U.S. Department of Transportation’s Mobility on Demand Initiative

TRB's E-Circular 231: U.S. Department of Transportation’s Mobility on Demand Initiative summarizes the sessions and discussions of a workshop held on January 7, 2018 co-hosted by TRB and the U.S. Department of Transportation. The concept of Mobility on Demand (MOD) includes the ability for transportation providers to manage mobility rather than traffic through demand-responsive service, shifting use to alternate modes. MOD provides consumers with the ability to reserve, dispatch, or use services like ride-hailing, public transit, or shared services in place of privately owned vehicles.

This report summarizes the workshop that included 150 participants from public-sector organizations, private companies, nonprofit research groups, and educational institutions. The workshop explored interrelated nature of big data, equity, accessibility, economic impacts, and planning for MOD; ways to enhance public transit industry preparedness for MOD; ways to advance the dialogue between public organizations and private companies; an exploration of early lessons learned with three of the MOD Sandbox sites; and a discussion of current research and policy in light of rapidly evolving technology and service disruption.