United States Department of Transportation
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Applying Gap Modeling to Inform Improvement of Transportation Services for Vulnerable Populations at the Local and Regional Levels
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2021-02-01
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[PDF-15.76 MB]
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Edition:Final Report, March 2019 – February 2021
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Abstract:One of Florida Department of Transportation’s goals is to provide equitable transportation for vulnerable populations such as older adults, people with disabilities, and low-income families. The Find-a-Ride Florida (findarideflorida.org) is a platform that provides transportation service information for these populations. Yet, gaps still exist in transportation services for vulnerable populations. In previous research, University of Florida has developed a geospatial model that can be used to identify such gaps. The purpose of this research was to apply and evaluate the gaps model, with input from agencies at the local and regional scales, to understand its ability and effectiveness to inform and support policy and decision making for improvement of transportation options of vulnerable populations. To accomplish these objectives, the research team gathered insights from experts by conducting a series of meetings with selected local and regional transportation planning agencies. The findings show that the model can be useful to support funding application process and transportation planning at the local and regional level regarding transportation needs of vulnerable populations. The model would benefit from using more accurate service boundaries and more accurate travel demand estimation based on income levels and travel behavior of older adults, adjusting estimation of individuals with disabilities by considering eligibility for services based on type of disability, and by differentiating destinations based on frequency of use and target users. Based on experts’ input, the research team makes the following recommendations. First, more research is required to improve travel demand estimation of vulnerable populations. Second, the model can benefit from including service fees into the accessibility score calculation. Third, an interactive web-based system would be the most effective method to visualize and share the location of transportation service gaps with the relevant stakeholders. Fourth, develop a formalized process to engage agencies to utilize the gap maps in their planning process to ensure a consistent method statewide.
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