Demand responsive transit and the integration of D/R systems with traditional transit

This paper provides a background of the development of demand-responsive transit in small communities in the U.S.A. It also backgrounds traditional transit in metropolitan areas of the United States and outlines its deficiencies in terms of today's urban sprawl and in terms of today's society in metropolitan areas. Urban sprawl has developed city-like areas around big cities, but with lower population densities. Highways and roads were built. Cars were mass-produced. These new populations have never had an alternative to the private car. Today's society includes an ever-increasing number of senior citizens and handicapped persons. Senior citizens find it difficult to get to fixed-route bus stops; handicapped persons have difficulty in boarding regular buses and wheelchair persons cannot even get on board. Particular emphasis is placed upon the examination of the development of demand-responsive transit in metropolitan Rochester, U.S.A. and a Demonstration Project, sponsored by the Urban Mass Transportation Administration of the United States Department of Transportation. The paper also examines and makes reference to the results of integrated transit in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. The Demonstration Project has several key objectives, the principal one of which is the integration of demand-responsive transit with the fixed-route element of traditional transit. Other important objectives of the demonstration are the balancing of peak and off-peak service so as to improve the overall utilization of resources, increase transit coverage, regular (not special) service for the elderly and the handicapped, the utilization of a computer in dispatching, digital communications, and marketing and promotional techniques.