Paratransit Funding: Is there a Silver Bullet?

• Are there new technologies that will allow greater efficiency in providing paratransit service?
• How will districts fund needed expansion of fixed-route service to meet the increasing demand?
• Are there new incentives or service improvements that will bring paratransit riders to fixed-route service?
• What role can and will our state and federal governments play in funding transportation services to seniors and people with disabilities?
• If transit agencies are asked to take on the responsibility for coordinating services and becoming, in the new vernacular, “mobility managers” where are the resources that will adequately support that effort?
• How do we avoid the rivalry between fixed-route and paratransit vying for resources when accessibility is about having strong elements of both along with other associated services?

Terry Parker is Lane Transit District’saccessible services manager.