How Transportation Network Companies Could Improve Paratransit Services

"As the MBTA looks to cut costs and improve service, a state official [recently] said the T could save as much as $47 million a year on The Ride program by raising fares, reducing service and forging partnerships with the taxi industry and companies like Uber and Lyft," reports Colin A. Young.

The pitch for a shift toward TNCs comes as the cost of paratransit services offered by The Ride are expected to jump from the current level of $97 million to $108 million by 2017. According to Young, Michael Lambert, MassDOT's deputy administrator for transit, recently presented several options for addressing those costs to the MBTA's Fiscal and Management Control Board. Options under consideration include "raising fares to the maximum allowed by the Americans with Disabilities Act, limiting The Ride service to only the area it must cover under the ADA, and reducing some of The Ride’s overhead costs by partnering with taxis or other transportation companies."

The MBTA is already exploring options for integration with ride-hailing services. According to Young, "the T [earlier this month] a pilot program that allows customers who use The Ride to hail a subsidized ride with a handicapped accessible taxi.