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Pages 152-166

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From page 152...
... and smartphone apps have not only enhanced existing transportation services but also made possible innovative services that epitomize the new sharing economy. These services include carsharing; bikesharing; microtransit services; and, most notably, transportation network companies (TNCs)
From page 153...
... than today's most popular innovative mobility options. Many of the new technology-enabled mobility services are widely welcomed additions to travelers' slate of transportation options and -- with some exceptions, such as insurance for many services, especially transportation network companies (TNCs)
From page 154...
... car- and bikesharing programs implemented to date suggests that they reduce personal vehicle travel, emissions, and vehicle ownership. Although travel by innovative mobility services currently represents a small share of total trips, the effects of these programs on driving and a continued rapid expan1 Multiple actors are responsible for establishing policies and regulations for taxis, limousines, TNCs, and other mobility services because of the different jurisdictions (state, county, city)
From page 155...
... To the extent that shared mobility services are available to disadvantaged populations, they have the potential to enhance mobility among these groups. The emerging services frequently cost less than taxi services, and impose lower upfront costs (for vehicles)
From page 156...
... Public safety is a central and to date not fully resolved public policy concern with the new shared mobility services. Regulation has traditionally been employed to rectify market failures, such as a lack of information about the safety of vehicles and drivers
From page 157...
... Public safety, however, remains a central regulatory concern. Appropriately, public entities at the municipal, regional, and state levels are implementing public safety regulations for TNCs and other shared mobility services, including regulations addressing helmet wearing among bikesharing users.
From page 158...
... Further, some aspects of regulation, such as labor standards and background checks, may lend
From page 159...
... By affecting the cost, convenience, and flexibility of travel, technologyenabled mobility services may significantly alter travel behavior and potentially even land use patterns, particularly if these services continue to proliferate. Two major potential effects are particularly critical.
From page 160...
... Enhancing sustainable mobility may come in part through fewer trips, shorter trips, and more shared-ride trips, which may lead in turn to reduced congestion, energy consumption, and emissions. Crafting public policies that influence the development of innovative mobility services to advance societal goals is thus in the public interest.
From page 161...
... Examples of these requirements include driver background checks, vehicle inspections, and automobile liability insurance coverage. While the transparency enabled by new technologies can reduce the need for service quality–focused regulations, it may not reduce the need for these critical public safety requirements.
From page 162...
... Whatever the locus of regulatory responsibility may be, it is difficult to make sense of the highly varied approaches to basic safety regulations applied to drivers and vehicles across various jurisdictions. Results of the systematic evaluations suggested in recommendation 1D could be used to set state-established safety parameters to guide the promulgation of local or regional regulations; create uniform statewide standards; or possibly establish cost-effective and consistent national-level driver and vehicle safety protocols and standards, including insurance requirements, based on best practices defined by research.
From page 163...
... Policy makers, planners, and regulators should identify the information needed to set policies on, plan for, and regulate mobility services, and require this information from all regulated entities. Among the many innovations by mobility service providers is widespread use of automated reporting systems and digital databases to measure and improve service.
From page 164...
... Research Needs Research is needed in several areas to help realize the promise of the new mobility services and enable effective implementation of the committee's recommendations to that end: • Given the rapid proliferation of the new shared mobility services and the limited information on their scale and effects, research is needed to develop a richer understanding of their effects on (1)  travel choices and behaviors, (2)
From page 165...
... • There is a need to develop a consistent set of definitions and basic information requirements that regulatory entities can adopt to describe and evaluate both shared mobility services and estab­ lished taxi and limousine services. The USDOT could fund an independent organization or panel to address this need for betterquality, comparable information, with input from stakeholders and drawing on best practices already in place.
From page 166...
... Concluding Observations Innovative urban mobility services will continue to evolve, and the research and public policy communities will need to react quickly and in partnership. Use of these and yet-to-be-developed technologyenabled services is likely to continue transforming both passenger and freight travel, and the many stakeholders will need to cooperate to ensure that the outcomes of these developments are in the public interest.


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