Paratransit: A Commentary

Abstract

‘Paratransit’ has triumphed over rival terms to describe the nebulous mass of transport organisations, technologies, and services that lie somewhere between conventional and personal transit in price and quality. Stripped of some of their previous advanced technological excesses, professional and spontaneous paratransit services are now perceived as the linchpin of unconventional wisdom which also involves trimming conventional transit to more densely populated corridors and improving the management of private cars. Promising near-term improvements at an acceptable cost, paratransit, with its emphasis on appropriate organisation and appropriate technology, heralds a return to a freer play of market forces in advanced capitalist countries (the ingredient of a new conservatism?). As such, paratransit has captured the imagination and, more importantly, the financial support of many local, national, and supranational organisations. The original task of reviewing the Economic Research Centre's (1979) Paratransit, which reflects this widespread interest, was transformed into a commentary to accommodate more recent material. This commentary contrasts paratransit services in advanced capitalist countries and the Third World before reflecting on a possible reciprocal transfer of organisations and technology.