduce turnover
• Implementing policies to reduce no-shows and late
cancellations, especially through non-punishment
policies
• Implementing marketing activities and branding efforts
to raise visibility of services, invoke local “ownership”
of system, and increase opportunities for local funding
support
Maintaining Veteran Drivers and
Reducing Turnover
• Increased productivity, reduced costs, and a
safer system as compared to “rookie” drivers
• Where to recruit drivers with “veteran”
potential
• Fostering a positive work environment
Assessing No-Show Policies
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Ability to effectively track no-shows
Staff input
Community consultation and buy-in
Community education and communications
Well-timed process
Meaningful, but not overly punitive action:
▫ Program through which customers that are chronic
no-shows must call prior to each trip
▫ Customers pay fare for no show with next completed
trip
Branding and Marketing to Raise
Visibility
• Community branding to
facilitate local ownership
• Tailoring service to meet
local need
• Specially painted vehicles
• Entry point for new
partnerships and
additional revenue
sources
Thinking Outside the Bus Marketing
• “Meeting on the Bus”
• Brings public meetings
and outreach events to
individual communities
• Increases participation
from the public
• Provides opportunity to
initiate new partnerships
with private industry
Resources
The Transit Cooperative
Research Program (TCRP) funds
many studies that can provide
rural and small urban transit
managers with a wealth of
valuable information on a wide
range of topics. See the
notebook for a list and obtain
free copies of these reports at
www.tcrponline.org
Assessing Service Design:
The Right Service for the
Need
The overarching goal:
Provide more service, ridership and
mobility for all residents and visitors
in a safe, efficient and effective
manner
Time to re-focus on this goal?
• The right service design for the need(s)
Poor service design is like placing staff in
handcuffs and expecting better job performance
• Shift our planning energies to actual service
planning
Sometimes the best way to coordinate service is
to provide excellent community transportation
services that most people can use
But why?
• Paratransit/demand response/dial-a-ride is the
most expensive form of transit to operate on a
per trip basis
• It is also the most difficult form of transit to
operate
• There are other service designs that can often
accommodate the needs
Maybe Time for a Change
• The objective is to provide the most
appropriate service design for each
situation/need
• Paratransit/demand-response/dial-a-ride
should always be a last resort because of its
cost
• There are other service designs that can
provide door to door service when needed.
• The key is to follow a schedule.
The Philosophy of Productivity
• Productivity and costs
• Critical to non-scheduled services
• Factors that affect productivity
Cost Control and Improved
Productivity
• In reality, the best way to lower costs is through
productivity improvements
• Measuring productivity as one-way trips per service
hour:
▫ Going from 2 trips per hour to 2.2 trips per hour will yield
a ten percent system savings
• Better yet, implement a scheduled service and see
productivity jump to 6 or more one way trips per hour
• Cost per trip will drop dramatically
Improved Productivity
• Achieved through:
▫ Demand Management/Service Design
▫ Effective Dispatch Techniques and Tools
• Affected by:
▫ Uncontrollable factors
▫ Controllable factors
Uncontrollable Factors
Service area size
Population density
Traffic flow, congestion, and speed limits
Mobility status of passengers as it affects
dwell time
• Political decisions
• Weather, terrain, and natural barriers
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Controllable Factors
Service design
Percentage of group trips
Mix of subscription and call-in trips
Experience, training, and competence of
scheduling and dispatch staff
• Experience, training and competence of
vehicle operators
• Expectations/past history
• Vehicle condition/maintenance
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Taking Advantage of Your Opportunities
• Consider the transit attributes (product lines) of your
service area:
-- College
-- K through 12 student transportation
-- Military or other government installation
-- Human service (Medicaid and Job Access)
-- Local town with retail centers
-- Large corporations/employment - commuters
-- Special events
-- Proximity to large cities - commuters
-- Tourism
-- Shopper shuttles
-- Intercity
-- Solution to parking problem
Tailor Service to Fit Your Service
Area Needs
• Take advantage of the service area attributes
• Keep your eye on the prize – ridership!
Some Service Design Guidelines
• Understand service area attributes
• Understand needs
• Maximize use of fixed-route and other fixed
schedule services – follow a schedule!
• Avoid one way loop routes – they will inhibit
ridership
• Paratransit/demand-response/dial-a-ride
should be the exception
More Service Design Guidelines
• Keep it simple
• DO NOT COMPETE WITH YOURSELF! Do not
allow demand-response or dial-a-ride to
compete with fixed route services
• Use existing vehicles for new service.
Implementing fixed route when demandresponse operates should include a one to one
change
• Market the service, then market some more
“But My Clients Won’t Be Able To
Follow A Scheduled Service”
• People around the world that want to use a bus
-- they follow a schedule
• Flying somewhere? You need to follow a
schedule
• Going out to a movie? Need to check the
scheduled times
• It is really not that hard, and always remember
they are customers -- not clients
Additional Considerations
Bus Stop Inventory and Assessment
Before…
After…
The Bus Stop: Transit’s Front Door
• Why inventory your bus stops?
• Asset management – signage & facilities
maintenance
• ADA: Know which stops aren’t accessible
(paratransit eligibility) or unsafe
• Ridership records – “on/off” counts
• Planning for service changes
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Why Inventory Your Bus Stops?
Foundation for a bus stop program – to improve
the accessibility, safety, comfort, and
convenience of your system:
• Reduce costs:
• Enable use of existing fixed route services
• Reduce demand for more expensive paratransit services
• Provide a basis for budgeting/planning
improvements
• Identify problem stops
• Prioritize and track improvements
Criteria for Improving Bus Stops
• Ridership
• Safety
▫ Pedestrian incidents and fatalities
• Accessibility
• Type of trip generator served
▫ Senior communities, hospitals, schools
• Public input/complaints
• Financial support
Another Consideration
• Travel Training
▫ Supports community inclusion
for people with disabilities
▫ Promotes a transit system as one that values the
needs of older adults and people with disabilities
▫ Reduces number of people who need paratransit
▫ Increases fixed route ridership
Resources for Implementing Travel
Training Program
• Easter Seals Project ACTION:
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Introduction to Travel Training Course
Fundamentals of Travel Training Administration
Online Travel Training Community
Variety of Publications
Travel Training: Determining Cost
Savings
• Cost to provide travel
training services
• Increased economic
impact of job
opportunities
• Cost avoidance through
use of fixed route services
as opposed to paratransit
• Cost/benefit analysis
Additional Resources
The Transit Cooperative
Research Program (TCRP) funds
many studies that can provide
transit managers with a wealth
of valuable information on a
wide range of topics. See the
notebook for a list and obtain
free copies of these reports at
www.tcrponline.org
Working with the Private
Sector
Some Realities
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For a variety of reasons, private transportation
operators may not be as involved in efforts to provide
mobility as they could be:
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Process may seem convoluted and difficult for private
operators to determine where they fit in
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Going to more meetings may not be high on their list –
unless they know there are potential business opportunities
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Outreach to private operators may be lacking
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Need for stronger relationships between public providers
and private operators
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Lack of forum for private transportation providers to form
partnerships with transit providers
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Old stereotypes may affect the way they are perceived
Is this your image of a private
transportation operator?
Some Recent Efforts
• FTA and the Taxicab, Limousine & Paratransit Association
(TLPA) issued a guidebook for private transportation to
assist with their participation in the transportation
planning process
• FTA/TLPA also produced a companion piece with
information on engaging private operators in the process
and working with them to improve mobility
“Eighty percent of success is showing up”
-- Woody Allen
Guidebook for Private Transportation
Operators
• Provides information on the
transportation planning process
• Review key funding programs,
including the New Freedom and
JARC Programs
• Companion brochure to assist
planners and others working
with private operators
• Available through the TLPA
website: www.tlpa.org
Engaging Private Transportation
Operators
• Revisit Current Outreach Efforts to Private Transportation
Operators
• Highlight Opportunities for Private Transportation
Operators
• Identify Possible Opportunities for Partnerships through
JARC and New Freedom Programs Funds
Engaging Private Transportation
Operators
• Examine Stereotypes
• Value the Input from Private Transportation Operators
• Educate Private Transportation Operators on the Federal
Compliance Requirements Associated with Participating in
Federally-funded Projects
Opportunities for Partnerships
• Premium Taxi Services
• ADA Paratransit
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Specialized Services
After Hours Service
Overflow Trips
Bus Services
Contact Information
• Dan Dalton, 301-951-8660,
ddalton@kfhgroup.com