Project Title:
Developing An Evaluation Procedure of Regional Human Services Transportation

Project Objective:
The objective of this project is to develop a procedure to measure the efficiency and effectiveness of demand responsive transportation service for non-emergency medical need at regional level in North Carolina. Until now there have been only three pilot programs of regional transportation for out-of-county non-emergency medical service implemented in North Carolina. NCDOT is currently planning to add three additional regional services so that the entire state will be covered. The performance improvement of the transportation services of these programs has been evaluated based on cost saving on transportation. However, no standard comprehensive evaluation method on performance of programs has been established. In particular their ability to meet user needs.

Project Abstract:
A demand responsive transportation service has been available throughout the nation for decades. In many medium urban and metropolitan areas, a recent urban sprawling requires this service in extended areas beyond traditional urban centers and surrounding suburb areas. As residential areas spread throughout a county to near county lines, some local transportation authorities find cooperation with an adjacent county’s transportation authority that may improve its efficiency in providing transportation service to those residents. 

In addition, an aging population requires more medical care than before, so as need for transportation to clinics or hospitals. With an advance in medical technology, a few hospitals in a region will provide some specialized medical care. As a result, a growing number of patients need a transportation service across county lines to receive health care at a regional hospital or specialized clinic.

Technology Transfer Activities:
The evaluation procedure can be applied to any regional transportation services, given data availability.  It may be used to evaluate a performance of alternative service plans or expansion of services.  It can be used to identify sources of failure and success on operation in the previous pilot plans, which will help developing a regional service in other regions in North Carolina. When other regions set up their own regional transportation systems, the evaluation procedure can be applied to evaluate a performance improvement on the plan and to identify factors to improve its performance before a plan is implemented.  Papers and a web-site listing of the report will help disseminate this information.

Potential Benefits of the Project:
The expected results of this study will be:

1. Identify performance measures and develop a single performance index to evaluate a performance of a regional non-emergency medical transportation system.

2. Develop an evaluation procedure that includes identification of data and service characteristics, statistical method and interpretation of performance index.

3. Evaluate an existing and a planned regional non-emergency medical transportation services for the Piedmont Triad area and throughout the state.  There will also be an established procedure for similar services around the state.