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After introducing software to support trip booking, dispatching, and reporting, trip data were analyzed across 10 communities in June and September 2024. Interviews included dispatchers, drivers, COA directors, and phone conversations with older riders, plus an in-person rider focus group. Results highlighted improved linking of rider information, automated reminders, and more efficient reporting, while software challenges persisted. Findings suggested modest growth in life-sustaining trips and a desire for more social and recreational destinations. Future efforts should strengthen training and enable better COA-to-COA trip coordination.",{"@graph":69,"@context":126},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/regional-transit-authority-efforts-to-support-coa-transportation-in-rural-areas-in-massachusetts/426665/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/regional-transit-authority-efforts-to-support-coa-transportation-in-rural-areas-in-massachusetts/426665.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Rainbow Cat","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-15","2026-09-29",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":34},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118,122],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What problem did MART and the COAs aim to address in rural Massachusetts?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"They sought to improve transportation services for older adults and people with disabilities, enabling access to a wider range of destinations in rural areas across their region.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"How was the software introduced and what was analyzed after implementation?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"The software was deployed to COAs to support trip booking and management, and trip data were analyzed for N=10 communities in June and September 2024.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"Which stakeholder groups were consulted, and what did they generally report?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"Zoom interviews involved dispatchers, drivers, and COA directors, and phone interviews plus an in-person focus group involved older rider users; dispatchers and directors valued automated linking of rider information, voice/text reminders, and improved reporting efficiency.",{"name":123,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":124},"What future recommendations were proposed based on the study results?",{"text":125,"@type":113},"The document recommends more robust training on the software and better use of the resulting data for drivers and dispatchers, along with incentivizing and enabling trip coordination between COAs.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":128,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":130,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":132,"site_id":62},426665,1790807910,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":135},{"doc_id":132,"user_id":136,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":137,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":138,"file_id":139,"file_url":140,"file_type":141,"file_size":142,"view_count":34,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":14,"language":143,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":144,"faqs":145,"seo_title":146,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":147,"read_time":24},962090769181,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_6f874abed73319feea01a86fa6f0fab8","380 Innovation in Aging, 2025, Vol. 9, No. S2  \nAbstract citation ID: igaf122.1292  \nREGIONAL TRANSIT AUTHORITY EFFORTS TO SUPPORT COA TRANSPORTATION IN RURAL AREAS IN MASSACHUSETTS  \nTaylor Jansen1, Shayna Gleason2, Nina Silverstein1,  \nCaitlin Coyle1, and Scott Rich3, 1. University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 2. International Transportation Learning Center / Transit Workforce Center, Washington, District of Columbia, United States,  \n3. Montachusett Regional Transit Authority, Fitchburg, Massachusetts, United States  \nThe Montachusett Regional Transit Authority (MART) serves both urban and rural areas within its 624-square-mile region, encompassing parts of Northern Worcester and Western Middlesex Counties in Massachusetts. MART, in cooperation with Councils on Aging (COA) in their region, sought to improve transportation services for older adults and people with disabilities and enable them to access a greater array of destinations, through the deployment of software for trip booking and management. Trip data were analyzed for N = 10 communities in June and September 2024 after the new software was introduced to COAs to assist with dispatching and reporting requirements. In addition, zoom interviews were conducted with N = 9 dispatchers, N = 6 drivers, N = 5 COA directors, and phone interviews with N = 21 older adult riders. An in-person focus group of riders was also held. Key findings included that dispatchers and directors appreciated being able to link rider information automatically, having voice call and text reminders to riders, and moving from “paper and pen” to more efficient reporting, though some  \nInnovation in Aging, 2025, Vol. 9, No. S2 381  \nsoftware challenges remained. Overall, trip data revealed a slight increase in life-sustaining trips from June to September, while riders voiced an interest in also having more social and recreational destinations or “life-enriching” trips provided. MART’s interest in increased coordination across the towns remains a challenge while COAs have varying operations and town policies for travel across jurisdictions. Recommendations for the future include more robust training on the software and uses of its data for drivers and dispatchers, as well as incentivizing and enabling trip coordination between COAs.","cbCaiacJC8zQDDcL","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiacJC8zQDDcL","pdf",725680,"English","# Study overview\n# Methods and data sources\n# Key findings\n## Operational benefits and user feedback\n## Remaining software and coordination challenges\n# Recommendations and next steps","[{\"question\":\"What problem did MART and the COAs aim to address in rural Massachusetts?\",\"answer\":\"They sought to improve transportation services for older adults and people with disabilities, enabling access to a wider range of destinations in rural areas across their region.\"},{\"question\":\"How was the software introduced and what was analyzed after implementation?\",\"answer\":\"The software was deployed to COAs to support trip booking and management, and trip data were analyzed for N=10 communities in June and September 2024.\"},{\"question\":\"Which stakeholder groups were consulted, and what did they generally report?\",\"answer\":\"Zoom interviews involved dispatchers, drivers, and COA directors, and phone interviews plus an in-person focus group involved older rider users; dispatchers and directors valued automated linking of rider information, voice/text reminders, and improved reporting efficiency.\"},{\"question\":\"What future recommendations were proposed based on the study results?\",\"answer\":\"The document recommends more robust training on the software and better use of the resulting data for drivers and dispatchers, along with incentivizing and enabling trip coordination between COAs.\"}]","REGIONAL TRANSIT AUTHORITY EFFORTS TO SUPPORT COA TRANSPORTATION IN RURAL AREAS IN MASSACHUSETTS | PDF",1790641363]