APTA Mobility Recovery & Restoration Task Force
Background
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the global economy, our transportation infrastructure systems, and changed life as we know it. National transit ridership and revenue from sales tax and fares - primary funding sources for transit agencies in this country – have declined to historic levels.
While the public transportation industry has been addressing the transformational changes that are driven by new technologies, changing demographics, and evolving customer choices and preferences, the COVID-19 pandemic is a new type of disruption that presents new kinds of challenges for public transportation. A momentous paradigm shift is underway: entire workforces have been moved to home offices and kitchen tables; videoconferencing has replaced in-person meetings and conferences; millions of people are learning to live, work, play, and connect to what they need and want without mobility; and transit users nationwide are likely to remain fearful of public transportation when “Safe at Home” orders are lifted.
It has been said that from crisis comes opportunity. The transportation industry must create such an opportunity – to recover, reposition, reinvent, and reboot for a different future. The global health crisis forces us to examine the business of transportation and how a new economic, social, and personal safety environment will impact mobility.
APTA’s Mobility Recovery & Restoration Task Force
As we work to overcome the pandemic’s challenges today and plan for a successful future tomorrow, APTA Chair Nuria I. Fernandez, General Manager / CEO of the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, established the APTA Mobility Recovery & Restoration Task Force.
She defined the dual mission of the group as:
- Developing a path forward for public transportation’s core functions and financial stability; and
- Exploring new methods, tools, and approaches to reinventing our industry’s essential role in a post-pandemic mobility world.
The end product will be a set of recommendations that cover a wide range of issues critical to public transit’s ongoing success including customer-focused operations, energy use, resiliency and efficiency, safety, public confidence, and societal needs.
Structure:
Phillip A. Washington, CEO of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro) and former APTA Chair, will serve as Task Force Chair.
Task Force Co-Chairs are Joanna Pinkerton, President/CEO of Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA) and Paul Wiedefeld, General Manager/CEO of Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA).
Members of the Task Force will include the chairs of the following APTA Committees:
- Transit CEO Coordinating Council
- Access Committee
- Bus & Paratransit CEOs Committee
- Business Member Board of Governors
- Commuter Rail CEOs Committee
- Diversity and Inclusion Council
- Legislative Committee
- Marketing & Communications Committee
- Mobility Management Committee Rail Transit CEOs Committee
- Procurement & Materials Management Committee
- Safety Coordinating Council
- Small Operations Committee
- Transit Board Members Committee
- Workforce Development Committee
- New York MTA Representative
All APTA members will have an opportunity to provide input throughout the process.
Timeline:
The Task Force will convene on May 1, 2020 and meet virtually at regular intervals over a four-month period. Final conclusions and recommendations will be completed by September 1, 2020 and presented to the APTA Board.
Issues To Be Addressed:
The Task Force will examine a range of issues that have emerged from responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and its anticipated long-term impact on mobility in America. These include:
- Energy-savings, environmental and safety benefits, and less congestion / lost travel time / higher productivity resulting from more telecommuting and less vehicle use
- New solutions to childcare needs of employees who work from home
- Telemedicine as a substitute for some transit trips to health care facilities and doctors
- Virtual Board & Committee meetings
- Quick-strike bus & rail service scheduling based on on-street realities
- Recovery, re-establishment, redesign, and (in places) reduction of bus and rail services that address community priorities and provide greater equity
- Quick ramp up, expansion, and adaptation of alternative mobility options; i.e., Mobility on Demand and Micro Transit protocols
- New operating policies and practices, such as rear door boarding
- Better protection / hygiene practices for frontline transit employees and passengers
- Improved ways to manage homelessness
The Process:
1. Define the COVID-19 Challenge by:
- Differentiating fact from opinion
- Specifying underlying causes
- Soliciting information / input from APTA Committees
- Defining the challenge in specific, measurable terms
- Identifying the appropriate processes
- Gather data; i.e., agency challenges and solutions, etc.
2. Generate Alternative Solutions / Best Practices by:
- Including all Task Force members in the generating of alternatives
- Specifying short- and long-term ideas/options
- Brainstorming others’ ideas
- Seeking other alternatives that may be relevant to the reinvention or recovery of transit
3. Evaluate and Select a Final Set of Options / Ideas by Evaluating and Articulating:
- All options, thoroughly and without bias, relative to the traditional transit standard
- Options / ideas relative to goals of the “New Normal”
- Both proven and possible outcomes
- Final selected options clearly and explicitly
4. Implement with frequent APTA follow up on our solutions/options by:
- Planning and implementing pilot transit agency tests of the various chosen options
- Gathering feedback from all affected agencies
- Seeking acceptance or consensus by all those agencies affected
- Establishing ongoing measures and monitoring
- Evaluating long-term results based on the “New Normal”
