3. Case by Case

The mobility needs and the best methods of meeting them vary greatly by community. Given the absence of a uniform technique of delivering community transportation, knowledge of the actions taken by individuals and agencies that have addressed similar challenges may be beneficial. This is especially true when novel techniques or technologies, such as ITS, are deployed or when difficult issues such as coordination of transportation service are being addressed. In this section, the experiences of the Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation (SMART), Reach Your Destination Easily (R.Y.D.E.), and NDinfo.org in using ITS to address challenges to coordination in the communities they serve are presented.

Each of the three cases that make up this section include general background information on the organization involved, the events that spurred the need for ITS including those related to coordination, the experiences in development and implementation, and the effects that followed. Technical and institutional issues, requirements, benefits and costs, lessons learned and agreements among transportation providers and funding agencies are presented where relevant.

3.1 SMART

SMART does more than simply provide fixed-route and demand-response service to southeast Michigan, it is a mobility manager for the residents of the communities that it serves. This mindset, which permeates all aspects of SMART's planning and operation efforts, is readily evident in the service it provides and the relationship it has with other providers of community transportation in the three-county area that make up the Detroit metropolitan area. To be a successful mobility manager, SMART has had to become innovator in both coordination and ITS.

SMART provides a variety of public transportation services alone and in conjunction with community partners to over seventy communities in Macomb, Oakland, and Wayne Counties in southeast Michigan. These counties as well as the locations of three of SMART's Community Transit Partners, the cities of Livonia and Troy and Shelby Township, whose experiences with SMART are discussed later in this section are presented in Figure 1. The three counties are home to more than 2.3 million people and cover more than 1,585 square miles.

Figure 1. Southeast Michigan

The mobility needs of the more than 70 communities served by SMART are as diverse as the communities themselves. An intimate understanding of the demands for mobility helps SMART and its community partners determine what combinations of services help them to supply the optimal overall service.

There still remain a number of traditional commuters, those who travel from suburban residences to jobs in the city center. Though these rides used to comprise nearly all trips provided by SMART and its predecessor systems, today they make up only a part of SMART's service. Today, reverse access commutes which provide transportation from homes in Detroit to jobs in the suburbs have also increased in importance as have welfare-to-work related trips. There are also significant numbers of riders who demand intercity trips between suburban communities.

SMART's community partners often focus on providing transportation solutions to the elderly and the disabled. Other community transportation providers supply transportation service to members of the general public. In addition to rides taken by seniors to medical appointments or to visit the local senior center, trips to retail or recreational locations are also common.

3.1.1 SMART Beginnings

SMART has been an innovator in coordination and ITS for over a decade. It was one of the first transportation organizations in the country to adopt the principals of mobility management, a management approach that affects every aspect of the way SMART provides transportation services to the residents of southeast Michigan. Advanced technology is necessary to supply the tailored service demanded by a system as large and complex as that served by SMART. To gain a better understanding of SMART's motivation for becoming a mobility manager, promoting coordination, and becoming an innovator in ITS, a review of it history is helpful.

SMART's predecessor, the Southeast Michigan Transportation Authority, or SEMTA, was established in 1967. It was assembled from existing transportation providers, including both commercial bus and rail service, that were suffering financially following the emergence of suburbs after World War II. SEMTA, operated under the authority of Wayne, Macomb, and Oakland Counties and the City of Detroit, was intended to continue to provide the metropolitan area with the same mass transit service as the firms it replaced. At the time of its creation SEMTA had no dedicated local funding source and relied on farebox revenue in addition to state and federal funding.

As a traditional mass transit service provider, SEMTA's purpose was to efficiently transport riders to and from their suburban homes and their central city workplaces. The only problem was that these jobs had been leaving Detroit since the end of World War II, increasingly so in the 1970's and 1980's. Without the required demand for its service, SEMTA, which was renamed SMART in 1989, suffered financially just as its predecessors did. With regular budget deficits and debts of $19.6 million in fiscal year 1994-1995, the continued existence of SMART became questionable.

3.1.2 Financing, Organizational Structure & the 1995 Millage

In early 1995, faced with dissolution due to increasing budget deficits, SMART went to the taxpayers of Macomb, Oakland, and Wayne counties to seek the approval of a transit millage that would ensure its survival. The 1995 measure asked for 1/3 of a mill property tax levy. This was estimated to generate $18 million dollars for the first three years it was in force.

For the measure to pass, local support was necessary from Detroit's suburbs where most of the metropolitan area's residents and wealth were now located. However, it seemed unlikely that residents of these communities would provide additional funds for the services that SMART had been providing. There was little demand for public transportation service to the inner city and the demand that did exist was spread unevenly across the suburbs. For the proposed tax increase to pass, service that met the needs of each community had to be provided and SMART devised an innovative way of doing just that. The answer was the Community Partnership Program, a unique coordination effort that has defined community transportation in southeast Michigan ever since.

Though additional efforts at coordination have been introduced, the foundation for the Community Partnership Program has remained the same since 1995. Under the program, each community that participates by contributing local property tax to the system would continue to receive SMART services as well as funds to provide locally tailored transportation. Those communities that failed to pass the millage would no longer receive SMART service.

Though some communities opted out of SMART, especially those on the periphery of metropolitan area, the initiative was quite successful. It not only provided the incentive for suburban communities to vote for its passage and provide the local funds that saved SMART, it provided a change in the way SMART looked at delivering transportation solutions to the communities it served.

In the decade since its passage only one community has opted out of SMART. The tax was renewed in 1998 and 2002, when the tax was increased to .6 mills. The local tax will be referred to the voters again in 2006.

3.1.3 Funding Mechanisms

SMART administers millions of dollars of funding each year to local transportation providers. In addition to the funds generated by local property tax, federal funds have supplied about 15 percent of SMART's operating and capital funds, state funds about 30 percent, and fare revenue less then 10 percent of operating funds in recent years. Two programs, the Community Credit and Municipal Credit Programs, deliver financial assistance to SMART's community partners and provide an incentive for local agencies to coordinate with SMART.

SMART provides funds generated by the local property tax to its community partners via The Community Credit Program. The program acts as a rebate on the monies spent by local transportation providers. Community Credit funds may be spent on either operating or capital costs.

As a condition of acceptance of Community Credit funds, local agencies must make efforts to coordinate with other transportation providers. This includes completing a Community Credit Coordination Plan. Each Coordination Plan identifies the transportation needs in a community and how existing services can meet these needs. It must also show how its efforts avoid duplication of service and how SMART resources can play a role in the proposed service, to make the most out of existing system capabilities.

SMART distributes funds to local transportation agencies though the Municipal Credit Program. Each year, the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) allocates $3 million through a state reimbursement program. These funds are distributed to communities using a formula based on the population and the availability of fixed-route service. These funds may only be used to support the operating costs of transit services.

3.1.4 SMART's Service Design

In its role as a mobility manager for southeast Michigan, SMART delivers a number of transportation service alternatives to meet the many needs of transit users in the communities it serves. It also works closely with local agencies that provide transportation, which are referred to as Community Transit partners. SMART delivers traditional fixed-route service and demand-response service, which is referred to as Connector Service. To ensure compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, SMART also provides comparable paratransit service to eligible individuals. These diverse services provided by a SMART and its Community Transit partners are an excellent example of the mobility management concept defined by Birnie (2).

Note that the three services, fixed-route, Connector, and Community Transit service, do not operate exclusively of one another. On the contrary, coordination between each of the services was part of the original service design developed in 1995. Since that time, proposed Community Transit services have been required to complete an annual Coordination Plan for SMART to ensure that all steps have and will be taken to integrate new service into the larger system.

SMART delivers traditional fixed-route, also referred to as line-haul, service to all of Macomb and portions of Oakland and Wayne Counties. Roughly 80 percent, more than $70 million, of SMART's operating expenses were attributed to its fixed-route operations during 2003. During periods of maximum service, more than 200 buses are on the road. SMART currently maintains 53 routes providing relatively uniform coverage throughout the southeastern Michigan communities it serves.

SMART uses the term Connector Service to refer to all other transportation services it operates directly. Connector Service consists of four main types: Job Express, Advanced Reservation, Dial-A-Ride, and Flexible Route Service. These transportation alternatives are designed to meet the unique mobility needs of the people in southeast Michigan. The Connector Services are complemented by Community Transit services provided by local agencies.

Job Express service transports riders from stops along fixed-route lines to their job sites. This service is provided only to those businesses that lie within one of a number of designated Job Express Zones. Small vehicles deliver the service between existing Job Express pick up points and the location of the rider's employment.

Flexible Route Service gives riders the option of curb-to-curb service in areas where fixed-route service may prove inaccessible. Riders may board the bus at designated stops but need to call in advance to arrange for pick-up sites in other parts of the service area.

SMART provides Advanced Reservation Service to four communities in southeast Michigan. Reservations need to be made six days in advance for medical appointments and two days in advance for other trip purposes. Service is curb-to-curb and ride availability is first-come first-serve.

In addition to advanced reservation service, SMART provides same-day or Dial-A-Ride service in a limited number of areas. Service is promised to begin within 60 minutes of the call requesting service. Advanced registration is not allowed.

SMART provides ADA mandated complementary paratransit service to rides that originate and terminate within three-quarters of a mile of its fixed-route service. Given SMART's relatively uniform fixed-route service throughout southeast Michigan, complementary paratransit is also available in most of the communities it serves. To be eligible to use the service, riders must have a disability that prevents them from using SMART's fixed-route service and be ADA certified. The service relies on advanced reservations and is provided curb-to-curb and covers the same areas, times, and transfers as SMART's fixed-route service.

Local transportation solutions delivered by SMART's community partners are referred to by the term Community Transit. The service alternatives vary greatly as they are designed and operated by local agencies to meet the unique needs of the communities they serve. Though some target the elderly or disabled populations, many Community Transit services are available to the general public. Three of SMART's Community Transit partners and their experiences with coordination and ITS are presented later in this section. These partners are Troy Medigo, Shelby Township Senior Center, and The City of Livonia.

As discussed earlier, providers of Community Transit service receive funding from both the Community Credit and Municipal Credit Programs. The former requires a Community Credit Coordination Plan be submitted to SMART. This plan is then used by SMART to ensure that the services provide by SMART and Community Transit providers make the most of available resources to meet the mobility needs of the communities they serves.

3.1.5 SMART Coordination Efforts

SMART provides a number of services to its Community Transit partners that are unrelated to ITS. SMART also shares its advanced technology with agencies not directly involved in proving personal mobility. SMART's vehicle procurement matching program provides funds for new vehicles used by community partners and manages the process of vehicle procurement with federal funds while ombudspersons serve as advocates, educators, and resources for SMART's community partners.

SMART helps its community partners acquire new vehicles as part of its Vehicle Procurement Matching Program. SMART's community partners, those agencies that serve communities which participate in the millage, provide 20 percent of the cost of a new vehicle. Federal funds that come through SMART cover the remaining cost of the vehicles. SMART manages the procurement process and holds the title. The vehicle procurement matching program allows SMART's community partners to focus on provided high quality service and avoid having to master the often-puzzling guidelines that are required during the procurement process. Because the vehicles are purchased with federal funds, regulations regarding preventative maintenance programs and drug and alcohol testing are enforced throughout the system.

SMART also provides vehicle maintenance for those vehicles operated by its community partners. SMART provides both required and additional training for its own employees and those who work for other local transportation providers. Community partners also benefit from the ability to purchase fuel and tires at reduced cost from regional suppliers. SMART also has two roving maintenance personnel. SMART is currently developing a community transit analyst position that is intended to help community partners better understand their system and identify and implement methods or technologies.

SMART employs three full-time ombudspersons to serve as advocates for local communities, agencies and residents. Once a month, the local ombudsperson, each of whom work with one of the three counties, meets in person with each Community Transit partner. During this time, new developments in SMART, including ITS, are shared and questions and concerns discusses. The ombudspersons also aid in the development of local agencies' transit plans which must be completed each year.

Beyond community transportation, SMART coordinates with snow removal efforts in southeast Michigan by providing use of its radio system and server. SMART also tried a cooperative effort with the City of Detroit Police Department including sharing some of the same telecommunications equipment, but encountered licensing problems.

3.1.6 SMART, ITS, & Coordination

SMART is different than many transit organizations. Because of its vested interested in the delivery of high-quality customer service at the local level in addition to its regional fixed-route and demand-response service, SMART itself requires a tremendous degree of coordination. To do this SMART relies on technology and continually looks to improve its service by changing its management processes and the technologies that it uses.

Early Developments

SMART was an early innovator in ITS. Its first efforts at ITS development were, at the time, quite innovative. Today, less than 10 years later, most of the technologies implemented are obsolete.

Much of the initial work by SMART occurred before the refinement of the concepts behind ITS architecture. Unsurprisingly, despite their best efforts and considerable planning there were missteps along the way, many of which would have been mitigated in the presence of an ITS architecture. This included an attempt to implement mobile data terminal (MDT) technology in 1995 that produced less-than-desired results.

Current System

The centerpiece of SMART's current intelligent transportation system is its real-time demand-response system. The system consists of three servers located at SMART's Oakland Terminal (which are referred to collectively as SMART TERM), Windows-based clients located at the Oakland Terminal and at community partner locations throughout the three county region, and the Internet which allows them to communicate with one another. Firewalls are located on both the SMART and remote locations to ensure the security of the system. Computer-aided scheduling and dispatch software is located on the servers as is the extensive geo-database that stores the information needed for the system to run.

A client is a computer that has access to services over a network. For example, when someone surfs the internet, their personal computer is acting as a client. In the case of SMART, the term thin client is more appropriate. A thin client is a client that processes only keyboard input and screen output with all application processing done by the server. This means that a relatively low-cost, unsophisticated machine that can access the server can take full advantage of SMART's system.

SMART currently maintains a license for five concurrent external users, which are available on a first-come first-serve basis. Agencies that use the system can reserve a ride on any vehicle in the system unless there is an existing restriction. In nearly all cases, organizations book trips on their own fleet.

The ability to commingle rides across vehicles and agencies has enormous possibilities and is seen as promising opportunity for future coordination. The system does not require that the organization making the reservation be a transportation provider. For example, reservations could be made or changed by hospitals or social service agencies.

The computer-aided dispatch and scheduling software is delivered system-wide; SMART relies on a single system. The software does contain certain nuances that need to be understood to take full advantage of its capabilities. These nuances can be taught relatively quickly, but take some time to completely master. The issue is not particularly of serious concern for community transit partners interested in providing rides to those in staying within a certain geographic region.

Currently all SMART Connector rides are managed with the centralized real-time demand-response system. Community partners, however, have been more hesitant to adopt the technology because of perceptions of the high cost of adoption relative to the benefits. Recently, 90 percent of community partners email their next day list to SMART. This data is then entered manually into the system by SMART employees. This method does not allow local transportation providers to make changes once the list has been submitted. Dealing with late additions and cancellations is a problem.

SMART also employs a regional toll-free trip scheduling phone line. A great deal of effort was used in designing and testing the system before making it available to the public. Users are guided through the reservation process and communicate information by pressing the buttons on a touch-tone keypad. As users may have difficulty with the system, it automatically defaults to a paratransit/senior ride scheduler. The system has been relatively successful and average 55,000 minutes of use each week.

Three radio towers with 13 channels of service are maintained to provide communication between drivers and dispatch anywhere SMART delivers service. It is also an example of the redundancy that is present throughout SMART's system. In addition to transmitting voice, the radio system is also used as part of SMART's automatic vehicle location (AVL) system.

3.1.7 Impacts of ITS

Separating and quantifying the effects of ITS and coordination in any community is a difficult task. Given the complexity of SMART's organization and the relationships it has with its community partners, efforts to provide transportation estimates that are either accurate or precise are even more difficult. This is especially true as ITS has been an integral part of how SMART has met southeast Michigan mobility needs for more than a decade. As a result there is no baseline with which to compare its service.

Organizational Structure

The relationship between SMART and its community partners was devised before 1995. The implementation and use of advanced technologies in delivering public transportation in southeast Michigan has not changed the association between the two groups though it has strengthened the bonds between them. For its mobility management approach to persist, SMART must provide a level of service that is perceived by local taxpayers of being of sufficient benefit to their community. Many of the services SMART provides and its quality are dependent on ITS. Without ITS, SMART would be unable to provide the services that it currently does to its community partners.

Financial Costs

It is relatively difficult to quantify the effects of ITS and coordination in SMART because of the absence of an adequate baseline with which to compare. The benefits from coordination in general have been estimated at approximately $2.7 million in 2002 dollars (1). This is the difference between the funding received by local transportation providers, $7 million, and the estimated cost of SMART delivering those same rides, $9.7 million. The latter value was found by multiplying the number of trips provided by SMART's community partners by the average SMART paratransit trip cost.

One often-overlooked group of recipients of the actions of innovators are late adopters. These individuals and organizations benefit from the lower cost of technology and the refined processes for managing them. Transit agencies across the nation benefit in small part because of the work SMART performed designing, testing, and operating an intelligent transportation system. The lessons that can be learned by other communities are of definite value, but are difficult to quantify.

TCRP Report 91 estimated the cost of SMART providing the service delivered by its community partners. For ITS, a practical alternative is to ask the converse: what costs would be imposed on community partners if they were to provide the same level of service using the same technologies as SMART does. This requires SMART's Community Transit partners to be separated into two groups, those that schedule their own rides using a remote client and those that forward their ride list to SMART via email. In each case there is significant support for the premise that SMART's centralized system saves money.

For Community Transit partners that currently use the remote client technology the marginal cost of SMART's central real-time demand-response system to the organization is insignificant given that it already has access to a personal computer and the Internet. The development and operation of its own system would require significant resources. These would include the upfront costs of the purchasing a server, building the database and paying initial software licensing fees. Hiring a consultant to aid in the implementation process might also be necessary. The cost of training would be negligible if the same or similar scheduling software was used. After implementation, the annual maintenance fee would be incurred as would the costs of maintaining the database and server. Additional technical support might also involve additional expenditures.

There are also significant costs resulting from the increased, unmitigated, cost of uncertainty. If for some reason the local technology failed, the Community Transit partner would need to address the challenge alone. In some cases this might involve system failure, with rides not being provided or the deterioration in the quality of customer service.

Community Transit partners not currently using the system would incur costs because of training and the changes in operations policy in addition to those experienced by the agencies that currently use the remote client technology.

3.1.8 Three Community Transit Partners

SMART provides transportation solutions to a large and diverse clientele. Many of these services are delivered in conjunction with its Community Transit partners. However, not only are each of the organizations and the communities they serve different, but what services local Community Transit partners provide and how they work with SMART differ as well. To better understand SMART's relationships with its Community Transit partners, its relationships with three of them are described.

Troy Medigo

Troy Medigo began as a volunteer service designed to provide transportation to Troy residents traveling to and from medical appointments. Over time, service was expanded to meet the needs of the mobility disadvantaged by traveling to locations other than hospitals and clinics and for non-medical purposes. Today, Troy Medigo is now affiliated with the city of Troy and receives assistance in the form of office space and local funding.

Troy Medigo provides door-to-door service for the elderly and disabled in its service area. Most trips provided by Troy Medigo require advanced reservation, though same day rides are subject to space availability. In addition to local hospitals and clinics, a number of trips are made to Troy's Community Center which provides a number of fitness, social, and dining opportunities.

Troy Medigo currently employs two part-time dispatchers and schedulers who use the SMART system using a remote client located at their office in the Troy Community Center. Before this system they used handwritten or typed messages, which made management and record keeping difficult. The transition to the computer-based system was difficult and some drivers left because of the increased capability introduced. The real-time demand response system is now "the basis for everything" for Troy Medigo.

SMART now handles much of Troy Medigo's paperwork allowing its staff to focus on delivering transportation. There remains a limited amount of contact between SMART and Troy Medigo. Following the training of dispatchers and schedulers on the two systems, communication has been mostly limited to that occurring due to weather events or vehicle breakdown. SMART's spare bus program has been utilized by Troy Medigo.

Troy Medigo is also very interested in the community transit analyst position being created. Like many agencies that provide community transportation, Troy Medigo has limited resources. The community transit analyst would provide recommendations on ways to improve service while allowing Troy Medigo to focus on providing service.

Shelby Township Senior Center

The Shelby Township Senior Center serves a number of needs facing the elderly living in this community located in the northeast suburbs of Detroit. It currently books rides on one SMART vehicle. The majority of these rides are destined either for the Senior Center or for dialysis.

At the present time, Shelby Township Senior Center does not currently use a remote client to book its trips. Instead it sends an excel spreadsheet to SMART each afternoon where the trips are entered into the system by a SMART employee. This arrangement prevents the Senior Center from booking additional trips after 4 p.m. or canceling reservations on the day they are to be delivered. Though the Senior Center would like to be able to make these scheduling changes, it is not particularly interested in making full use of SMART's system. This is because of a perception of introducing another layer of work, significant upfront costs, and uncertainty regarding the results.

Livonia Community Transit

Livonia Community Transit service began more than two decades ago to transport the community's elderly to and from a local senior center. Following the passage of the 1995 millage, Livonia Community Transit began its relationship with SMART. However, because of mounting concerns about the cost and service its residents receive, Livonia is considering opting out of its agreement with SMART, which would make it the first to do so in over a decade.

As of 2005, Livonia Community Transit operated five buses with plans to increase that number to seven because of unmet demand. The service provides transportation alternatives for handicapped and the elderly.

Livonia Community Transit is one of a limited number of Community Transit partners that currently make use of SMART's centralized real-time demand-response capabilities. Though it has been very pleased with the technology provided, the organization is not completely satisfied with its relationship with SMART, because it believes it could deliver better service to its clients at a lower cost without SMART. In light of this, the City of Livonia which oversees the agency believes that it could implement its own system that would include a license for the same computer-aided dispatch and scheduling software for less while maintaining if not improving the level of service.

3.2 R.Y.D.E.

R.Y.D.E. was established in January, 2000, to provide brokered public transportation to Kearney, Neb., and surrounding areas. Demand for its services grew quickly and it soon became evident that change was necessary if the organization wanted to adequately meet its community's mobility needs. The solution to the challenge came in the form of adopting technology that provided R.Y.D.E. the ability to better manage its operation. As part of the process, R.Y.D.E. developed and implemented its own ITS architecture, in agreement with the regional ITS architecture which was designed at the same time. This strategy continues to pay dividends to the organization.

Kearney is a city of 28,000 located on the Platte River in South-Central Nebraska. Like many cities of its size on the Great Plains, the local economy is dependent on agriculture and providing services, including retail and medical, to a multi-county region. It is also the home of the University of Nebraska at Kearney and a sizable manufacturing sector. Partially because of its location on I-80, tourism is also important to the city.

Kearney is a progressive, growing community that has long been open to innovative approaches to meeting its needs, including the coordination of social services. Some of this culture can be attributed to the presence of the university and the young leaders who take part in many of the community's organizations. The spirit of cooperation between social service providers is further complemented by the movement of key officials between these organizations.

R.Y.D.E. has provided service to the counties of Buffalo, in which the city of Kearney is located, Sherman, Kearney, Franklin, and Gosper. Its long-term plans involve providing service to the counties of Buffalo, Dawson, Custer, Sherman, Phelps, Howard, Kearney, and Adams, all in south-central Nebraska. Figure 2. displays these counties. These eight counties are home to more than 135,000 residents. Most of these individuals are located in Adams, Buffalo, or Dawson County which account for 99,851 of the area's residents. In two of these counties, Custer and Sherman, the percentage of the population that is elderly is greater than 20 percent.

Figure 2. South-Central Nebraska

The demand for mobility solutions in Kearney is similar to similar-sized communities across the nation. Kearney's location in a predominantly rural area results in little need for a city resident to travel outside of the city limits. Similarly, for the smaller communities in the areas surrounding the city, most trips are destined for Kearney.

3.2.1 Reach Your Destination Easily

One of the first steps towards the creation of R.Y.D.E. occurred in 1994 when Good Samaritan Health Services, which operates the south-central Nebraska's regional health center located in Kearney, decided to provide a transportation alternative for its patients. It had long been recognized by Good Samaritan Health Services that mobility was a serious issue for elderly patients both in and around Kearney. There was growing concern that the absence of transportation alternatives for many of its patients was affecting their health. At the time, the cost of traveling to and from the city from outlying areas reached as high as $50 per round-trip.

In response, Good Samaritan Health Services introduced a transportation service that visited seven surrounding towns on a rotating basis throughout the five day work week at a cost of $8 per roundtrip. Unfortunately, many of the perceived economies of the service never materialized. In 1999, about 1,000 trips were provided at an average cost of $40. This led Good Samaritan Health Services to return to demand-only service.

In 1997, the Buffalo County Community Health Partners, a consortium that included Good Samaritan Health Services and other healthcare providers, decided to take a proactive approach to address the challenges of coordinating transportation services to Kearney and the surrounding areas. The need was readily evident as the hospital and nursing homes in Kearney often each had vehicles transporting a single rider to the same destination. As a result, the Transportation Goal Work Group was formed and efforts to determine the best solution for the community as a whole began. In addition to representatives from the organizations that made up the Buffalo County Community Health Partners, the Transportation Goal Work Group also included members from local taxi operators, the University of Nebraska-Kearney, the local school district, the Nebraska Department of Roads, Buffalo County, the City of Kearney, and social service agencies.

One promising approach to coordination that the Transportation Goal Work Group soon discovered was that of a transportation brokerage. The brokerage concept appeared to be having great success in meeting the mobility needs of Rock Springs, Wyo., and a site visit was soon arranged. The individuals who made the trip to Wyoming were further encouraged by what they saw firsthand. Upon their return, efforts to implement a brokerage in Kearney began in earnest. After two more years of planning, R.Y.D.E. began its service; becoming the first transportation broker in the state of Nebraska.

3.2.2 The Transportation Brokerage Concept

Transportation brokers act as administrators of transportation services in a given area. In general, brokers act as gatekeepers for those interested in receiving or delivering trips in the region they serve, though the particular duties vary from one brokerage to the next. Brokers may be responsible for gathering and managing relevant rider information, contracting with transportation providers, accepting and making reservations, and managing scheduling and dispatch functions. They may also provide driver training, aid in vehicle procurement, manage the risk of participating agencies and assure the quality of the service delivered. On the financial side, brokers often handle billing and record keeping, provide reimbursement to transportation providers, and maintain insurance. The benefits from a brokerage are similar to those arising from coordination in general, with the most significant being greater system-wide efficiency.

3.2.3 Service Commences

A number of arrangements were made before R.Y.D.E. began providing rides. Good Samaritan Health Services turned its transportation assets over to Mid-Nebraska Community Action, the local social service agency that would house R.Y.D.E., for $1. An agreement was reached that acknowledged that trips to or from certain locations would be reimbursed by Good Samaritan Health Services. The group also promised to provide $40,000 the first year with each following years' funding dropping by $8,000 until the program was self-sufficient. In return for the funding, R.Y.D.E. was required to make medically related trips its first priority. The Good Samaritan Hospital Foundation was expected to continue making charitable contributions as well. In addition to its altruistic motivation, Good Samaritan also had an interest in low-cost transportation service because the transportation alternative it provided was both expensive and not covered by Medicare. Mid-Nebraska Community Action provided office space, salaries and oversight for the new organization.

R.Y.D.E. service began in January 2000 with the vehicle purchased from Good Samaritan Health Services, a manager, a dispatcher and drivers. After its first year of operation, RYDE had acquired two more vehicles from another agency that had provided rides to the elderly and low-income populations. This commingling resulted in one nursing home leaving the arrangement.

Most importantly, by the end of 2000 R.Y.D.E. had provided 10,000 trips and its paper and pencil method of managing the system was beginning to reach its limits. On the average day it took more than an hour to prepare the schedule for the next day. Trips scheduled at this time averaged 2 to 3 miles. R.Y.D.E. was averaging 125 trips per day. Reporting and billing for the service was also particularly burdensome.

The demand for R.Y.D.E. services and the corresponding increase in the size of its fleet began to place significant pressures on its employees and administrators. They quickly realized that its traditional methods of managing the system were inadequate to meet the mobility needs of the Kearney community. The solutions provided by ITS were quickly identified and the process to change the way Kearney provided community transportation began once again. This time, however, a more formalized processed would be followed.

Developing a Regional ITS Architecture

As part of its implementation of advanced technologies to aid in the delivery of its service, R.Y.D.E. helped design and implement a regional ITS architecture. This effort formally began in late 2001 with a training workshop conducted by Battelle and completed under contract to the FTA to provide technical assistance to transit agencies. This was followed in April 2002 with a meeting where possible ITS solutions were discussed and the groundwork for preparing for the design of a regional ITS architecture began. A summary of the process is described at length in a Federal Highway Administration white paper (4).

During this time period, the manager of R.Y.D.E. also prepared himself for the process by taking some courses on systems engineering to help in the architecture development process. These courses were delivered at an introductory level in non-technical language. In addition to its intended goal, the courses resulted in a paradigm shift for R.Y.D.E.'s manager as it caused him to revisit the way in which he framed Kearney's mobility challenges and the ways in which R.Y.D.E.'s service could address the challenges most efficiently.

3.2.4 R.Y.D.E. Current System

R.Y.D.E. continues to follow the plans it laid out when preparing its regional ITS architecture. The pace of technology adoption has been more deliberate than initially planned. At the same time, the system in place today has already had significant impacts on R.Y.D.E., the service it provides, and the entire Kearney community.

As with SMART, the foundation of R.Y.D.E.'s intelligent transportation system is its computer-aided dispatch and scheduling software. The software is located on a server operating Microsoft SQL and is accessible by any of the three personal computers used by R.Y.D.E. Though the software platform used by R.Y.D.E. provides less functionality than that used by SMART, it more than meets the needs of the Kearney-based organization.

R.Y.D.E. also updated its telephone system which had been shared with Mid-Nebraska Community Action. This need had also arisen early in R.Y.D.E.'s existence as the demand for reservations was beginning to tie up all of the parent organization's telephone lines. R.Y.D.E. now has 14 digital lines.

R.Y.D.E.'s original radio technology only allowed one-way communication between a single vehicle and dispatch. The radio system has since been updated to a full duplex system which allows communications both ways at the same time.

Contracting for mobile data terminal (MDT) technology began in early 2005 with implementation expected to occur in mid-2005. It is expected that vehicles will be able to be outfitted for as little as $1,000 each. The MDT implementation will begin with the technology being placed on a single vehicle and then later being placed on the remainder of the fleet. The operating cost of the system is expected to be $5 per month per bus.

The next phase of ITS implementation will include acquiring pagers for memory impaired clients. The need for this technology arose following an event where a client went missing for a period of time before being found safe after a lengthy search. R.Y.D.E. is also interested in using interactive voice response technology (IVR) to aid in the reservation process. There is also interest in acquiring a generator in case a power outage occurs.

3.2.5 Impacts of ITS

R.Y.D.E. was an extremely young organization when it began initiating efforts to implement ITS technologies and processes. However, after only one year of existence it was evident that methods used to operate the system were reaching their limits. ITS provided the needed solutions and most of the changes in system-wide performance following the implementation of ITS technologies can be attributed to it.

As one of R.Y.D.E.'s goals is to provide transportation to the residents of eight counties in south-central Nebraska, further demands will be placed on the system. With this size of an operation, R.Y.D.E. will be able to further take advantage of the scalability provided by the technology it uses.

Organizational Structure

R.Y.D.E. itself has seen no change in its organizational structure since the introduction of ITS. As a broker, R.Y.D.E.'s initial organizational structure was intended to meet the changing mobility needs of its community. However, the high demand for mobility alternatives in Kearney quickly outgrew R.Y.D.E.'s ability to deliver them. ITS allowed R.Y.D.E. to take full advantage of the brokerage platform and provide the service Kearney's residents demand.

No one left R.Y.D.E.'s advisory board because of ITS though members came and left as terms expired. This is unsurprising as it was many of these same individuals who first worked to introduce the transportation brokerage concept to south-central Nebraska. R.Y.D.E. has added employees to accommodate the increased demand in service and to make use of the system and guide the continued adoption and proper use of ITS technologies.

Limited formal agreements are in place between R.Y.D.E. and the agencies whose clients it provides service to due to restrictions on 503 (c) agencies, a class of not-for-profit entities.

Financial Costs

The annual financial benefits arising from coordination in Kearney have been estimated to be $400,358 (1). This value was determined by multiplying the difference between pre-coordination and post-coordination per trip costs, $5.08, times the number of trips provided, 78,220. Before the introduction of ITS, R.Y.D.E. was quickly approaching the point at which traditional methods of scheduling and dispatch were no longer efficient. Most, if not all, of the $400,358 can be attributed to the introduction of advanced technologies and the processes used to manage them which allowed for further coordination to occur.

Changes in Service

Same-day service, which was not available before ITS, is now possible on a space-available basis. R.Y.D.E. has also expanded its service hours from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. to 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays. Ridership rose immediately after the implementation of computer-aided dispatch and scheduling software from 125 to nearly 200 rides per week. The miles per pickup fell from somewhere in the range of 2 to 3 to 1.7 while the time in transit fell by one-half.

3.3 NDinfo.org

NDinfo.org is a novel statewide approach to addressing the challenges of mobility in North Dakota. Currently in its infancy, the intent is for NDinfo.org to mature into a hub of information on various social services, including transportation service, available to individuals throughout the state. One of the program's most promising characteristics is its proposed ability to allow for coordination of transportation services across North Dakota.

The communities of North Dakota are diverse and their demands for transportation are unique. Delivering transportation service across the sparsely populated parts of North Dakota is a challenging task. Managing the mobility of individual residents is also trying.

Communities in North Dakota can be readily classified as either rural or urban. Though their final destinations may be the same, mobility-challenged urban residents may demand trips a few miles in length while their rural counterparts may demand trips that are a hundred times that long. The relative demand for such trips will be further magnified as the rural population ages in the coming years.

The location of North Dakota's metropolitan areas: Bismarck, Fargo, and Grand Forks and Minot are presented in Figure 3. These four communities are regular destinations for residents of rural communities who seek medical, retail, or recreational opportunities. A handful of other communities throughout the state provide more limited services that meet the regular needs of their residents. Many of North Dakota's transportation-dependent population, including the elderly and the disabled, live in these larger communities to take advantage of the services they offer. The exception is the rural elderly, who choose to remain in their home communities though they lack many of the essential services they need. These rural residents are forced to make regular trips to larger communities.

Figure 3. North Dakota

3.3.1 Transportation Services within the State of North Dakota

Many transportation services available within North Dakota serve individual communities while others provide transportation for multi-jurisdictional regions. Fixed-route and demand-response service areas are presented in Figure 4. In addition to individuals seeking mobility alternatives for themselves, a number of organizations provide or fund transportation in North Dakota. Nursing homes and developmental disabilities service providers are among this group. Other agencies include Medicaid, Head Start, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, school districts, and Veterans Affairs.

Figure 4. Fixed-Route and Regional Transit Service Areas in North Dakota

Source: A Plan for Transportation Coordination in North Dakota, 2004

North Dakota's four largest cities: Bismarck, Fargo, Grand Forks, and Minot operate fixed-route services. The systems in Fargo, Grand Forks, and Minot have been in existence for decades while Bismarck's fixed-route service commenced in May 2004. In Minot, the fixed-route service is used to transport students in the morning and mid-afternoon.

There are 40 demand-response systems in operation in North Dakota. While some serve individual cities, many operate on a regional, multi-county basis. There are varying degrees of coordination among demand-response providers.

Thirteen taxi cab companies operate in North Dakota. These entities provide an important mobility option, as in many cases they are the only transportation providers that operate outside of business hours in the communities they serve. Significant support from the North Dakota Department of Transportation and Department of Human Services in the form of 5311 funding or Medicaid reimbursements provide the funding to maintain taxi services in the state's smaller communities.

The amount of coordination of transportation services in North Dakota is relatively small (5), an issue that is currently being addressed by the North Dakota Department of Transportation Except for cases where the fixed-route system also provides paratransit service as in Grand Forks and Fargo, the only other situation where coordination occurs is where local demand-response service work with taxi companies to ensure that transportation is available to meet riders' off-hour needs.

3.3.2 Identifying the Need for Transportation Information

Given the lack of coordination of transportation services in North Dakota, there are likely to be significant opportunities to improve the efficiency of the system. This has long been known to the agencies that provide transportation as well as those that provide the financing and oversight to such groups. What was missing was the impetus for the developing a solution to North Dakota's coordination issues. It came from a most unexpected place the 1999 Supreme Court decision in Olmstead v. L. C.

In addition to addressing the legal protection of disabled individuals, Olmstead v. L.C., played a role in the creation of NDinfo.org as well. In the decision, the Supreme Court ruled that states may not discriminate against disabled individuals who receive or benefit from Medicaid funding by institutionalizing them when they would be better served in a more integrated, community setting. Each state was required to either develop a formal plan, referred to as an Olmstead Plan, or develop some alternative strategy to ensure that the ruling of the court was followed.

In North Dakota, the process to address the Olmstead decision led to a series of focus group meetings held during the spring of 2002. In addition to meeting its designed purpose of identifying methods of ensuring that the rights of North Dakota's disabled population were protected, it was during these meetings that the need for a statewide social service coordination solution, which would later become NDinfo.org, was identified.

The Olmstead focus group meetings identified a number of issues facing the disabled community in North Dakota. Primary among these was the lack of readily available information on community-based services. Participants also felt that it was important to specifically highlight the services available to disabled individuals in the state.

With regard to transportation, the focus groups felt that it was important to identify and address gaps in transportation services within North Dakota. It was acknowledged that these services were lacking in rural parts of the state. There was also an absence of a centralized source of transportation information.

3.3.3 Designing NDinfo.org

The proposed solution to the multifaceted problem identified as part of the focus group meetings was NDinfo.org, an online, searchable, statewide human services directory. This centralized information hub would be accessible throughout North Dakota and beyond via the Internet. The ultimate goal would be to include information on all 4,400 North Dakota agencies that provide social services.

The transportation module was one of the more innovative components of NDinfo.org. The short-range goal for the module was to provide a database of transportation-related information, much like the rest of the site. Searches of the database by city, county, region, accessibility, payment options, and service type are currently possible. This allows for multiple trip options to be identified.

In addition to transportation, there were also plans to have portions of the site devoted to organizations providing education and medical services. Among the human services initially targeted during the planning for NDinfo.org were those for the elderly and children. City governments, volunteer groups, and religious groups were also included.

Making the site accessible to users was another objective. Special consideration was taken when designing the internet interface so that it could accommodate users with physical impairments. It was also important that new users be able to easily find the information for which they were looking.

The development of NDinfo.org was expected to be based on the availability of funding. Fortunately, NDinfo.org was relatively successful in securing funding including federal monies as well as support from charitable organizations. Two attributes of the NDinfo.org program allow for it to make the most out of funds it has available. First, the collection of social service agencies is provided by volunteers for in-kind service. NDinfo.org also allows social service agencies to establish and update profiles on the website. This ensures the system remains up-to-date while also minimizing the cost of maintenance. This service is available at no cost to the social service agency, though registration is required.

Following completion of the initial planning phase, efforts began to focus on programming the site and building the underlying database. In addition to its identified role in providing detailed transportation service information, focus has been placed on system security and site management issues. Password protection is provided for those who have access.

3.3.4 The Current System

NDinfo.org went live in October 2004. Its initial version included a bulletin board, community calendar, a job directory, and comments section. A help guide that contained a frequently asked questions section was also present. Within the system, agencies have the ability to access and change their own information as they see fit. This could include updating their service policy or altering their mission statement. Also, if an agency maintains its own website, it can be added as a link to its NDinfo.org informational page.

In the spring of 2005, NDinfo.org launched the first version of its transportation module. Presently, the transportation component provides an online searchable database, which will also serve as the basis for future capabilities. It also includes a trip planner that uses user-entered information to generate travel options. In addition to designating the locations of trip origination and termination, the search may be constrained by identifying specific payment options, the acceptance of reservations, accessibility, and the presence of a bike rack. Users may also identify if they need the use of special services such as a Geri chair or if pets may travel.

3.3.5 Long-Range Plans

The long-range plans for NDinfo.org address a number of more complex issues, many of which are related to coordination. Among the planned capabilities of NDinfo.org are the ability to plan for intercity trips, to prepare itineraries, and to reserve or pay for a trip. Interactive maps as well as directions and distances to bus strops will also be included. Information on carpools and bike information will be available. There are also plans to provide the ability to search for home delivery and freight solutions in future versions of the site. The ability to bulk email a list of designated recipients about proposed transportation deals is also expected.

3.3.6 Impacts of NDinfo.org

Given the infancy of NDinfo.org, it is difficult to quantify the impacts of the program. At the present time, NDinfo.org's transportation component provides little functionality beyond its searchable database. Its proposed content and capabilities show great promise for increased coordination among transportation providers in North Dakota. However, a significant amount of work that will help make this possible has yet to be completed.