Washington, DC.With innovations in public transportation and new service providers, reliance on motorcar ownership is no longer the but mode to be mobile.  Nearly fourscore percent (77 per centum) of commuters see public transit equally the courage of a lifestyle that includes current and future technologies such equally ride-hailing (i.e. Uber and Lyft), wheel/car-share, democratic vehicles (AVs), scooters and other time to come emerging innovations, according a new report by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA).

"Commuters are enervating multiple mobility options, and they instinctively know it is simple arithmetic; public transit provides the best pick to transport the most people in the smallest infinite," said APTA President and CEO Paul P. Skoutelas.  "America's public transit systems are poised to serve as regional mobility managers.  This means they are best equipped to organize a multi-modal network of transportation options consumers can use."

The study,The Transformation of the American Driver​, is based on the results of a qualitative focus group and a quantitative nationwide survey with a strong focus on millennials.  The enquiry was conducted by Anazalone Liszt Grove for APTA.  The study also includes additional data past the National Academy of Sciences and other data sources.

"Customers expect to exist in command of their mobility choices, so it is up to us to bear witness our relevance. Being easy to employ and accessible via smartphones is key," said Gary Thomas, President/Executive Managing director of the Dallas Area Rapid Transit.  "Recent updates to our GoPass™ mobile ticketing app deliver enhanced travel planning tools and a 'greenbacks-to-mobile' choice to help united states accomplish the unbanked market, and fare-capping, which makes transit fifty-fifty more affordable. Combining innovations in client-facing advice with flexible services makes us attractive to new partners like Apple, VISA, Ford, and Toyota."

Many public transit agencies are centralizing the office of the mobility manager through a transit app, and other private entities are focusing on this surface area.  APTA'due south survey showed that 74 percent of millennials would use a Mobility as a Service (MaaS) app allowing for the coordination and payment of different types of transportation."Technology is disrupting the transportation industry, and people are embracing new modes of transportation to commute," said Tina Quigley, general manager of the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada. "As a public transit authority, we need to exist flexible and able to better collect and analyze our customer data to integrate new technologies – such as democratic vehicles, bike share, and ride hailing – into a comprehensive transportation ecosystem to help ensure that public transit remains a feasible, accessible and desirable mode of commuting. For example, our rideRTC app allows people to program their trip, purchase their pass and discover their bus on their smartphone. Now, app customers can also plan and volume an Uber or Lyft ride in connectedness with their RTC transit trip, all on rideRTC."

APTA's report shows some hesitancy from commuters about self-driving vehicles, with only 21 percent of millennial respondents maxim that they would adopt a self-driving taxi to a traditional one.  However, that effigy increases to 46 percent when respondents were told that AVs have the potential to reduce costs past ninety percent.

Public transit agencies are, and should exist, first adopters of AV technologies – from Automated Driver Assist Systems to fully autonomous vehicles, according to APTA officials.  They annotation AV shuttles at present beingness deployed can connect people to high capacity transit and serve mobility deserts – places that are non served by traditional transit.  AVs can as well expand mobility for those who are not able to drive.

"The upheaval in our manufacture has an upside: it has forced LA Metro to call up hard about the all-time fashion to improve regional mobility," said Joshua Schank, Ph.D., Master Innovation Officer, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Dominance.  "For instance, our microtransit project will allow Metro customers to use cellphones to order, monitor and pay for rides in vehicles smaller than our buses.  The service won't be tied to a fixed road or schedule and will initially be deployed in smaller zones.  Nosotros see microtransit equally a bully mode to go around in areas where traditional jitney service isn't working for most people."

Authors of the study note this multi-transit lifestyle is accommodated by transit-oriented development.   Current research shows that most millennials tend to prefer walkable communities and short commutes. In fact, APTA'due south study noted that 88 percentage of millennial respondents said the length of their commute was important to them.

"SouthWest Transit, a suburban transit provider in the Twin Cities, has been operating a pioneering shared ride microtransit service for over iii years," said Matt Fyten, Director of Planning for SouthWest Transit in Eden Prairie, MN.  "The service, SouthWest Prime, has been highly successful with over a 400 percent increment in ridership since its first year in functioning.  Compared to traditional punch-a-ride services, SW Prime number has proven to be the most efficient demand response service in the Twin Cities region serving over 400 riders a day while using only one dispatcher/reservationist to manage the entire system."

The report explains that the use of AV engineering science by public transit agencies may help ensure the greatest access to mobility to low-income, older adults and persons with disabilities.  In improver, without guidance from local transit agencies, those persons with limited access to fiscal institutions or smartphones are also at risk of not benefiting from these new technologies.

"It is essential nosotros transform our thinking of how we provide local transportation services to ensure integration across markets, modes, and providers," said Skoutelas.  "It is important to go along to simplify the user'due south access, and piece of work to keep trip and service costs equitable for customers.  Most importantly, it is critical we grow this new mobility network to safeguard our industry's mission to serve people from all walks of life while enhancing a region'due south transportation and community goals."

To read the total study become to www.apta.com/transformation​​.

The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) is a nonprofit international association of 1,500 public and individual sector organization which correspond a $68 billion industry that direct employs 420,000 people and supports millions of private sector jobs. APTA members are engaged in the areas of omnibus, paratransit, low-cal rail, driver runway, subways, waterborne services, and intercity and high-speed passenger track. This includes: transit systems; planning, design, construction, and finance firms; product and service providers; academic institutions; transit associations and state departments of transportation. APTA is the just association in North America that represents all modes of public transportation. APTA members serve the public interest past providing safe, efficient and economic transit services and products.​​​
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