TRANSIT COOPERATIVE RESEARCH TCRP PROGRAM REPORT 75 Sponsored by the Federal Transit Administration The Role of the Private-for-Hire Vehicle Industry in Public Transit TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL TCRP OVERSIGHT AND PROJECT TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 2002 (Membership current as of January 2002) SELECTION COMMITTEE OFFICERS CHAIR LINDA S. WATSON Chair: John M. Samuels, Senior VP-Operations Planning & Support, Norfolk Southern Corporation, Corpus Christi RTA Norfolk, VA Vice Chair: E. Dean Carlson, Secretary of Transportation, Kansas DOT MEMBERS Executive Director: Robert E. Skinner, Jr., Transportation Research Board DANNY ALVAREZ Miami-Dade Transit Agency MEMBERS KAREN ANTION Karen Antion Consulting WILLIAM D. ANKNER, Director, Rhode Island DOT GORDON AOYAGI THOMAS F. BARRY, JR., Secretary of Transportation, Florida DOT Montgomery County Government JACK E. BUFFINGTON, Associate Director and Research Professor, Mack-Blackwell National Rural JEAN PAUL BAILLY Transportation Study Center, University of Arkansas Union Internationale des Transports Publics SARAH C. CAMPBELL, President, TransManagement, Inc., Washington, DC J. BARRY BARKER JOANNE F. CASEY, President, Intermodal Association of North America Transit Authority of River City JAMES C. CODELL III, Secretary, Kentucky Transportation Cabinet LEE BARNES JOHN L. CRAIG, Director, Nebraska Department of Roads Barwood, Inc. ROBERT A. FROSCH, Sr. Research Fellow, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University RONALD L. BARNES GORMAN GILBERT, Director, Oklahoma Transportation Center, Oklahoma State University Central Ohio Transit Authority GENEVIEVE GIULIANO, Professor, School of Policy, Planning, and Development, USC, Los Angeles GERALD L. BLAIR LESTER A. HOEL, L. A. Lacy Distinguished Professor, Depart. of Civil Engineering, University of Virginia Indiana County Transit Authority H. THOMAS KORNEGAY, Exec. Dir., Port of Houston Authority ANDREW BONDS, JR. BRADLEY L. MALLORY, Secretary of Transportation, Pennsylvania DOT Parsons Transportation Group, Inc. MICHAEL D. MEYER, Professor, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of JENNIFER L. DORN Technology FTA JEFF P. MORALES, Director of Transportation, California DOT CONSTANCE GARBER JEFFREY R. MORELAND, Exec. VP-Law and Chief of Staff, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp., York County Community Action Corp. Fort Worth, TX FRED M. GILLIAM JOHN P. POORMAN, Staff Director, Capital District Transportation Committee, Albany, NY Chance Coach, Inc. CATHERINE L. ROSS, Executive Director, Georgia Regional Transportation Agency SHARON GREENE WAYNE SHACKELFORD, Senior VP, Gresham Smith & Partners, Alpharetta, GA Sharon Greene & Associates PAUL P. SKOUTELAS, CEO, Port Authority of Allegheny County, Pittsburgh, PA KATHERINE M. HUNTER-ZAWORSKI MICHAEL S. TOWNES, Exec. Dir., Transportation District Commission of Hampton Roads, Hampton, VA Oregon State University MARTIN WACHS, Director, Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California at Berkeley ROBERT H. IRWIN MICHAEL W. WICKHAM, Chairman and CEO, Roadway Express, Inc., Akron, OH British Columbia Transit JAMES A. WILDING, President and CEO, Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority JOYCE HOBSON JOHNSON M. GORDON WOLMAN, Prof. of Geography and Environmental Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University North Carolina A&T State University CELIA G. KUPERSMITH EX OFFICIO MEMBERS Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and MIKE ACOTT, President, National Asphalt Pavement Association Transportation District BRUCE J. CARLTON, Acting Deputy Administrator, Maritime Administration, U.S.DOT PAUL J. LARROUSSE JOSEPH M. CLAPP, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrator, U.S.DOT National Transit Institute SUSAN M. COUGHLIN, Director and COO, The American Trucking Associations Foundation, Inc. DAVID A. LEE JENNIFER L. DORN, Federal Transit Administrator, U.S.DOT Connecticut Transit ELLEN G. ENGLEMAN, Research and Special Programs Administrator, U.S.DOT STEPHANIE L. PINSON ROBERT B. FLOWERS (Lt. Gen., U.S. Army), Chief of Engineers and Commander, U.S. Army Corps of Gilbert Tweed Associates, Inc. Engineers ROBERT H. PRINCE, JR. HAROLD K. FORSEN, Foreign Secretary, National Academy of Engineering Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority JANE F. GARVEY, Federal Aviation Administrator, U.S.DOT RICHARD J. SIMONETTA THOMAS J. GROSS, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Transportation Technologies, U.S. DOE PB Consult EDWARD R. HAMBERGER, President and CEO, Association of American Railroads PAUL P. SKOUTELAS JOHN C. HORSLEY, Exec. Dir., American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials Port Authority of Allegheny County MICHAEL P. JACKSON, Deputy Secretary of Transportation, U.S.DOT PAUL A. TOLIVER JAMES M. LOY (Adm., U.S. Coast Guard), Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard King County Metro WILLIAM W. MILLAR, President, American Public Transportation Association AMY YORK MARGO T. OGE, Director, Office of Transportation and Air Quality, U.S. EPA Amalgamated Transit Union MARY E. PETERS, Federal Highway Administrator, U.S.DOT VALENTIN J. RIVA, President and CEO, American Concrete Pavement Association EX OFFICIO MEMBERS JEFFREY W. RUNGE, National Highway Traffic Safety Administrator, U.S.DOT WILLIAM W. MILLAR JON A. RUTTER, Federal Railroad Administrator, U.S.DOT APTA ASHISH K. SEN, Director, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, U.S.DOT MARY E. PETERS ROBERT A. VENEZIA, Earth Sciences Applications Specialist, National Aeronautics and Space Administration FHWA JOHN C. HORSLEY TRANSIT COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM AASHTO ROBERT E. SKINNER, JR. Transportation Research Board Executive Committee Subcommittee for TCRP TRB JOHN M. SAMUELS, Norfolk Southern Corporation, Norfolk, VA (Chair) E. DEAN CARLSON, Kansas DOT TDC EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR JENNIFER L. DORN, Federal Transit Administration, U.S.DOT LOUIS SANDERS LESTER A. HOEL, University of Virginia APTA WILLIAM W. MILLAR, American Public Transportation Association ROBERT E. SKINNER, JR., Transportation Research Board SECRETARY PAUL P. SKOUTELAS, Port Authority of Allegheny County, Pittsburgh, PA ROBERT J. REILLY MICHAEL S. TOWNES, Transportation District Commission of Hampton Roads, Hampton, VA TRB MARTIN WACHS, Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California at Berkeley TRANSIT COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM TCRP REPORT 75 The Role of the Private-for-Hire Vehicle Industry in Public Transit GORMAN GILBERT Oklahoma State University Stillwater, OK THOMAS J. COOK ANNA NALEVANKO Institute for Transportation Research and Education (ITRE) North Carolina State University Raleigh, NC and LYNN EVERETT-LEE Multisystems, Inc. Dallas, TX SUBJECT AREAS Public Transit Research Sponsored by the Federal Transit Administration in Cooperation with the Transit Development Corporation TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD — NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS WASHINGTON, D.C. — 2002 TRANSIT COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM TCRP REPORT 75 The nation’s growth and the need to meet mobility, Project B-16 FY’98 environmental, and energy objectives place demands on public ISSN 1073-4872 transit systems. Current systems, some of which are old and in need ISBN 0-309-06722-7 of upgrading, must expand service area, increase service frequency, Library of Congress Control Number 2002101470 and improve efficiency to serve these demands. Research is necessary to solve operating problems, to adapt appropriate new © 2002 Transportation Research Board technologies from other industries, and to introduce innovations into Price $17.00 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 placed on it. The need for TCRP was originally identified in TRB Special Report 213—Research for Public Transit: New Directions, published in 1987 and based on a study sponsored by the Urban Mass Transportation Administration—now the Federal Transit Admin- istration (FTA). A report by the American Public Transportation NOTICE Association (APTA), Transportation 2000, also recognized the need The project that is the subject of this report was a part of the Transit Cooperative for local, problem-solving research. TCRP, modeled after the Research Program conducted by the Transportation Research Board with the longstanding and successful National Cooperative Highway approval of the Governing Board of the National Research Council. Such Research Program, undertakes research and other technical activities approval reflects the Governing Board’s judgment that the project concerned is in response to the needs of transit service providers. The scope of appropriate with respect to both the purposes and resources of the National TCRP includes a variety of transit research fields including plan- Research Council. ning, service configuration, equipment, facilities, operations, human The members of the technical advisory panel selected to monitor this project and resources, maintenance, policy, and administrative practices. to review this report were chosen for recognized scholarly competence and with TCRP was established under FTA sponsorship in July 1992. due consideration for the balance of disciplines appropriate to the project. The Proposed by the U.S. Department of Transportation, TCRP was opinions and conclusions expressed or implied are those of the research agency authorized as part of the Intermodal Surface Transportation that performed the research, and while they have been accepted as appropriate