•Transportation Management Association
A Successful Public/Private Transportation Solution

•Scott Zadakis CrossTown Connect Director

•Doug Halley Town of Acton Transportation Coordinator

•A presentation for the 2016 Independent Living Conference

•Wednesday, September 14, 2016

•Best Western Royal Plaza Hotel

•Marlborough, Massachusetts

•An award-winning, membership based Transportation Management Association.

•The first regional Community Compact with the Baker/Polito administration.

•A public-private partnership between communities and businesses aimed at improving mobility and transportation options, increasing economic development opportunities and reducing traffic congestion and air pollution in the region.

•Partner communities include: Acton, Boxborough, Littleton,

Maynard and Westford with participation from the towns of

Concord and Stow.

•Businesses partners include: IBM, Red Hat, Juniper Networks,

The Guiterrez Co., Saracen Properties (Mill and Main), Potpourri Group,

Associated Environmental Systems and West Acton Villageworks.

•Members

•Provide a variety of mobility options to better link communities together and connect people to where they need to go

•Address first mile, last mile, and reverse commuting issues

•Work to reduce traffic congestion and air pollution

•Create the access necessary for optimum economic development opportunities in the Route 2/I-495 technology corridor

•Promote green initiatives to help meet environmental goals of employers and communities

•“Daily needs” trips such as shopping or medical appointments

•Traditional commuting from the service area into the immediate Boston area

•Suburb to suburb commuting between area communities

•Reverse commuting from the immediate Boston area to this service area

•2009: group of committed local transportation advocates participated in the Massachusetts Institute for Transportation Coordination

•This group worked tirelessly toward a vision of a more connected and accessible region

•2012: the Governor’s Office funded a collaboration of Acton, Boxborough, Littleton, Maynard, Stow, and Clock Tower Place through the Community Innovation Challenge Grant

•Goal: To regionalize transportation services and establish a formal structure for future collaboration

•CrossTown Connect was the result of this collaboration

•The public-private partnership between communities and businesses leverages both private and public resources to gain maximum benefits

•In addition to corporate commuter services, CrossTown Connect (CTC) facilitates community transportation options in Acton, Boxborough, Littleton and Maynard:

•Centralized dispatch services for Council on Aging (COA) and other community van services

•Sharing of vehicles between towns and Regional Transit Authorities (RTAs)

•Identification of needs and implementation of new and expanded services

•One of the most unique characteristics of CTC is our Central Dispatch Call Center

•The Center was established to further the goal of regional coordination

•By dispatching centrally, data can be gathered on a regional level

  • Patterns and unmet needs can be better tracked and understood
  • CTC handles reporting and sends to service providers and funding agencies

•Municipal partners opt-in

•Program provides a full day (8:00AM-4PM) of dispatching services for community-based services including Council on Aging vans (currently Acton, Boxborough, Littleton, and Maynard)

  • Frees up COA staff time to dedicate to programs and other services

•In addition, the center dispatches for other Acton services:

  • The Road Runner for seniors and persons with disabilities (LRTA vehicle)
  • The MinuteVan Dial-a-ride on-demand service to the general public including children 12-18 w/ permission

•In July, CrossTown Connect implemented a vehicle sharing program whereby communities that utilize the Central Dispatch Call Center share vehicles between those communities in a more integrated and efficient system

•This is increasing efficiency and decreasing redundancies/duplicated trips by combining rides

  • Previously it was not uncommon for vehicles from two or more vehicles from different towns to make the same trip at the same time (e.g. Emerson Hospital)

•By coordinating all vehicles in participating communities, the Call Center has been essential to making possible this further regionalization across traditional jurisdictional boundaries

•Challenge: Member communities straddle two Regional Transit Authorities (RTA’s) which provide COA vehicles to the towns

•Made possible by a groundbreaking agreement signed between the Lowell Regional Transit Authority (LRTA), the Montachusett Regional Transit Authority (MART) and CrossTown Connect

  • With the help of MassDOT, CTC convened a number of discussions with the two RTAs to:
  • Establish that there were no regulatory barriers to this type of arrangement;
  • Obtain agreement from RTAs to pilot the program
  • Agree upon reporting requirements

•Goals include:

  • Making better use of the passenger capacity of our vehicles by combining similar rides while maintaining a half-hour maximum on-board time for local trips
  • Increasing ridership through greater scheduling flexibility and decreased unused vehicle time
  • Maintaining high service standards to ensure the safety and accommodation of our riders

•Considerations for Vehicle Sharing:

–Combining individual town policies, pricing, and service areas into a unified whole

  • Open dialogue and workshop meetings between stakeholders was essential (Town Gov’t, COAs, Dispatch, RTAs, MassDOT)
  • Updated policies and implemented the new procedures that are required from an operational standpoint
  • A single fare of $1.00 was implemented across the participating towns

–Continued focus on individual needs and vulnerable populations; care was taken to ensure that changes are not disruptions for our riders

–Adapting technology and software to coincide with structural changes – existing software had to be modified to unify the separate towns into an integrated “system”

–Data gathering and analysis is important moving forward to determine program effectiveness and identify additional opportunities for improvement

•Personalized service is important

–Dispatchers are very good at getting to know individual users, accommodating them and knowing when something is not quite right and follow-up might be necessary

  • On the community level, apprehension about the personal touch was a concern when implementing the Central Dispatch Call Center
  • Ultimately, the CTC has shown that with the right dispatchers and good communication between the Call Center, the COA and Drivers and staff, the level of service remains high
  • With the success of the Call Center, there was much less apprehension about vehicle sharing
  • Ridership has increased meaning more people served
  • With extended dispatch hours, service is increased and customer access is improved
  • Medical trips are prioritized
  • Schedules transmitted via on-board tablets allow for flexibility and the ability for same-day scheduling of trips

–Cancellations can be back-filled with new reservations

–Dispatchers are focused on staying up do date on best practices

  • attend conferences and travel trainings

•Regional Transit Options page on

–Inventory of regional services

–Our services are also listed on Ryde Match, a growing state resource started by GATRA (Greater Attleboro Taunton Regional Transit Authority)

•CTC strives to accommodate those with limited English proficiency (LEP)

–Google Translate on

–Translated brochures have been produced in several languages

–CTC has a translator to schedule trips for the Chinese population

Questions? Contact:

Scott Zadakis

Executive Director

CrossTown Connect

978-929-6457

For more information: