Guide

company in different cases. Contracting out keeps the public entity “at arms length” from the
private operator, hopefully combining the advantages of both public and private sector
involvement. One problem with this approach is that the private operator may have to
amortize the capital costs for vehicles and other assets over a contract period of, say, 3-5
years, since funding may be uncertain after the contract expires unless there is a robust
second-hand market for used vehicles. One way to address this problem is for the public
entity to lease the vehicles and other assets to the private company. Leasing may sometimes
have advantages for non-profit agencies as well, as described in Section 10.
• Associations of private operators:
Metered taxi companies and informal operators of small
vehicles may form associations of various kinds to have a unified voice in dealing with the
public sector, to bid on contracts, to enforce a minimum or improved level of performance, to
seek external funding, to plan services with the public sector, to provide a pool of vehicles for
operators to lease, or to provide a shared maintenance or garaging area. In some cases,
these advantages may be offset by the association being taken over by leadership which is
not responsible, or is unlawful in its dealings with the public sector. The issue of association
building requires study and work to enhance the potential advantages.
• Coordination and mobility management:
The public sector can be a “mobility manager” for a
city or region by identifying paratransit providers, potential markets, and gaps in service; and
by providing technical expertise and exchanging ideas, or by promoting shared assets such
as vehicles, maintenance, training, or fueling facilities. This far-sighted approach is of special
importance in order to start up or scale up paratransit services for mobility-impaired persons.
• Demand management:
This approach is often seen as fostering sustainable cities by
promoting staggered work hours, regulating development to make it easier to use public
transportation, or providing better real-time information to the public about all transport
modes. In the world of paratransit services, demand management could also encourage
social service agencies to stagger their hours to even out the “peak hours” for paratransit
services. If agency A serves its clients from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and agency B serves its clients
from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., their paratransit needs might be met with fewer vehicles and drivers,
which may mean a lower cost per trip or the ability to make more trips, to the advantage of all
concerned. More on this in Section 10 and Section 11, and the case study from France.
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other not-for-profit agencies operate paratransit
services incorporating various service models. They are often the main providers of
paratransit services in many regions. See Section 10 for more information.
This discussion of paratransit service models is based on materials prepared by Richard
Schultze. For a more in-depth discussion, we encourage you to go to www.globalridesf.org/paratransit/supplement/servicemodels.html
for his expanded section on this topic.
1.4 Connecting with public bus and rail transportation: “intermodality” as a
supplement to other service models
In many countries and cities, there is an encouraging trend toward providing bus and rail
services which are more accessible to persons with disabilities, women, visitors, children, and
other passengers who may find themselves mobility-impaired when trying to use public
transportation. For example, most of the largest cities in Latin America are building or
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