Exploration of Equity in Transportation Service by Providing Dial-a-Ride System for Vulnerable Group

Abstract

This study is to explore the equal opportunity for vulnerable group to enjoy the same transportation services as general public do by provision of dial-a-ride system. Unlike the general definition the vulnerable group in this study is defined a group of people who can’t enjoy same right to access public transit service as general public do. The very reason to initiate dial-a-ride system for the vulnerable group is to address the needs to provide separate service for them and raise awareness of importance to build Dial-a-ride at local, regional and nationwide levels. The utmost importance of the study is to enhance the awareness of elected officials and transportation planners on the equity in transportation services. Dial-a-ride system has been developed maturely in some European countries and the USA. Dial-a-ride is a type of transportation service in paratransit system for ride-sharing purpose as well as for the disable group who can neither access to car nor public transit. This system mainly depends on the mini bus with neither a fixed line nor fixed time schedule. Dial-a-ride system itself can be more flexible so that it can meet special transportation demands as compared to general public transit. In general this system can be the complement of public transit. At the very beginning DAR system is used for the general groups. However DAR is also designed for providing transportation service for vulnerable groups such as aged and disable people. The system consists of reservation, specialized vehicle delivery, professional care and other relative services. With the development of civilized society, we should pay more attention to the vulnerable group when we try to allocate social resources equally. Vulnerable group is in this study defined a group of people who can’t enjoy same right to access public transit service as general public do. According to this, the purpose of establishing a dial-a-ride system for vulnerable groups is to make vulnerable groups enjoy the same transportation service as other commuters. The motivation behind conducting this study is to address the needs to provide transportation service system for vulnerable group and raise awareness of importance to build DART at local, regional and nationwide levels. Although the vulnerable groups in Beijing are quite large, dial-a-ride services have not been established, yet. From observation it is found that the existing public transit can’t come up with good services for the disable people. With regard to this situation the objective of this paper attempts to explore the build-up of dial-a-ride service for disable people from the following five aspects. First thing is budget. Dial-a-ride belongs to welfare type of thing for the public. Therefore, this system should enjoy receiving financial aid from all levels of governments as subsidy. Second thing is to work out system planning for dial-a-ride from transportation point of view. Regional as well as local centers should be set up to plan, design and manage dial-a-ride services for the city of Beijing because Beijing itself has more than 1 million disable people. The third thing is to conduct comprehensive training for operators. Since the service receivers are disable people it is necessary to provide technical and management training for the drivers and staff workers. The fourth thing is to set policy to make this system work. The last thing is the publicity of dial-a-ride service. Actually, publicity is the guarantee of the former four steps. It is our responsibility to make the vulnerable group enjoy the convenient services provided by civilized society. Apart from that the group can be treated equally in their choice of travel means. It is believed that dial-a-ride will become a part of our urban public transit systems and function as a demand-response system for fulfilling the travel desire of vulnerable group.