What is Mobility Management
Mobility Management is an innovative approach for managing and delivering coordinated transportation services to customers, including older adults, people with disabilities, and individuals with lower incomes. Changes in demographics, shifts in land use patterns, and the creation of new and different job markets require new approaches for providing transportation services, particularly for customers with special needs. Mobility management focuses on meeting individual customer needs through a wide range of transportation options and service providers. It also focuses on coordinating these services and providers in order to achieve a more efficient transportation service delivery system for public policy makers and taxpayers who underwrite the cost of service delivery.
Mobility managers serve as policy coordinators, operations service brokers, and customer travel navigators. As policy coordinators, mobility managers help communities develop coordination plans, programs, and policies, and build local partnerships.
As brokers, we coordinate transportation services among all customer groups, service providers, and funding agencies. As travel navigators, we work with human service agencies and/or workforce centers that coordinate the travel and trip planning needs of individuals who receive human service program assistance.
Mobility Managers can also help seniors and persons with disabilities gain more independence by assisting them in becoming fixed route bus riders. We familiarize you with how the system works, from bus routes to bus fare, and most importantly, how the system can work for your specific needs.
Meeting the transportation needs of the community is no easy task, but it can be done if transportation providers, human services and workforce investment agencies, and the community work together to plan and implement services. Mobility management involves these key steps:
- Developing an inventory of available services;
- Identifying customer needs;
- Developing strategies to meet needs;
- Coordinating financial and other resources;
- Improving coordination through transportation brokerage systems;
- Training staff and volunteers;
- Promoting the use of innovative technologies, services, and other methods to improve customer service and coordination; and
- Developing customer information and trip planning systems.
How does the mobility management approach differ from traditional transit services?
In several ways…
- Mobility management disaggregates service planning and markets in order to better serve individuals and the community. Traditional transit service planning aggregates demand on centralized, highly traveled routes of a transit system.
- Mobility management focuses on service diversity and a “family of transportation services” to reach a wide range of customers versus traditional transit systems that are built on the principle of unified regional service coverage. A “family of transportation services” is a wide range of travel options, services, and modes that are matched to community demographics and needs.
- Mobility management uses multiple transportation providers to offer the most efficient and effective service to all individuals. Traditional transit agencies typically use a single operator to deliver all services.
- Mobility management underscores the importance of service advocacy as a way to improve public transportation management and delivery. A mobility manager acts as a travel agent/service coordinator to seek the most effective means for meeting an individual’s transportation needs. Transit agencies generally focus on the direct provision of services.
How can I use this resource?
Very simple, just make a call…
The PVVTA mobility management team is ready and able to connect you with the best possible information, transportation and solution to your mobility needs. This service is open to anyone needing help with coordinating their mobility locally and regionally.
Our staff is well connected with human services and are well versed in transportation within the Palo Verde Valley. Along with our staff of seasoned transit associates, bilingual assistants and caring drivers, our team can start you in the right direction and guide you step by step through your transportation trips.
The Mobility Management team can be reached at:
760-922-4900
Monday through Friday 8am – 5pm
415 N. Main Street Blythe, CA 92225