PennDOT Bureau of Public Transportation – Find My Ride
PennDot Bureau of Public Transportation’s Find My Ride (FMR) is an online application that enables prospective users or someone acting on their behalf (e.g., a family member or transportation staff member) to make a single application for the most prevalent transportation assistance programs in Pennsylvania. Users answer a series of basic questions about their transportation needs, and the application automatically adds the requirements of those programs for which an applicant is eligible. The completed application is then routed to the local providers of those programs.
What makes this innovative?
Someone applying for transportation assistance traditionally would need to know which services they qualified for and fill out a paper form or fillable PDF file for each provider of those services. With a single electronic application, FMR streamlines the process by automatically sending applications to all the appropriate programs and providers based on the answers an applicant provides. Applications also tend to contain fewer errors. Transit providers may also use this system when taking service calls by phone, which can result in an applicant booking a ride the same day they apply.
FMR will be available in all Pennsylvania counties by early 2024. To date, more than 20,000 individuals have been approved for one or more transportation programs through the system. Development of the technology to create FMR was funded with FTA Sections 5310 and 5339 funding plus state funds.
Lessons Learned and Replication Advice:
› Acquire both funding and staff resources to cover technology costs, project management, development and analysis. FMR was designed specifically for Pennsylvania’s large and complex network of coordinated human service transportation. An application for a smaller network of fewer overlapping providers might be deployed with similar benefits for less effort and less funding (FMR cost close to $3 million).
› Work closely with transportation providers to obtain detailed requirements and obtain their support.
› Review details with users (riders and providers) before starting development and coding of the online application form.
› Factor in time for accessibility testing, stakeholder feedback and implementing fixes.