Research Project

CPS Travel Training Evaluation Project

This project undertook a systematic effort to place TTP evaluation on a more professionally recognizable and practically implementable footing. The project was conducted as a two track design in which the first track provided a framework for evaluation while the second undertook basic analysis of existing CPS TTP data.

Principal Investigator

Welch, Eric

Research Area(s)

Data Development

Mobility

Funding Source

Center for Urban Transportation Research (CUTR)

Abstract

Public transportation and public educational programs are mandated to provide transportation services for mentally and physically disabled individuals. While programs to transport members of disabled populations are important to ensure access to and participation in important educational and work related activities, they are often highly expensive to operate. Moreover, they do not necessarily increase the independence of disabled clients. For these reasons, transit agencies, employers and educational institutions have begun to develop training programs to teach qualified clients how to use the fixed public transit system. Movement of disabled riders to fixed public transit systems reduces demand of costly paratransit programs, increases the ability of disabled clients to function independently, and may have a multitude of other benefits. Travel training programs (TTP), particularly those offered by public school systems, are in their infancy. Chicago Public School’s (CPS) TTP is one of the oldest in existence. While there is ad hoc evidence that these programs are beneficial in many respects, to date there has been little effort to develop a theoretically informed TTP evaluation framework or to formally assess the costs and benefits of these programs. Due in part to this lack of attention, constant fiscal constraints on public agencies make travel training programs vulnerable to underfunding or closure. Download the "CPS Travel Training Evaluation Project" study.