Innovative Community
Transportation Services:
Responding to Change
Dan Dalton, KFH Group, Inc.
Florida Commission for the Transportation Disadvantaged
22nd Annual Best Practices and Training Workshop
July, 2014
Session Overview
• Adapting to change – why do some community
transportation providers thrive in this
environment, yet some are unable to make
needed changes?
• We’ll review some examples from around the
country
• So, how can this be applied to Florida?
Innovative Rural Transit Services
• A follow up to TCRP Report No. 70 –
Guidebook for Change and Innovation at
Rural and Small Urban Transit Systems
• Focus on:
 Innovative characteristics
 Service responses to changing
demographics
 Involvement in planning process
 Alternative service modes
 Outreach/Education
 Opportunities to leverage funding
• Free copies available at www.tcrponline.org
• Examples applicable to variety of providers
Some Realities
• Community transportation providers face a
variety of challenges on a daily basis
• Unique nature — each system has its own
dynamics related to geography, quality of
service, political issues, service design, and a
host of other factors
And Some More Realities
• Demand for community transportation services
in rural areas will continue to increase, i.e. as
residents “age in place”
• Expenses to operate services will continue to
go up
• Funding levels may not keep pace
So, how can community
transportation providers respond?
• Embrace change
• Manage the system like a business
• Lower costs through
productivity/service design improvements
• Maximize the use of scheduled
services
• Implement appropriate
technology improvements
So why change?
• Add horse drawn carriage picture
But….
We Fear Change!
THE CASE FOR CHANGE
• Community transportation providers face many new
challenges in a rapidly changing environment
• Systems must be responsive; they must identify better
ways of doing things and adapt to new ways of
conducting business
• Transportation needs do not end at the service area
boundary, so systems should connect in a seamless
manner
• Always look for greater ridership – make a difference or
run the risk of becoming irrelevant in your
community
What is Innovation?
• For our purposes innovation is:
▫ New, different and unique technique, practice or
approach
▫ Newly applied, not necessarily unique
▫ A modification of an existing practice that has a
nuance or twist that makes it innovative
Common Themes
• Unique nature of community transportation services
requires management to adapt to their specific needs,
making innovation important
• The real innovation appears to be the change and reinvention of the organization to meet ever-changing
dynamics in demographics, technology, and economic
factors
• It is a culture of innovation, a willingness to change
and improve
• INNOVATION STEMS FROM AN ORGANIZATION’S ABILITY
TO CHANGE
Organizational Culture of Innovation
• Organizational and Staff “Buy in”
• Systems with successful programs/practices:
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Serve as community agents of change
Optimize resources
Embrace technology
Act as entrepreneurs
Provide effective, quality service
Maintain fiscal diversity
Proactive Innovators
• Display Innovative Agency Characteristics
▫ Need to re-invent, especially when faced with
loss of funding or services
• Respond to Changing Demographics
▫ Modify services in response to shifting
demographics
• Actively Engage in Transportation Planning
Process
▫ Lead planning efforts and activities
Proactive Innovators
• Implement Alternative Service Modes
▫ Identify opportunities to reduce role of
paratransit, most expensive form of
transportation to operate
• Consider New Outreach and Education
Approaches
▫ New ways to engage the public and expand
knowledge of services
• Leverage Funding Opportunities
▫ Explore new ways to partner and generate funds
Thinking in the Future Tense
• Certain organizations are better positioned to
“think in the future tense,” through
management style and practice that fosters
creativity and innovation
• Understanding and anticipating future patterns,
trends, and needs will allow an organization to
change in a timely manner rather than
continually playing “catch up”
Some Examples
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Addison County Transit Resources, VT
Ark-Tex TRAX, TX
JAUNT, VA
Treasure Valley Transit, ID
ACTR
Total reinvention when new executive director arrived
Services virtually dormant in 2002
Many choice riders – 350% increase in 9 years
Takes advantage of attributes:
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Fixed route service targeting the college community
Ski service
Local service
Commuter service both north and south in coordination
with other systems
Many collaborations with public and private entities
Now well respected
Ark-Tex Council of Governments TRAX
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Nine county transit system in northeast Texas
Lost its Medicaid contract and half its business -- faced
with catastrophic loss
Changed its focus and became entrepreneurs, finding
new sources of funding and new services
Contracted with private sector for service, human
service agencies, colleges and other organizations
Now also operates the Texarkana Urban Transit District
Is becoming a Greyhound agent and feeder
Now has more service than before the loss
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
JAUNT
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Six county system that has been in
existence since the 1970s
At one time almost entirely funded
by human service agencies
Reinvention – began seeking new business
opportunities
Proactive mobility management program that conducts
plans for human service agencies and assists in their
operations or planning
Wide variety of services and always willing to try
something different
Treasure Valley Transit
When Nampa-Caldwell became small urban, TVT
lost the service -- about 65% of their business
• TVT reached out to 8 rural counties and worked
with local communities to initiate service in an
area over 250 miles long
• Tailor service for each community, taking
advantage of local characteristics
• Service branded and marketed to raise visibility:
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▫ Community branding to facilitate local ownership
▫ Specially painted vehicles
▫ Entry point for new partnerships and additional
revenue sources
The Innovators
Think in the future tense
Toss out conventional wisdom
Diversify, diversify, and diversify
Remain in tune with community needs, i.e.
attend local meetings, participate in events
• Take advantage of their attributes
• Work closely with the local businesses and
human service communities
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Innovative Ranking
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Serving as community agents of change – leading the
way with a proactive approach
Optimizing rural resources – Leveraging local funding
and using maximizing the use of other funds
Embracing technology – Not for technology sake, but
to the level necessary to improve service
Acting as entrepreneurs – They look for business deals
or partnerships: apply business sense to transit
management
Providing effective service – Looks good, is good
Maintaining fiscal diversity – Do not rely on one
funding source… if it goes south
So Time to Answer the Tough
Questions
• Does your system change out of necessity as a reaction
to a problem, and do you change as a proactive
measure?
• Does your system serve as community agents of
change—are you “out front” in the community, gaining
a reputation for successful change and innovation?
• Is your system optimizing resources, such as generating
local match and other operating and capital funds?
And Some More Questions
• Does your system embrace technology -- which, after
all, is all about change?
• Does you act as an entrepreneur — looking for business
deals or partnerships?
• Are you building ridership by providing quality services
that meet the local needs and ensuring your drivers
and staff are well-trained and your vehicles maintained
to high standards?
• Does your system maintain fiscal diversity or do you
rely primarily on a single funding source?
Additional Resources
• Embracing Change in a Changing World: Applying New
Paradigms for Rural and Small Urban Transit Service Delivery,
Report No. 99
• Transit Markets of the Future The Challenge of Change TCRP
Report No. 28
• Management Toolkit for Rural and Small Urban Transportation
Systems TCRP Report No. 54
• James, Jennifer, Thinking in the Future Tense, Simon and
Schuster, New York, New York, 1996
• Amabile, Teresa, How to Kill Creativity, Harvard Business
Review on Breakthrough Thinking, Harvard Business School
Press, Boston, 1999
• Drucker, Peter, The Discipline of Innovation, Harvard Business
Review, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, November –
December 1998
Contact Information
• Dan Dalton, 301-951-8660,
ddalton@kfhgroup.com