Paratransit/Mobility on Demand (MoD) aren’t new to public transit—Trapeze has been a leader in this space for over 30 years. But post-pandemic, the roles of paratransit and Mobility on Demand are now changing and adapting. Existing tools are being used in new ways to offer new services. New technologies—like cloud-based systems—are shaping how agencies, and the public, view this essential part of transit. We are at a turning point for public transit. The pandemic triggered a renaissance of new ideas and service models that we’d only dreamed about before.
Trapeze is giving customers solutions to new challenges by extending and adapting solutions already in place. In this first post in the series Mobility on Demand Outlook for 2022, let’s look at the beginnings of paratransit, the Trapeze solutions behind the service, and some of the innovations already taking shape.
When the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was first enacted, offering paratransit was painful and tedious for agencies. From certifying eligibility to scheduling, everything was a manual, paper-based process.
The first breakthrough came when Trapeze solved one of the most complex problems in paratransit: how to get the most people where they wanted to go in the fewest trips possible. As years passed, paratransit became more complicated, and agencies needed solutions to go beyond just booking trips. Agencies needed the system to manage new service types, eligibility requirements, funding elements, and geographical constraints. And Trapeze stepped up to fill those needs.
Trapeze streamlined the whole end-to-end rider experience with the introduction of PASS. PASS automated trip requests, reservations, scheduling, and eligibility, reducing the amount of time employees needed to manage the system and simplifying training for new hires. Web portals, IVRs, and other automated tools let riders manage their bookings and know every detail of their trip, easing their anxiety about making it to their appointments on time.
As Mobility on Demand continued to evolve, Trapeze and agency partners started asking “what if we used PASS to do this...”
As an agency, what if you wanted to offer something like paratransit—someone books a ride, on-demand, to get from A to B—but used by non-paratransit passengers? Maybe you would like to connect a new development to existing routes or offer service in an area where there isn’t enough demand to justify a 40-foot bus running a fixed route. Or even add service to a low-density area that is a “transit desert” in your city.
Extending the paratransit model—tailored, flexible service without a set route—to everyone opens the door to close the first and last mile gap. Imagine living close to a major transit hub or park-and-ride lot, but none of the fixed route buses get you there efficiently. You’re not likely to take transit if a ten-minute drive takes thirty minutes on a bus. But what if an on-demand bus met you at a stop close to you, picked up other commuters in your neighborhood, and only took 15 minutes to get to that hub?
That’s the future of Mobility on Demand. Take a model we know works and use it to solve new transit challenges.
Paratransit and Mobility on Demand solutions do not work when you only have one option to use. You can’t run just one kind of bus and meet the needs of your customers. Using taxis, ride sharing services, and dynamic scheduling allows agencies to serve more people at a lower cost. Being able to quickly substitute a paratransit vehicle for an accessible taxi so you have the right capacity in the right places, means you can move more people to more places faster.
Agencies across North America are building visions of flexible, almost personalized, public transit solutions where you can choose from a range of options to get where you need to go at that moment. Sometimes that’s a bus. Sometimes that’s a rideshare to a transit hub. And sometimes it’s a microtransit solution connecting transit hubs to office parks and jobs.
We’re seeing more and more customers adapt and use existing solutions like PASS in new ways as agencies look for flexible systems. This evolution of mobility on demand means moving from connecting people to places to connecting people to opportunities.
MJ Maynard describes her microtransit-MoD-paratransit pilot as part of a “love all, serve all” model. Paratransit riders share space with abled-bodied riders on the same buses. Paratransit riders get the tailored door-to-door service to get them around the city, but they can also be connected to traditional fixed-route options as well. Non-paratransit riders get access to transit options they didn’t have before, as MJ puts it fixing a transit desert in the desert.
Mobility on Demand is taking center stage as part of the new transit renaissance. Ridership patterns are changing. Population dynamics are changing. Commuting is changing. MoD is uniquely positioned to leverage advances in technology and ridership to take public transit to a new and exciting place.
However as much as it adapts and technology powers the solution, mobility on demand always comes down to helping people to get to where they need to go when they need to get there.
Learn more about Trapeze Mobility on Demand solution and PASS
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