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Defining Our Role in the New Mobility Paradigm
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BY MICHAEL P. MELANIPHY
APTA President & CEO
 The history of public transportation is the story of connectedness—to jobs, family, friends, opportunities and a better way of life.
Riders’ dreams and destinations may have changed since the days of horse-drawn trolleys, but our mission remains steadfast: connecting people to what they need, what they want and what they aspire to become.Connectedness is also public transportation’s future, but in ways we never imagined. | Evolving customer demands caused by demographic shifts, the emergence of new technologies and an abundance of travel options are changing the way people think about getting from point A to point B. To be sure, a new mobility paradigm is inevitable. What it will look like and who will shape it are not.
APTA’s Integrated Mobility Principles
This is why APTA established a cross-committee working group to examine how pivotal trends are disrupting traditional notions about transportation. Through this effort, APTA’s Board of Directors adopted a 12-point policy statement titled “Principles on Integrated Mobility and Transformative Technologies” in October 2015. The principles emphasize themes that are central to our industry’s future: inclusion, collaboration, coordination, cross-industry dialogue, expanded customer service and innovation.
One principle—promoting integration and coordination—has particular relevance to all we do. It underscores public transit’s need to function as the hub of a multi-spoked wheel, integrating a wide variety of public and private mobility services and modeling collaborative behaviors.
Leading by Example
APTA members are already putting this principle into practice—and thinking more like technology companies.
Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) is enhancing its first mile/last mile connectivity by partnering with on-demand ride firms and the world’s largest car-sharing network. Users of DART’s GoPass mobile ticketing app can access trip options, purchase transit passes and connect to Uber, Lyft and Zipcar services to create their own total journey experience.
Transit systems in Minneapolis and Boise have partnered with bike-sharing businesses, empowering riders to plan and purchase an integrated trip with mobile ticketing.
TriMet in Portland has partnered with Google to provide customers with real-time transit information from Google’s Bluetooth low-energy beacons across the area’s MAX light rail line stations.
Santa Clara’s VTA is rethinking every phase of a rider’s experience, resulting in an improved open-source trip planner that uses real-time data and incorporates multiple modes and services. The agency has also experimented with on-demand services using a subscription-based flexible model.
APTA’s 2015 Annual Meeting in San Francisco helped advance the dialogue about a new mobility landscape. Sessions included complementary panels on “Creating a GREAT Rider Experience” and “Integrated Mobility/Transformative Technology: Internal Use within Organizations” and a major presentation titled “Integrated Mobility/Transformative Technology: Positioning Public Transportation in a World of Game-Changing Innovation” featuring speakers from Uber, Google and FTA.
Right now at the city and state levels, APTA is playing an important role in the multimodal decision-making process. In metropolitan areas across the country, we are providing guidance to transportation providers on new ways to offer the public safe, reliable and affordable access to health care, education, employment and other opportunities. Under a cooperative agreement with FTA, APTA also has partnered with the National Center for Mobility Management, Easter Seals and the Community Transportation Association of America to promote more shared mobility options by coordinating transportation, health care and other essential services.
Moving forward, APTA’s Integrated Mobility/Transformative Technology Cross-Committee Working Group will continue to develop content for our members, invite other stakeholders to participate in the conversation, build new partnerships, sponsor research and provide support to transit agencies that are using APTA’s policy framework to define the future.
Total Customer Journey
Today, organizations, both for-profit and nonprofit, are using Big Data to connect with their customers and supporters. Public transit agencies are in the enviable position of possessing high-value information about the who, what, where and when of its riders. This can create an array of opportunities for our industry when the information is shared strategically and within the boundaries of privacy and ethics policy.
This is where APTA’s leadership and influence are crucial. Public transit systems must make it their goal not only to improve the existing customer journey, but to expand it, adding useful steps or features. By engaging customers at every stage of their trip and becoming the central point for planning and purchasing, we increase the value of each rider’s journey. And when the value of a rider’s experience increases, the relationship between public transportation providers and users becomes stronger, more appealing and preferential. That’s the power of connectedness.
Our Unique Role and Duty
APTA and the industry we represent are doing more than predicting the brave, new world of integrated, collaborative mobility; we are defining it, delivering it and making it work for users and service providers—those that exist today and those still to be imagined.
We are the only stakeholders with a legal, ethical and fiduciary responsibility to provide affordable, safe, efficient, reliable and accessible services to all. Our public orientation makes us an experienced and effective honest broker among competing interests … an experienced partner with broad expertise … and a collaborator in both the private and public sectors. All of this makes our industry uniquely suited to be the leading catalyst for integrated mobility.
At the same time, public transportation must continue to foster a culture that values innovative partnerships, experimentation and a focus on delivering a total journey experience.
Interdependence is the essential element for our future success. Our ability to connect people and collaborate with diverse organizations is our competitive advantage. With our bold leadership, integrated mobility will be public transportation’s greatest legacy.
“Commentary” features points of view from various sources to enhance readers’ broad awareness of themes that affect public transportation.
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