Organizational Structures for Brokerage of Paratransit Services

Abstract

The benefits of interagency coordination of public and human service transportation have been recognized and promoted by federal, state, and local governments. This paper contributes to successful interagency coordination of paratransit services by developing a conceptual model of alternative organizational structures for implementing a paratransit brokerage, then applying the model to three Illinois paratransit implementations: Peoria, South Central Transit, and Macomb. The selection of the sites and the development of model brokerages were based on extensive case analyses of paratransit brokers and interviews with transportation service providers within Illinois. The design of the appropriate brokerage organization for each site is based on the management literature, in which an organizational structure is developed from individual functions and the strategy to be implemented. These functions then serve as the building blocks of the organization.