Paratransit: Options for the Future. The Overview Report

摘要

This report provides an overview of the nature of paratransit services, the current experiences and state-of-the-art with various paratransit alternatives, and possible future directions for these various service concepts. It covers the evolution of various commuter ridesharing concepts, services for the elderly and handicapped, rural services, suburban and community-scale systems, also contrasting them briefly with European experience. It discusses the various actors involved in paratransit provision, with special emphasis on the role in Federal, State, and local governments in the process. It also includes some speculation on the future of paratransit, including factors which will influence the direction this future takes, barriers to paratransit development, and future directions in paratransit service provision. The report is especially useful for the staffs of policy-level officials, and is a synthesis of five paratransit reports released earlier.