T R A N S I T C O O P E R A T I V E R E S E A R C H P R O G R A M SPONSORED BY The Federal Transit Administration TCRP Synthesis 31 Paratransit Contracting and Service Delivery Methods A Synthesis of Transit Practice Transportation Research Board National Research Council TCRP OVERSIGHT AND TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 1998 PROJECT SELECTION COMMITTEE OFFICERS CHAIRMAN Chairwoman: SHARON D. BANKS, General Manager, AC Transit, Oakland, California MICHAEL S. TOWNES Vice Chair: WAYNE SHACKELFORD, Commissioner, Georgia Department of Transportation Peninsula Transportation District Executive Director: ROBERT E. SKINNER, JR., Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, Commission Washington, D.C. MEMBERS MEMBERS BRIAN J.L. BERRY, Lloyd Viel Berkner Regental Professor, Bruton Center for Development Studies, University SHARON D. BANKS of Texas at Dallas AC Transit SARAH C. CAMPBELL, President, TransManagement Inc., Washington, D.C LEE BARNES E. DEAN CARLSON, Secretary, Kansas Department of Transportation Barwood Inc JOANNE F. CASEY, President, Intermodal Association of North America, Greenbelt, Maryland GERALD L. BLAIR JOHN W. FISHER, Director, ATLSS Engineering Research Center. Lehigh University Indiana County Transit Authority GORMAN GILBERT, Director, Institute for Transportation Research and Education, North Carolina State SHIRLEY A. DELIBERO University New Jersey Transit Corporation DELON HAMPTON, Chairman & CEO, Delon Hampton & Associates, Washington, D.C., ROD J. DIRIDON LESTER A. HOEL, Hamilton Professor, University of Virginia, Department of Civil Engineering (Past Chair, International Institute for Surface 1986) Transportation Policy Study JAMES L. LAMMIE, Director, Parsons Brinckerhoff, Inc., New York SANDRA DRAGGOO THOMAS F. LARWIN, San Diego Metropolitan Transit Development Board CATA BRADLEY L. MALLORY, Secretary of Transportation, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania LOUIS J. GAMBACCINI JEFFREY J. McCAIG, President and CEO, Trimac Corporation, Calgary, Canada SEPTA JOSEPH A. MICKES, Chief Engineer, Missouri Department of Transportation DELON HAMPTON MARSHALL W. MOORE, Director, North Dakota Department of Transportation Delon Hampton & Associates ANDREA RINIKER, Executive Director, Port of Tacoma, Washington KATHARINE HUNTER-ZAWORSKI JOHN M. SAMUELS, Vice President-Operations Planning & Budget, Norfolk Southern Corporation, Virginia Transportation Research Institute LES STERMAN, Executive Director of East-West Gateway Coordinating Council. St. Louis, Missouri ALAN F. KIEPPER JAMES W. VAN LOBEN SELS, Director, California Department of Transportation (Past Chair, 1996) Parsons Brinckerhoff Quade & MARTIN WACHS, Director, University of California Transportation Center, University of California, Berkeley Douglas DAVID L. WINSTEAD, Secretary, Maryland Department of Transportation PAUL LARROUSSE DAVID N. WORMLEY, Dean of Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, (Past Chair, 1997) Madison Metro Transit System ROBERT G. LINGWOOD EX OFFICIO MEMBERS BC Transit GORDON J. LINTON MIKE ACOTT, President. National Asphalt Pavement Association, Lanham, Maryland FTA JOE N. BALLARD, Chief of Engineers and Commander, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Washington, D.C. DON S. MONROE ANDREW H. CARD, JR., President & CEO, American Automobile Manufacturers Association, Washington, D.C. Pierce Transit KELLEY S. COYNER, Acting Administrator, Research & Special Programs Administration, U.S. Department of PATRICIA "Tish" S. NETTLESHIP Transportation, Washington, D.C. The Nettleship Group, Inc MORTTMER L. DOWNEY, Deputy Secretary, Office of the Secretary, U.S. Department of Transportation, ROBERT E. PAASWELL Washington, D.C. The City College of New York FRANCIS B. FRANCOIS, Executive Director, American Association of State Highway and Transportation JAMES P. REICHERT Officials, Washington, D.C Reichert Management Services DAVID GARDINER, Assistant Administrator, Office of Policy, Planning, and Evaluation, U.S. Environmental LAWRENCE G. REUTER Protection Agency, Washington, D.C. New York City Transit Authority JANE F. GARVEY, Adminitrator, Federal Aviation Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation, PAUL TOLIVER Washington, D.C. King County Department of JOHN E. GRAYKOWSKI, Acting Administrator, Maritime Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation, Transportation/Metro Washington, D.C. LINDA WATSON ROBERT A. KNISELY, Deputy Director, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, U.S. Department of Corpus Christi RTA Transportation, Washington, D.C. EDWARD WYTKIND GORDON J. LINTON, Administrator, Federal Transit Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation, AFL-CIO Washington, D.C. RICARDO MARTINEZ, Administrator, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Washington, D.C. WALTER B. McCORMICK, President and CEO, American Trucking Associations, Inc, Alexandria, Virginia EX OFFICIO MEMBERS WILLIAM W. MILLAR, President, American Public Transit Association, Washington, D.C. WILLIAM W. MILLAR JOLENE M. MOLITORIS, Administrator, Federal Railroad Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation, APTA Washington, D.C. RODNEY E. SLATER KAREN BORLAUG PHILLIPS, Senior Vice President, Policy, Legislation, and Economics, Association of FHWA American Railroads, Washington, D.C. FRANCIS B. FRANCOIS GEORGE D. WARRINGTON, Acting President and CEO, National Railroad Passenger Corporation, AASHTO Washington. D.C. ROBERT E. SKINNER, JR. KENNETH R. WYKLE, Administrator, Federal Highway Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation, TRB Washington, D.C. TRANSIT COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM TDC EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Transportation Research Board Executive Committee Subcommittee for TCRP FRANK J. CIHAK APTA SHARON D. BANKS, AC Transit (Chairwoman) DENNIS J. FITZGERALD, Capital District Transportation Authority LESTER A. HOEL, University of Virginia SECRETARY GORDON J. LINTON, US Department of Transportation ROBERT J. REILLY ROBERT E. SKINNER, JR., Transportation Research Board TRB JAMES W. VAN LOBEN SELS, California Department of Transportation T R A N S I T C O O P E R A T I V E R E S E A R C H P R O G R A M Synthesis of Transit Practice 31 Paratransit Contracting and Service Delivery Methods ROSALYN M. SIMON, Ph.D. Elkridge, Maryland TOPIC PANEL GARY DELORME, Federal Transit Administration DAVID M. FROST, VIA Metropolitan Transit L.G. FULLER, Transpo Enterprises, Inc. MARY JO MORANDINI, Beaver County Transit Authority STEVE NEW, BC Transit VICTOR OBESO, King County Metro BEVERLY A. SCOTT, Rhode Island Public Transit Authority PETER L. SHAW, Transportation Research Board DEANNA THIELMAN, Eagle Transit EDWARD WISNIEWSKI, Broward County Transit CHRIS ZEILINGER, Community Transportation Association of America Transportation Research Board National Research Council Research Sponsored by the Federal Transit Administration in Cooperation with the Transit Development Corporation NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS Washington, D.C. 1998 TRANSIT COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM TCRP SYNTHESIS 31 Project J-7, Topic SG-06 The nation's growth and the need to meet mobility, ISSN 1073-4880 environmental, and energy objectives place demands on public ISBN 0-309-06122-9 transit systems. Current systems, some of which are old and in need of upgrading, must expand service area, increase service frequency, © 1998 Transportation Research Board and improve efficiency to serve these demands. Research is necessary to solve operating problems, to adapt appropriate new Price $16.00 technologies from other industries, and to introduce innovations into the transit industry. The Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) serves as one of the principal means by which the transit industry can develop innovative near-term solutions to meet demands NOTICE placed on it. The need for TCRP was originally identified in TRB Special The project that is the subject of this report was a part of the Transit Report 213--Research for Public Transit: New Directions, published Cooperative Research Program conducted by the Transportation in 1987 and based on a study sponsored by the Federal Transit Research Board with the approval of the Governing Board of the Administration (FTA). A report by the American Public Transit National Research Council. Such approval reflects the Governing Association (APTA), Transportation 2000, also recognized the need Board's judgment that the project concerned is appropriate with for local, problem-solving research. TCRP, modeled after the respect to both the purposes and resources of the National Research longstanding and successful National Cooperative Highway Research Council. Program, undertakes research and other technical activities in The members of the technical advisory panel selected to response to the needs of transit service providers. The scope of vice monitor this project and to review this report were chosen for configuration, equipment, facilities, operations, human resources, recognized scholarly competence and with due consideration for the maintenance, policy, and administrative practices balance of disciplines appropriate to the project. The opinions and TCRP was established under FTA sponsorship in July 1992. conclusions expressed or implied are those of the research agency Proposed by the U S Department of Transportation, TCRP was that performed the research, and while they have been accepted as authorized as part of the Intermodal Surface Transportation appropriate by the technical panel, they are not necessarily those of Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA). On May 13, 1992, a memorandum the Transportation Research Board, the Transit Development