1. Introduction
Beginning in 2000, the Alliance for Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) at the University of New Mexico has been working with the Public Transportation Programs Bureau (PTPB) of the New Mexico Department of Transportation to develop the Client Referral, Ridership, and Financial Tracking (CRRAFT) system.
The genesis of CRRAFT was the recognition of the need to simplify the increasing complexity of coordinating rural transit funding in New Mexico. The multiple funding agencies and programs (Federal Transit Administration [FTA] for Section 5310, 5311 and 3037 funding; New Mexico Human Services Department [NMHSD] for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families [TANF] funding; and the New Mexico Department of Labor [NMDOL] for Welfare-to-Work [WtW] funding) had already been coordinated organizationally with the PTPB serving as the pass-through agency for funding to the transit providers and reporting back to the funding agencies. However, the complexity of the referral and reporting requirements resulted in very time-consuming activities for transit providers and the PTPB alike. Additional complexity resulted from the fact that many clients of one funding agency are also clients of another, but not necessarily for the same kinds of trips.
CRRAFT is a Web-based software application that is intended to help simplify this process by creating a single application that will manage transit services for all transportation providers that receive rural transit (FTA Section 5311), Job Access Reverse Commute (JARC) (FTA Section 3037), WtW, and/or TANF funding. CRRAFT utilizes current information system technology to assist in the coordination process and efficient reporting of client services provided to state and federal agencies. For human service agencies, CRRAFT standardizes client transportation referral, improves the accountability of transportation use and costs, and reduces the misuse of transportation assistance. CRRAFT is Web-based, and therefore available to be used at any time, from any place (with Internet access), by authorized users. As a result, funding agencies can view reports in real-time and track their transportation funds as they are being utilized. For the transit operators, CRRAFT standardizes invoicing, ridership reporting, and simplifies transportation scheduling management.2
In December 2001 and September 2003, USDOT ITS Joint Program Office (JPO) funding was provided to ATRI via FTA to develop CRRAFT, provide on-going user support and training, and begin integration with an automated payment system. Subsequently, the JPO selected CRRAFT to be the subject of a national evaluation, which was to conduct a System Impact Study to measure or confirm the expected outcomes of the system. This document is the Final Report for that national evaluation.
While the evaluation of the CRRAFT system was conceived as a System Impact Study to measure or confirm the expected outcomes of the system, it was not intended to assess the system's implementation process, usability, technical reliability, or operational procedures. Of particular interest for the evaluation were measurable impacts on transit and paratransit operations. Those impacts were measured in terms of standard operating performance metrics typically used by transit and paratransit providers, such as vehicle miles, revenue service hours, number of passengers, passengers per vehicle mile, and operating cost (separate from capital and sometimes administrative costs).
This document has five chapters. This first chapter provides an introduction to the CRRAFT system and the evaluation conducted. The second chapter describes the CRRAFT system in detail, including its history, scope and features. The third chapter summarizes the methodology followed to conduct the evaluation. Chapter 4 presents the results of the evaluation. The last chapter summarizes the main findings. The document also contains appendices that include the final interview guides and surveys used during the evaluation process.
1Source: ATRI