MTC Asset Newsletter Winter 2006

Research at UM-St. Louis

Scheduled appointments to move through locks and dams?

Traffic on the Upper Mississippi River-Illinois Waterway carries bulk commodities vital to the U.S. economy. When the traffic gets delayed, the economic impact can be significant.

Researchers at the Center for Transportation Studies used a simulation model and analyzed U.S. Army Corps of Engineers OMNI data from the Upper Mississippi River. They concluded that at current traffic levels, implementing new traffic management policies such as appointment/scheduling/re-sequencing systems would not be recommended.

The economic benefits would be too small relative to the potentially large disruptions they would create in existing markets. However, if traffic levels were to dramatically increase, implementing new traffic management policies could yield significant economic benefits, potentially outweighing the cost of disruptions in existing markets.

Taxis and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

Research on the taxi industry revealed the potential to substantially reduce the cost of ADA mandated service of public transit companies. Taxi firms can provide on-demand wheel chair accessible service at fares typically 60 percent of dial-a-ride trips and provide the users significantly more flexibility in their trips.