SPECIALIZED TRANSPORTATION SERVICES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: A CASE STUDY IN PUBLIC-PRIVATE COOPERATION

This study details and evaluates specialized transportation services for disabled students and staff at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. This service is a joint venture between the University of Michigan, a public nonprofit institution, and the Yellow Cab Company of Ann Arbor, a private for-profit company. The university owns subsidized lift-equipped buses, and, to save cost, it hires the taxi company to provide, for a fixed fee, all operators, dispatching, and scheduling. In addition, the taxi company provides extra service via regular taxi. The service has been operating for 2 years. During this period ridership has increased by 33 percent, and costs have increased by only 10 percent, which has resulted in a 17 percent decline in cost per person trip without a decline in quality of service. This is explained for the most part by a dramatic increase in use of regular taxi service by temporarily disabled people. A detailed analysis is provided of ridership, cost, and performance measures of the service. Included is analysis of objective measures as well as evaluations by the users obtained through surveys taken before and after initiation of the service. These surveys also provide data on travel behavior of the disabled and estimations of demand for the service.