Expanding Travel Choices for Rural Mobility
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Expanding Travel Choices for Rural Mobility
Background
Mobility, in the context of the Rural Urban Connections Strategy, focuses on how residents in rural areas move within their communities and throughout the region. As our region grows, mobility becomes a major challenge in both rural and urban places. Meeting the needs of urban interest groups is often the focus of state and regional planning efforts because population concentrations frequently lead to greater political influence. Ensuring that the needs of rural areas are also considered requires special attention to the unique issues and challenges that they face.
In exploring the issue of mobility, it is helpful to break the topic into two broad categories; accessibility and connectivity. Accessibility is a measurement of the ease and convenience of reaching any given destination or service. The degree to which a destination is accessible is dependent on how efficiently and safely it can be reached by transit, bicycle, walking, and automobile. Connectivity, or continuity, is a measurement of the general consistency of mode specific facilities and services in a transportation system. The degree to which a transportation system is connected is dependent on the existence and maintenance of facilities and services connecting all destinations in an area.
Although defined separately, the terms accessibility and connectivity are inextricably linked. A connected transportation network containing a mix of dedicated and shared facilities for all modes of transportation greatly improves accessibility to all destinations. The following paragraphs discuss how this idea translates into current practices, challenges for the future, and opportunities for innovative solutions.
Bicycles and Pedestrians
Bicycle and pedestrian facilities in rural or small urban areas are similar in many ways to those in more urban places. It is the frequency and context in which these facilities exist that makes them different in rural situations. In some rural communities, sidewalks are neither desired nor needed. Traffic volumes on small town roads can be conducive to pedestrians and automobiles sharing the right-of-way. Limiting the presence of sidewalks in this context may be desirable to preserve the rural character of a local road network. In some instances, non-paved parallel paths can sufficiently serve as pedestrian and bicycle right-of-way along rural roads.
Rural and urban bikeways fall under the same classification system including Class I (Multi-Use Path), Class II (Bike Lane), and Class III (Bike Route). There are currently almost 2000 miles of bicycle routes in the region, 44% of which exist outside of urbanized boundaries in small urban or rural areas1. The majority of rural routes (79%) exist on the shoulder of roadways as Class III bicycle lanes. These bikeways include any on street right-of-way recommended for bicycle travel that provides for shared use with motor vehicles or pedestrian traffic.
Walking and biking make up only a small fraction of commute and errand trips in rural areas (mode share?). The primary reason for this is likely the longer distances between destinations. However, particularly in the spring, summer and early fall, rural roads can host many recreational cyclists escaping more heavily trafficked urban roads. In the Sacramento Region, there are several recreational destinations accessible by bike illustrated in Figure 1 (attached).
Walking or biking to school is an important ingredient in teaching healthy lifestyle habits to children. Throughout the region, only about 20% of children walk or ride their bikes to school. In urban areas, the most common reasons parents choose to drive their children to school rather than allow them to walk or bike relate to traffic volume and crime. In rural areas, distance is usually more of a factor than traffic, crime, or infrastructure. However, particularly in small urban communities, opportunities exist to facilitate walking and biking to local schools.
Transit
Public transit is typically thought of in an urban context. The densest U.S. cities like New York and Chicago are thought of as ideal locations for effective 
Despite the skewing of transit toward urban land use densities, smaller suburban operators with lengthy commuter express and rural lifeline routes comprise a larger share of passenger miles traveled.
Rural transit trips are of high importance to the individuals taking them. Low-income workers, many of whom cannot afford a vehicle, rely on public transportation and ridesharing for their livelihood. Ensuring that workers have access to employment not only helps the local economy but can also link areas with labor shortages to communities with labor surpluses. Older residents rely on public transportation after they give up driving. Whether going to a medical appointment or to the grocery store, seniors need reliable transportation options to get on with their daily lives. Providing adequate service to seniors allows them to maintain good health by receiving routine care, retain independence, and connect with family and friends. Transit service comes in many forms, and the following paragraphs outline what services are available to SACOG region rural residents.
Bus Service: Almost all rural transit service is provided by bus.
- In El Dorado County, transit service is provided by the El Dorado County Transit Authority, which operates two routes that specifically serve rural areas. The Grizzly Flat2 route offers service on Thursdays from Placerville to Grizzly Flat. The Pollock Pines3 route offers service eleven times per day Monday-Friday from Placerville to Pollock Pines.
- In Placer County, the Colfax/Alta and Taylor Road routes service rural areas. The Colfax/Alta route offers service from Auburn to Colfax/Atla twice each weekday by reservation only. The Taylor Road shuttle provides service seven times each weekday and five times on Saturdays from Auburn to Sierra College.
- Yuba-Sutter Transit provides three rural routes. The Live Oak Route offers one round-trip every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from Live Oak to Yuba City and Marysville. The Foothills Route offers two round-trips every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from Challenge, Brownsville and Dobbins to Marysville and most points in between. The Wheatland Route offers two round-trips each Tuesday and Thursday from Wheatland to Linda and Marysville.
- Yolobus offers five rural routes. Route 215 offers multiple daily runs from Woodland to Cache Creek Casino. Route 216 offers service on Tuesdays and Fridays from Woodland to Knights Landing. Route 217 operates on Mondays and Thursdays and services Woodland and Dunnigan. Route 218 operates Wednesday only by request and offers service from Rumsey to Woodland. Route 220 operates Monday thru Friday and provides service to Winters, Vacaville, and Davis.
- South County Transit’s Delta route services Galt, Isleton, and Lodi four times each day Monday-Friday.
In addition to local providers, supplementary bus service is offered by Amtrak. Amtrak routes are not “local” routes; instead, passengers can generally only disembark at the route terminus. The San Joaquin and Capitol Corridor routes offer motor coach service from Marysville, Auburn, Colfax, Grass Valley, Soda Springs, Truckee, Placerville, and Lodi.
It is true that rural transit services cost only a fraction of urban services in total dollars. Every bus that Sacramento RT operates costs an average of $300,000 annually to run; however, some of the smaller operators can operate buses for significantly less due to non-union labor contracts. This leads to a lower operating cost per vehicle service hour (VSH), $73 and $82 per VSH among rural and small urban operators respectively, compared to $114 per VSH for larger urban operators like Sacramento RT.
Despite lower total and per vehicle service hour operating costs, the per passenger cost of rural transit is more than double that of small urban service and six times that of urban service. It is the cost per passenger and apparent low demand (as measured by total ridership or passengers per VSH) that create funding challenges for rural operators. Funding based solely on ridership and farebox recovery favors short urban trips while ignoring the high per passenger cost of providing rural service. See Table 1 for variances across rural, small urban, and urban transit services in terms of ridership and operating cost.
Carpools and Vanpools:
With rising gas prices forcing Americans to think about their transportation choices, many commuters are evaluating carpooling or vanpooling as serious options for work trips. In rural areas, workers who cannot afford their own car depend on these types of arrangements to get to and from work. Many workers in rural areas, especially agricultural workers, travel to work early in the morning and go home late at night, during times when transit is not an option. Ridesharing provides an economical alternative for those who cannot afford their own vehicle.
SACOG region residents can get information about ridesharing by accessing the Sacramento Region Rideshare system4. The Rideshare system matches people interested in carpooling, vanpooling or bicycling based on home and work (or school) locations and schedules. Additional resources for rideshare information are Transportation Management Agencies (TMAs) and Rideshare Agencies. A TMA is a dues-paying membership group that consists of employers, developers, property managers and local government officials. TMAs enable employers in a defined geographic area to work together to solve local transportation needs.
Rail:
Passenger rail service is rather limited in the SACOG region’s rural areas. Rural population densities are not high enough to support large-scale fixed rail service, but a few Amtrak lines do make stops in rural areas, including two lines jointly financed by the California Department of Transportation and Amtrak. The San Joaquin and Capitol Corridor, primarily funded by the State of California, provide service to Lodi, Davis, and Auburn. Between FY 2001 and FY 2004, ridership on the Capitol Corridor has increased 8.5% overall to 1,165,000 passengers. Amtrak’s California Zephyr provides service to Truckee, Colfax, and Davis.
ADA/Paratransit:
For rural residents who cannot drive due to age or disability, Paratransit (also called Dial-A-Ride, or DAR) service is essential for maintaining mobility. Many local operators offer DAR service, though appointments must be made in advance to schedule a pickup.
- El Dorado Transit offers DAR service seven days a week. The DAR service area covers most of El Dorado County, from El Dorado Hills to Pollock Pines. Each Tuesday and Thursday, El Dorado Transit provides non-emergency medical transportation from El Dorado County to medical facilities in the Greater Sacramento area, excluding west Sacramento.
- Placer County Transit offers DAR six days a week and serves Granite Bay and the Highway 49 corridor in Auburn. In addition, Placer County Transit is currently serving as the Consolidated Transportation Services Agency (CTSA) for Placer County and coordinates the I-Ride and Voucher programs which provide trips for medical appointments, job interviews, court appearances, etc. The Seniors First (Volunteer) Transportation Program provides transportation service to passengers aged 60 and over and transportation disabled persons (regardless of age) who are unable to use public transportation due to some physical or mental disability. The rural service area includes central and northern Placer County. Seniors First also runs Placer County Health Express which offers free or low-fare rides to medical appointments and services Auburn, Lake of the Pines, Foresthill, Colfax and Meadow Vista.
- Yuba-Sutter Transit provides DAR service six days per week in Yuba City, Marysville, Linda, and Olivehurst.
- Yolobus offers rural DAR service on Route 215 with advanced notice.
- South County Transit (SCT) provides DAR service throughout the City of Galt Monday-Saturday for both the elderly/disabled and the general public. SCT also provides Tuesday DAR service from Galt to Southeastern Sacramento County. On Thursday and Friday, medical trips between Galt and Sacramento medical facilities are provided for seniors and persons with disabilities.
As with rural transit service, rural DAR service has a higher per passenger cost than urban DAR service. Even though urban DAR service has a higher operating cost per vehicle service hour ($114 urban compared to $72 rural), because urban DAR services have more passengers, the overall cost per passenger is only $18 compared to $28 in rural DAR service areas.
Emerging Issues and Challenges
Bicycles and Pedestrians
Through research and discussions with agency staff, advocates, and others, SACOG has identified several issues and challenges apparent in creating safe and convenient rural bicycle and pedestrian facilities.
Right-of-Way and Shoulder Width:
Rural roads are not typically used by cyclists in large numbers for commuting or errand purposes. Nevertheless, some bicyclists, and in certain cases, pedestrians, will use rural roads as connections between destinations. At certain times of the year, rural roads can experience a lot of use by recreational cyclists. In some instances groups of cyclists can reach numbers in excess of 10, 20, or even 30 riders. Problems for utility and recreational users arise when bicycle and pedestrian traffic is relegated to narrow or unpaved shoulders along roads with high speed rural traffic and high truck volumes. In particular, when trucks pass at high speeds, the air stream from generated is capable of pulling cyclists into the auto right-of-way. Drainage ditches that are immediately adjacent to narrow roadways can leave cyclists with few options for avoiding oncoming traffic, a problem that is exacerbated by wide trucks.
Shoulder conditions can also present a challenge for bicycles and pedestrians. In an effort to conserve resources, local agencies will often limit re-paving to the part of the right-of-way used by automobiles. This can result in damaged pavement left along the shoulder and frequently causes a lip between the shoulder and roadway that can be dangerous to cyclists. Unpaved, gravel shoulders can be used by pedestrians, but make riding bicycles more difficult, particularly for the narrow wheeled road bicycles used by many recreational riders. Road debris that collects along the right edge of the roadway or that is pulled across a shoulder by traffic leaving gravel farm or access roads poses an additional danger to bicycle tires. Information on roadway maintenance, as it pertains to bicycle and pedestrian access, is discussed in more detail in the Operations and Maintenance topical paper.
Barriers:
Natural and man made features (rivers, creeks, freeways, highways) can impede bicycle and pedestrian travel in both rural and urban environments. Bridges can be expensive and controversial to build; therefore, they are typically spaced far apart at distances more appropriate for automobile traffic. Highway crossings, particularly in less urbanized areas, are often few and far between. Spacing is of particular concern among bicyclists and pedestrians who are only willing (or often able) to travel relatively short distances between destinations. Seasonal barriers such as floods or mudslides affect both vehicular and bicycle/pedestrian traffic, but local agencies are not always equipped to respond to bicycle and pedestrian impeders as quickly as they are to automobile obstructions.
Network Continuity:
Reducing the number of barriers to bicycle and pedestrian movement is a large part of creating network continuity, but it is not the only obstacle. City and county planning departments don’t necessarily coordinate with each other to ensure that trails, paths, and routes connect across jurisdictional boundaries. Even within some city or county boundaries, bicycle and pedestrian routes can end abruptly without sufficient signage, direction or opportunity for the user to reconnect to the route where it continues.
Vehicle Speed and Road Expansion:
As mentioned previously, vehicle speeds can deter bicyclists and pedestrians from using certain facilities. Frequently, attempts to improve driver sight distances by straightening or clearing trees from roadways can increase vehicles speeds. If not coupled with additional measures such as widened shoulders, barriers, signage or striping, these measures can increase the risk and exposure of bicycles and pedestrians. Speeds can also be a problem when rural highways enter rural communities where bicyclists and pedestrians are likely to be present. Without proper queues, drivers may not be aware that they are entering a segment of shared roadway and surprise walkers and cyclists crossing the street.
Safe Routes to Schools:
The safety of children walking and biking to school is a concern in any community. Rural communities often have a different set of challenges and potential solutions than more urbanized communities. The case study on Rural School Accessibility describes this issue in more detail.
Transit
Rising Fuel Prices:
Because rural routes are typically longer (more VMT) than urban routes, rural operators have felt rising fuel prices especially hard. Although rural operating costs are still significantly less than urban operating costs, if fuel prices keep rising, rural operators will have to find a way to reduce VMT or increase the efficiency of their fleet without sacrificing service.
Advance Scheduling:
One of the most challenging aspects of DAR service for users is the requirement of advance scheduling. Medical appointments are usually made well in advance, but DAR reservations are sometimes only made three days to a week beforehand. Since reservations are given on a first come first served basis, users risk not getting a spot on the schedule and not being able to make their appointment. On the other hand, sometimes users have needs that arise suddenly. Although a few DAR services allow same-day reservations (space/time permitting), many require 24-hour advance notice.
Limited Service Boundaries:
A problem more specific to rural areas is limited service boundaries. Many DAR services are expanding their boundaries to accommodate more users, but gaps still exist, especially in the most rural parts of the SACOG region. Although including these areas will probably not generate a lot of new users, providing service to outlying areas is extremely important to the few people who would use DAR service. There are no easy solutions to these problems because expanding the service area or service hours requires additional funding, something that is not easy to come by.
Volunteer DAR:
Volunteer organizations have started to fill in the gaps of transit service by providing their own DAR service using personal vehicles to offer rides to medical and social service appointments. However, certain obstacles must be overcome to make volunteer programs work. Volunteers must undergo training to learn how to safely transport the elderly and persons with disabilities. In addition, liability issues surrounding volunteer driving are a major setback.
Fixed Rail Service:
Unfortunately, rail service, once built, cannot change its course to accommodate new growth. Therefore, rural areas, which do not have a stable population base, are unlikely to receive expanded rail service. The challenge for rural areas then becomes how to best connect rural residents to existing passenger rail.
Coverage vs. Frequency:
One of the biggest challenges faced by transit operators is the friction between frequency and coverage. Because rural routes cover such a vast area, headways, or the time interval between vehicles moving in the same direction on a particular route, are often much longer in rural areas. Rural operators cannot easily increase service area or frequency without first attracting new passengers (to get more funding), but passengers are largely unwilling to switch to transit unless it is convenient. Thus, rural operators are stuck in a “Catch-22.” Although transit operators in all areas feel these pressures, they are especially relevant to rural operators because of the funding disparities discussed below.
“Last Mile”:
A commonly cited transit issue that is even more acute in rural areas is the “last mile” problem. The “last mile” refers to the distance transit riders must travel to reach their final destination. In rural areas, transit stops are more spread out than in urban areas, and reaching a final destination can be more risky for pedestrians and bicyclists walking on high-speed rural roads. Many rural transit providers use “deviated fixed-route” service which allows buses to deviate a certain distance from the usual route to accommodate user needs.
Transit Funding:
Providing sufficient transit service with very limited resources is a challenge for all operators in this region. Over time, the methods of paying for transit operations have changed and the range of funding sources has declined, placing more emphasis on local sources. Increasingly, Congress and the Legislature have restricted the use of federal and state funds for transit operations (with the exception of vehicle preventative maintenance), on the principle that this is a local responsibility. As federal and state funding support for transit operations has declined, transit operators have moved to more volatile funds housed under the Transportation Development Act (TDA). Public works departments that use TDA funds for road maintenance sometimes resist transit expansion that would draw a larger share of the funds to cover increased operating costs. Additionally, requirements set forth in TDA cause operators to have to look very closely at where to target funds set aside for transit, particularly in years when spending decreases and sales tax revenues decline. The dramatic difference in operating costs for rural vs. urban transit services identified in Table 1 creates a number of challenges for rural transit services. Transit operators responsible for deciding how to spend limited resources must prioritize routes with high ridership and relatively good farebox recovery. This makes it difficult to justify sufficient rural service despite the valuable role it plays for individuals without convenient access to important services or automobiles.
Opportunities and Innovations
Bicycles and Pedestrians
Below are some potential opportunities for addressing the region’s rural bicycle and pedestrian challenges. Items were identified by SACOG staff or through feedback from stakeholders. It is important that we gain further feedback on which of these items we should pursue further or if there are other opportunities/innovations not mentioned here.
- Agri-tourism and Recreation: Create routes connecting urban areas to rural destinations (i.e. parks, tourism spots). It may be possible to leverage money from transportation and parks and recreation funding sources.
- Levees: Levees can provide good opportunities for expanding commute and recreational trails. However, it will be important to establish relationships and communication channels with agencies responsible for levee upkeep and maintenance.
- Right-of-Way: In some cases, the right-of-way owned by a local jurisdiction may extend beyond the existing roadbed. However, over time fences from adjacent land owners can extend beyond property lines to impede on the actual right-of-way.
- Rail corridors: Rail corridors are typically flat and straight, making ideal locations for bicycle facilities. Facilities can exist parallel to currently in-use tracks or directly on top of abandoned lines. These opportunities can be expensive and time consuming to purchase right-of-way or secure agreements with rail companies.
- Utility corridors: Utility corridors provide another opportunity to incorporate bicycle facilities into pre-existing right-of-way. Care must be taken to work closely with utility companies and preserve access for routine or emergency maintenance operations.
- Regional, State, and Federal Grants: Tools such as the Accessibility Index (See the Rural School Accessibility case study for more information) can help make rural and small urban jurisdictions more competitive for funding programs. What other opportunities exist to help these communities secure funding? Are there new funding sources available?
- Distance Markers: Providing distance markers at appropriate spacing for bicyclists can be helpful for bicyclists trying to judge progress along a particular route.
- Shoulders: There are many benefits to improving shoulders along rural highways that accrue to motorists as well as bicycles and pedestrians. AASHTO’s A Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and Streets is a useful document in trying to decide on design specifications for road shoulders. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation has adopted a Rural Shoulder Policy to help guide when, where and how shoulder improvements should be implemented on rural highways. Would further investigation into what other states and jurisdictions are doing on rural shoulders be helpful to SACOG member jurisdictions?
- Rural neighborhood road recommendations from Clallam County, Washington Rural Road Design Standards Advisory Committee:
- Make transportation planning subordinate to community planning.
- Abandon the use of the 85th percentile design speed.
- Abandon the use of remote design years.
- Design roads with safe, comfortable multi-modal access as the primary goal, focusing on the needs of the most vulnerable users of the facility (children, pedestrians, and bicyclists) first. (This is the new federal multi-modal transportation policy)
Transit
Fresno County Rural Transit Agency5
Despite Fresno County’s low-density, rural nature, Fresno County Rural Transit Agency (FCRTA) successfully provides transit services to the thirteen incorporated rural cities and many unincorporated areas in Fresno County. With fixed-route services offering inter-city transportation and demand responsive services offering local transportation, the 18 transit subsystems in Fresno County keep rural areas connected. FCRTA uses an extensive information and outreach campaign to attract new riders and is financed by a ½ cent sales tax, 24% of which is designated for transit.
Vehicle Pools6
Small non-profit organizations often have need for service vehicles but are unable to compete with larger non-profits for Section 5310 vehicles. In a vehicle pool, a larger agency applies for a Section 5310 grant, and the small organization pays the 20% matching requirement. Then, the larger agency gives the small agency a well-maintained used vehicle and keeps the new vehicle for itself. Once the new vehicle has reached the end of its grant life, the larger agency signs the title over to the agency that supplied the original matching funds. The net result for the small non-profit agency is that it receives one well-maintained used vehicle and, several years later, a second used vehicle in exchange for its initial 20% match funds. Vehicle Pools have been used to great success by the Council on Aging and Human Services in Colfax, Washington.
School Bus Transit7
In rural areas, after-school transportation is desirable for students who participate in extracurricular activities and need a ride home outside traditional school hours. Coordinated service between the local school district and transit provider can also benefit the general public. Allowing both students and the general public to ride on school buses provides benefits to all users without having to pay for separate services. In Mason County, Washington the Mason County Transportation Authority pays the local school district to allow general public passengers to ride after school buses. The program has been operational for several years without any serious safety incidents.
Selling Bus Seats to Employers8
Rural areas that are experiencing growth can take advantage of new employment centers by having employers buy individual bus seats for employees. Under these arrangements, employers pay transit operators for bus rides that their employees can then take for free. This ensures that workers have reliable transportation to work and provides guaranteed fares for transit providers.
Recreational Opportunities:
Agri-tourism and recreational travel offer opportunities for transit operators to provide new services. Figure 3 (attached) shows transit services currently surrounding agri-tourism destinations throughout the region.
Transit Service Demand Threshold:
When does a transit provider establish new service in a previously un-served or under-served rural area? Or when does the provider increase the frequency of service in small market areas? These difficult questions are often at the center of competing resource issues for the affected transit properties. Transit managers tend to use some combination of analytic measures, rules of thumb, local knowledge of market forces, and political responsiveness to estimate the service level threshold. Rural and small urban areas have growing needs for lifeline and commuter service, but there are many resource challenges to meeting these needs.
A sound analytical method for measuring rural transit service demand thresholds may be a timely innovation. Objective analysis is very useful for project justification, at both the local decision making level and at the regional funding table. Some consultants employ sketch planning models to estimate demand, but with very mixed results. Transit demand analysis needs to fit local data and local conditions. While analytically driven demand estimation techniques should not be considered in isolation of other considerations, they can give policy makers sound guidance as they allocate scarce financial resources.
Building upon the research the Transportation Research Board9, SACOG is investigating the development of a robust analytical framework that fits the unique conditions of our region and its transit markets. Data resources will be surveyed and studied for usefulness and fit. An area that is typical of the smaller, more rural transit markets will be selected for detailed analysis. The analytical framework will be tested in the study area, validated against a similar local transit market, and subjected to rigorous peer review. If deemed accurate and useful by SACOG transit partners, the framework may help establish service threshold standards. Transit service threshold standards will aid transit properties in making good decisions and help make the case for more resources for these critical public services.
Other Ideas:
Stakeholders have expressed ideas to make rural transit more complete. Their ideas are summarized below:
- Coordinate with private non-profit and for-profit organizations to provide transportation to medical appointments, jobs, social engagements, etc.
- Coordinate with other counties to provide inter-regional transportation
- Coordinate tourist services with jobs access
- Allow general public to use DAR services when feasible
- Encourage private vanpools for workers sharing commutes
- Develop a comprehensive list of available transit services from public, private for-profit, and private non-profit agencies and make it readily available to users
- Provide information to local non-profits about grants available for transportation services
- Coordinate multiple partners/agencies in providing transit services
- Rural public service providers are often already in close contact with each other out of necessity. Coordination among agencies may be easier than in urban areas for this reason.
- Bring together staff from:
- Public transportation providers
- Departments of human and social services
- Departments of health and mental health
- Area agencies on aging
- Vocational and developmental disabilities departments
- Departments of employment
- Departments of education
- Local business representatives
- Many different private nonprofit organizations, such as the Red Cross and faith-based organizations
- Coordinated approaches can reduce:
- Operating and administrative salaries
- Capital costs on vehicles and other equipment
- Other operating costs, such as maintenance, and insurance
- Bring together staff from:
- Strategies must focus on improving the acceptability, accessibility, adaptability, affordability, and availability of transportation services
- Days and hours of service
- Service areas
- Different kinds of people and trip purposes served
- Accessibility of vehicles in the fleet for persons with special needs
- Passenger assistance and customer service training for drivers and dispatchers
- Kinds and degree of public information concerning services
- Kinds and amounts of funding available to help pay the costs of specific trips
- Source: Items i-iv are from Successful Coordinated Transportation Services in Rural Communities Transportation Research Record No. 1903, page 54.
- Most alternative modes experience economies of scale: increased demand can lead to improved services. TDM strategies that give automobile owners an incentive to use alternative modes for some of their trips can result in a positive cycle of improved service and further increases in demand for alternatives. (http://www.vtpi.org/tdm/tdm87.htm)
Footnotes
i Includes Class I, II, and III bicycle routes. Excludes Sacramento County
ii http://www.eldoradotransit.com/assets/pdf/scheds/GF%20Map.pdf
iii http://www.eldoradotransit.com/assets/pdf/scheds/PP%20East%20map.pdf
iv http://www.sacregion511.org/rideshare
v Keeping Communities Connected. CalACT.
vi TRB Guidebook for Change and Innovation at Rural and Small Urban Transit Systems. “Vehicle Pool: Sharing Paratransit Vehicles in the Community.” Pp. II-15-16.
vii TRB Guidebook for Change and Innovation at Rural and Small Urban Transit Systems. “School Buses Providing Public Transit Service.” Pp. II-28-30.
viii TRB Guidebook for Change and Innovation at Rural and Small Urban Transit Systems. “Selling Bus Seats to Employers.” Pp. II97-98. http://pubsindex.trb.org/document/view/default.asp?lbid=715822
ix Transportation Research Board, TCRP B-36, “Methods for Forecasting Demand and Quantifying Need for Rural Passenger Transportation”, 2007 [active].
Attachments
Case Studies
Non-Emergency Medical Transport
School Accessibility