The goals of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA), the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, and the APTA Transportation 2000 report call for an intermodal approach to mobility problems and needs. Local transportation agencies are encouraged to become flexible mobility managers, not just providers of traditional fixed-route services. The term transportation agencies includes both transit operating agencies and agencies that have responsibility only for managing public transportation services.

The objectives of this research were to: (1) assess if, how, and why some transportation agencies have been able to successfully become mobility managers, (2) transfer that knowledge to the rest of the industry, and (3) identify means to advance beyond the current state of the practice.

TCRP Report 21 presents the results of the research project and is an important primer for transportation agencies interested in better understanding and becoming mobility managers. Effective mobility management requires viewing the passenger transportation system as a whole. Specifically, mobility management means brokering, facilitating, encouraging, coordinating, and managing both nontraditional and traditional services to expand the array of transportation services to diverse consumer groups. Making the transition from a traditional transit operating agency to one with mobility management responsibilities is not easy, however, because institutional barriers, both internal and external to transit agencies, can impede success.

TCRP Report 21 is available also in portable document format (PDF). (A free copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader is available at https://www.adobe.com.) Double-click on the links below to access the report.

TCRP Report 21 Part A

TCRP Report 21 Part B