Fail-Safe Methods for Paratransit Safety

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to illustrate that a systems approach to transit safety can be used to develop a methodology to fail-safe or mistake-proof paratransit operations. The fail-safe methodology illustrated in this article was implemented in a small rural transit system in the southeast U.S. Results demonstrated that safety problems often stem from an interaction of service errors and system components. Results also revealed that fail-safe methods that target specific user groups are more effective than more general methods.