California Transit Association

During the Association’s 2016 strategic planning process, various Executive Committee members expressed the desire to explore formation of a task force to study and respond to the proliferation of new models of transportation provision, including ride-hailing, ride-sharing, and, transportation network companies (TNCs). At its meeting of March 2017 the Executive Committee formally approved creation of the Emerging Mobility Task Force.

The Executive Committee adopted the following general objectives for the task force:

• Provide a forum for Association members to discuss the role of TNCs and other models, such as ride-hailing and car- or ridesharing, in California and their impact on and relationship to the role of public transit agencies.
• Investigate and report on any recommend legislative or regulatory changes, at the state and federal levels, necessary to improve or enhance the relationship.
• Investigate and report on any recommend best practices, hazards, or other lessons learned from transit agencies exploring and implementing service or other agreements with TNCs or other related models of service provision.

In 2018, the Emerging Mobility Task Force is focused on two primary responsibilities: external policy and regulatory issues affecting Association members, and, peer-to-peer educational opportunities designed to help our members better understand the emerging mobility landscape.

Policy & Regulatory Matters

The Emerging Mobility Task Force proposes to monitor and respond to the following:

• Participate in and respond to the CPUC’s rulemaking on TNCs.
• Participate in implementation of recent legislation – e.g., AB 1069 (Low): local taxi cab regulation; SB 182 (Bradford): transportation network company: participating drivers: single business license.
• Analyze and make recommendations to the State Legislative Committee relative to the Association’s position on new legislation.
• Consider recommending the Association advocate for legislation and/ or regulations that compel data sharing (and possibly other beneficial elements to “level the playing field”).

Industry Educational Opportunities

In order to enhance the ability of member agencies in responding to the impact of emerging mobility options on public transit and the communities we serve, the Task Force proposes to:

• Gather (and disseminate widely) quantitative data and anecdotes about transit agency pilot projects & ongoing partnerships – document “lessons learned,” including what worked, and, the pitfalls.
• Develop (and disseminate widely) suggested “guiding principles” or “rules of engagement” suggesting best ways to partner with emerging mobility providers – i.e., for transit agencies looking to initiate pilot programs and better integrate emerging mobility models into public transit operations.
  • Including, develop (and disseminate widely) model contract agreement language and/ or NDAs.
    • Including data sharing provisions.
    • Including disabled access provisions.
  • And, consider developing a program to provide technical assistance to agencies choosing to implement our guiding principles and/ or contract or NDA language.
• Compile (and disseminate widely) a list of resources, such as:
  • Shared-Use Mobility Center
  • UC ITS
  • NACTO
  • Smart Cities Collaborative
  • Transportation 4 America
  • APTA
  • Volpe Center
  • California City Transportation Initiative
• Keep discussing the impacts of – and work to develop appropriate responses to – emerging mobility models on public transit, transit labor relations, traffic in our communities, transit operational issues (i.e. use of bus stops; accessibility; data sharing), and, public safety.