Private Transit: Existing Services and Emerging Directions (2018)

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45 Conclusions For public agencies looking to engage most constructively with operators of private transit services, existing practice and regulatory approaches suggest the following strategies: • Work together with private transit providers to create regulations that work for everyone. Several jurisdictions have been successful in taking a cooperative approach to regulation, bringing both public and private players to the table to develop regulatory approach, and helping work toward providing a level of compliance and information sharing that is benefi- cial for all stakeholders. Jurisdictions and organizations around the Bay Area are the furthest along in this regard, with the Shuttle Census (MTC/Bay Area Council), SFMTA’s Commuter Shuttle Pilot Program, and pending microtransit regulations. • Allocate street space to reflect public priorities without stifling private-sector innovation. Develop policy tools like BART’s curb-use decision tree to prioritize public and private goals for access to curb space and rights-of-way (see Section 3), weighing such factors as the level of demand for space, whether proposed private uses supplement or compete with public transit services, and the size and restrictions on ridership of private services. Akin to zoning codes or other land-use regulations, such policies could help clarify and make predictable for all stakeholders what transportation uses are permitted in which locations and do so with a clear public rationale and process. • Update local and state licensing of private transportation services to reflect evolving busi- ness practices and emerging models, for better understanding the size and extent of the private transportation market as it exists today. Most jurisdictions have no way to know how many and what types of private vehicles are working the streets or whether, for instance, large private buses are serving commuters, sightseers, or charter passengers, each of which would have different impacts on the public right-of-way. The SFMTA shuttle and microtransit regu- latory processes can serve as models for managing evolving private transit services. • Use private transit services as an “early warning” to indicate how and where service needs and markets are changing. The presence of private transit services in a corridor can suggest where new or more frequent public transit routes are needed. New residential or commercial development may be creating a need for express routes or connections that didn’t previously exist or could not have been supported. The private market can respond to these signals more quickly and establish the presence of a potential transit market. In areas that are able to sup- port it, however, expanded public transit service is the best long-term solution due to the transparency, service continuity, and civil rights safeguards built into public provision. • Anticipate that conflict may be heightened by reconfiguration of public space, such as geo- metrical changes to the street and the creation of transit-only lanes. Include private tran- sit providers in project planning, and open lines of communication with private providers known to be operating in a corridor before changes start to take place. S E C T I O N 6 Conclusions and Areas for Further Research

46 Private Transit: Existing Services and Emerging Directions • Explore the use of consortium-based services for locations that need group transport but would be unable to support a productive public transit route. For suburban or low-density workplaces that have a critical mass of employees who don’t drive—particularly in sectors that employ many shift workers, such as hospitals, manufacturers, or warehouse and fulfillment operations—but that couldn’t support a public transit route, consortium-based services provide a variety of potential solutions that often build on existing high-capacity transit. • Promote efficiencies in the use of sponsored services by such means as offering priority to private services that support public goals of equity and efficiency, such as being open to more than just sponsored riders and making an effort to avoid deadhead miles by making service available to the general public whenever possible. • Incorporate private operations into emergency planning and response. Private transit services have been enlisted to provide transportation services when public transit was over- whelmed in the wake of several natural disasters, including in Miami after Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and in New Jersey after Hurricanes Irene (2011) and Sandy (2012) (see discussion of flexible route-based services or jitneys, in Section 2). • Ensure that private transit services are a key part of MaaS developments. The adoption of MaaS principles—which center on expanding and integrating the entire range of non-SOV urban mobility options—has the potential to transform cities and transit agencies. MaaS focuses on moving people easily and efficiently by using an ecosystem of services and removing the institutional silos that can hinder movement between modes and providers. Areas for Further Research This study has identified several areas where further research is warranted to continue expanding knowledge about private transit and related services. Several of these depend on greater availability of operational data from private transportation providers. Such areas include the following: • A more comprehensive investigation of the scale and operational characteristics of employer- and property-sponsored shuttles in a variety of urban settings. • Continued study of microtransit as it spreads to more cities and operating environments, including in service partnerships with public agencies. • A greater understanding of the impacts of TNC-based services, both shared- and exclusive- ride, with particular attention to their effects on VMT, traffic congestion, and related safety impacts. • Ongoing study of the outcomes of various regulatory approaches for private transit services, including statutory, administrative, and cooperative approaches and those originating in different parts of the policymaking apparatus. • Exploration of the equity implications of various private transit service types and partnership formats.