User-side subsidies for shared-ride taxis in Kinston, North Carolina. Final report

Technical Report · Wed Oct 01 04:00:00 EDT 1980

OSTI ID:6431438

The Kinston User-Side Subsidy Demonstration began operation in September, 1977. This was one of four simultaneous demonstrations of the user-side subsidy concepts conducted under the UMTA Service and Methods Demonstration Program, and involved the provision of reduced-fare conventional taxi service to the elderly and handicapped with the primary objective of increasing their mobility. Eligible individuals who registered with the subsidy program were able to purchase tickets for regular taxi rides within Kinston for one-half of their face value (i.e., a 50% subsidy). After tickets were used by registrants to pay for rides, taxi operators redeemed them for full face value. This report summarizes the findings of the independent evaluation of the Kinston project. In Kinston, user-side subsidies were found to be administratively feasible and were utilized almost exclusively by the most mobility-disadvantaged segments of the eligible population. These individuals, who typically had low incomes and/or few travel alternatives, used the project to increase their frequency of total tripmaking by 3 to 4%, and to make some trips by taxi that otherwise would have been made by a less-preferred mode (e.g., walking). The resulting changes in taxi-use frequency caused some changes in the supply of taxi service, though these were concentrated among firms that carried a large proportion of elderly and handicapped riders prior to the demonstration. Overall, the Kinston project provides evidence that user-side subsidies can be a viable and practical technique for facilitating the mobility of the elderly and handicapped.

• Research Organization: Charles River Associates, Inc., Boston, MA (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6431438
• Report Number(s): UMTA-NC-06-0002-80-1
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
290200 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Economics & Sociology
291000 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Conservation
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
320203* -- Energy Conservation
Consumption
& Utilization-- Transportation-- Land & Roadway
AGE GROUPS
AUTOMOBILES
CHARGES
DEMONSTRATION PROGRAMS
ELDERLY PEOPLE
EVALUATION
FINANCIAL INCENTIVES
HANDICAPPED PEOPLE
HUMAN POPULATIONS
MINORITY GROUPS
NORTH AMERICA
NORTH CAROLINA
POPULATIONS
PRODUCTIVITY
SOUTHEAST REGION
SUBSIDIES
TAXICABS
TRANSPORT
TRANSPORTATION SECTOR
USA
VEHICLES