Author Description

The increase in the population of older adults who are ambulatory but are eligible to use paratransit has increased the demand for paratransit service delivery. This growth has, in turn, led some transit agencies to move away from standard one-vehicle type fleets in favor of a mixed fleet incorporating smaller accessible vehicles and non-accessible vehicles (generally sedans). TCRP Synthesis 174: Paratransit Fleet Configurations, from TRB's Transit Cooperative Research Program, focuses on the different ways that transit agencies have configured their dedicated paratransit fleets. The first wave of fleet configuration changes has provided some expected benefits of lower operating costs and greater service delivery flexibility due to incorporating smaller vehicles into the fleet mix. These changes have also brought forward a set of service delivery issues, including increased costs, maintenace concerns, and complications in the reassignment of riders.