Mobility Management as an Evolving Concept
Mobility Management does not have a single definitive all-encompassing definition, but it does have roots in transportation demand management (TDM) and in Federal Transportation Law. Mobility management is being shaped by practical experience of challenges of implementation. Currently, Mobility Manage ment is being used as a transportation strategy for triple bottom line accountability of economy, environment and equity. A common thread in Mobility Management is that it is customer-focused, concerned about meeting individual travel needs by employing a network of mobility service partnerships to cost-effectively provide appropriate service.
In the early 1990's, future-oriented public transit agencies began to consider becoming mobility managers. National research projects were conducted to assess how public transit agencies could evolve into mobility manager roles with new business models. (See TCRP Reports 97, (2003) and 53, (1999) Today, the mobility management paradigm is pluralistic and flexible. Federal initiatives of coordinated planning requirements in SAFETEA-LU, UnitedWeRide.gov, National Center on Senior Transportation, Easter Seals' Project Action, and the National Transit Institute all promote a more robust, diverse, multi-modal, family-of-mobility-services approach to mobility management than what was envisioned two decades ago. See Robert G Stanley's The Roots of Mobility Management (APTA) 2011.
The sources of definitions presented below include: the TDM Encyclopedia (2010), a description of mobility management from the National Transit Institute's Coordinated Mobility class (2010), and a Federal description from UnitedWeRide.gov (2007) and the legal description in current Federal transportation law, Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU). (2005).
In the early 1990's, future-oriented public transit agencies began to consider becoming mobility managers. National research projects were conducted to assess how public transit agencies could evolve into mobility manager roles with new business models. (See TCRP Reports 97, (2003) and 53, (1999) Today, the mobility management paradigm is pluralistic and flexible. Federal initiatives of coordinated planning requirements in SAFETEA-LU, UnitedWeRide.gov, National Center on Senior Transportation, Easter Seals' Project Action, and the National Transit Institute all promote a more robust, diverse, multi-modal, family-of-mobility-services approach to mobility management than what was envisioned two decades ago. See Robert G Stanley's The Roots of Mobility Management (APTA) 2011.
The sources of definitions presented below include: the TDM Encyclopedia (2010), a description of mobility management from the National Transit Institute's Coordinated Mobility class (2010), and a Federal description from UnitedWeRide.gov (2007) and the legal description in current Federal transportation law, Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU). (2005).
See a profile of Mobility Management in Tompkins County, NY, on the APTA website.
Travel (Transportation) Demand Management (TDM)
Transportation Demand Management (TDM, also called Mobility Management) is a general term for strategies that result in more efficient use of transportation resources. The TDM Encyclopedia is a comprehensive source of information about innovative management solutions to transportation problems. It provides detailed information on dozens of demand management strategies, plus general information on TDM planning and evaluation techniques. It is produced by the Victoria Transport Policy Institute to increase understanding and implementation of TDM.
Mobility Management - NTI Coordinated Mobility Class (2010)
Mobility management is a process of managing a coordinated community-wide transportation service network comprised of the operations and infrastructures of multiple trip providers in partnership with each other.
1. A focus on individual travel needs, not on moving the masses. A focus on the entire trip, not just that portion of the trip on one mode or another.
2. Offering a full range of travel options to the single-occupant auto, and, making visible improvements to the effectiveness, efficiency, and quality of services being delivered.
3. Creating strategic partnerships and alliances among multiple providers to build a coordinated community-wide transportation service network of existing and potential trip providers.
4. Emphasize the need to provide mobility services that are easily understood as beneficial and wanted by the general public: "a sellable product."
5. Promoting transit-oriented development, livable cities, and energy efficient sustainable communities in community planning.
6. A focus on innovation, changing usual business practices. Adapting to the revolution in information technologies and wireless Internet communications to provide reliable mobility services.
7. Mobility management includes the federally-required Coordinated Public Transit - Human Service Transportation Planning process, in order to identify transportation needs of individuals with disabilities, older adults, and people with low incomes, provide strategies for meeting those local needs, and prioritize transportation services for funding and implementation.
1. A focus on individual travel needs, not on moving the masses. A focus on the entire trip, not just that portion of the trip on one mode or another.
2. Offering a full range of travel options to the single-occupant auto, and, making visible improvements to the effectiveness, efficiency, and quality of services being delivered.
3. Creating strategic partnerships and alliances among multiple providers to build a coordinated community-wide transportation service network of existing and potential trip providers.
4. Emphasize the need to provide mobility services that are easily understood as beneficial and wanted by the general public: "a sellable product."
5. Promoting transit-oriented development, livable cities, and energy efficient sustainable communities in community planning.
6. A focus on innovation, changing usual business practices. Adapting to the revolution in information technologies and wireless Internet communications to provide reliable mobility services.
7. Mobility management includes the federally-required Coordinated Public Transit - Human Service Transportation Planning process, in order to identify transportation needs of individuals with disabilities, older adults, and people with low incomes, provide strategies for meeting those local needs, and prioritize transportation services for funding and implementation.
Federal (USDOT) Definitions of Mobility Management
UnitedWeRide: Mobility Management (2007)
"Meeting the transportation needs of the community is no easy task, but it can be done if transportation providers, human services and workforce investment agencies, and the community work together to plan and implement services. Mobility management involves these key steps:
n Developing an inventory of available services;
n Identifying customer needs;
n Developing strategies to meet needs;
n Coordinating financial and other resources;
n Improving coordination through transportation brokerage systems;
n Training staff and volunteers;
n Promoting the use of innovative technologies, services, and other methods to improve customer service and coordination; and
n Developing customer information and trip planning systems."
Mobility Management as a FTA Capital Project under SAFTEA-LU (2006)
"Mobility Management Consists of short-range planning and management activities and projects for improving coordination among public transportation providers and other transportation service providers carried out by a recipient or subrecipient through an agreement (See 49 U.S.C. 5302(a)(1)(L)). Mobility Management includes:
(1) The promotion, enhancement, and facilitation of access to transportation services, including the integration and coordination of services for individuals with disabilities, older adults, and low-income individuals;
(2) Support for short term management activities to plan and implement coordinated services;
(3) The support of State and local coordination policy bodies and councils;
(4) The operation of transportation brokerages to coordinate providers, funding agencies and customers;
(5) The provision of coordination services, including employer-oriented Transportation Management Organizations’ and Human Service Organizations’ customer-oriented travel navigator systems and neighborhood travel coordination activities such as coordinating individualized travel training and trip planning activities for customers;
(6) The development and operation of one-stop transportation traveler call centers to coordinate transportation information on all travel modes and to manage eligibility requirements and arrangements for customers among supporting programs; and
(7) Operational planning for the acquisition of intelligent transportation technologies to help plan and operate coordinated systems inclusive of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) mapping, Global Positioning System (GPS) technology, coordinated vehicle scheduling, dispatching and monitoring technologies, as well as technologies to track costs and billing in a coordinated system and single smart customer payment systems."
(8) "Mobility management does not include operating public transportation services."
A mobility management capital project is funded with 80% Federal funds and a 20% local match. If the FTA Section 5307 urban formula program provides the Federal share, then the local match is eligible to be equally split between New York State and local sources. Thus, the Section 5307-funded mobility management formula is 80% Federal, 10% State and 10% Local.