Browsing by Subject "Paratransit services"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    An Exploratory Survey of Potential Community Transportation Providers and Users
    (2006-09-01) Barnes, Gary; Dolphin, Heather
    This report describes a large survey that was administered with the objective of better understanding specialized transportation resources and how they are being used. The survey had two key characteristics. The first was to question both organizations that provide transportation, and those that do not provide it but are actively involved in purchasing or arranging it on behalf of their clients. The second was to be comprehensive; that is, to survey any organization that might be involved either in providing or arranging transportation. The most significant finding is that about 45% of the diverse organizations that were surveyed provide transportation in some form, and another 20% actively arrange transportation for their clients. This implies that there are more than 3,000 specialized transportation providers in Minnesota. The vast majority of these are social service agencies and housing providers. This confirms the common belief that the true size of the specialized transportation "system" is far larger than the formal network that is known to transportation funders and regulators. The report also contains numerous recommendations regarding how the findings of this survey can be used to develop more focused and definitive surveys of this type in the future.
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    A Fast, Auction-Based Algorithm for Paratransit Vehicle Assignment
    (Center for Transportation Studies, University of Minnesota, 2013-09) Carlsson, John Gunnar; Houle, Jason
    A problem based on the actual passenger transportation operations of two community disability service organizations in St. Paul is presented. The problem is to minimize the number of routes needed to serve all the passengers subject to spatial and temporal constraints on the routing of vehicles. Additional problem characteristics include heterogeneous vehicle and passenger classes, multiple destinations, separate "runs" defined by service time windows, and rules governing the embarkment as well as maximum travel times. Here we develop a method able to generate a good problem solution within a reasonable amount of time to guide these companies' operations. Early attempts at problem solution reveal facets of its structure and illuminate an inherent trade-off between vehicle capacity and uninhibited vehicle operating time. To address this, the method proposed uses high-capacity vehicles to serve routes in both runs while allotting easily served passengers to these vehicles to relieve temporal constraints. This heuristic carries the additional advantage of partitioning the rest of the solution into two single-run problems, and the decrementing adaptive memory program (DAMP) is devised as a way of discovering solution components and promoting those more effective at producing good solutions to be used in future attempts. When applied to a data set provided by the organizations, the algorithm improved the current benchmark solution, generated by hand, by over 12% in reasonable operating time, serving 574 passengers with 64 routes in 53 vehicles. Its absolute measure of quality, in light of lower bounds that were constructed, is also considered good.
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    The Transportation Needs of People with Developmental Disabilities
    (University of Minnesota Center for Transportation Studies, 2007-01) Levinson, David M; Wasfi, Rania
    Society's reliance on private automobiles as well as low-density development creates mobility challenges for the elderly and the developmentally disabled. Although some in these populations can meet their transportation needs with the existing system, others cannot. This report is part of a study that sought to learn about the transportation needs and concerns of members in these specific population groups. To learn about the elderly, the researchers partnered with area senior centers and service providers to distribute surveys to approximately 8,000 residents of Hennepin County aged 60 to 90 years old. Besides gathering demographic information about the participants, the survey also gauged their attitudes about traveling and asked them to complete a travel diary. Specifically, the survey asked questions about the difficulty of reaching desired destinations in order to attend medical appointments, work, shop, conduct business, or visit family or friends, among other things. The first component of the study was measuring existing travel behavior patterns for the elderly, and the next, determining unmet needs and wants of the groups. This provided a baseline of information to proceed with subsequent planning and decision making. Public transit was the second most-used mode of transportation. Seniors in the sample showed a willingness to use public transit, yet often did not because of a lack of service near their homes or destinations. Although some seniors have a difficult time using public transit (for example, getting up the stairs), a bigger concern was fear of being a victim of a crime; more than half were also concerned about waiting for transit or the length of time of the trip. In the study exploring the transportation needs of adults with developmental disabilities, the researchers conducted a survey similar to that used for the senior population. To design and distribute these surveys, the researchers partnered with community agencies that provide support to the targeted population group. The survey revealed that more than half of these adults live in group homes, while about a quarter live with relatives. Despite not living independently, many (40 percent) consider themselves independent travelers, and 70 percent reported that the mode of transportation they used was their choice. About half of the trips these adults took were work related, with recreational and shopping trips cited as well. More than half of the sampled population worked every day, while recreation occurred at least once a week for about two-thirds of the population. About 30 percent reported being unable to make trips they wanted to make, and about 46 percent were unable to make trips they needed to make. Walking, public transit, and dial-a-ride were listed as the primary modes of transportation the participants used to meet their transportation needs.