One Call/One Click Center Project

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People attending a presentation about the Call Center.

The NFRMPO has worked in close partnership with the Foothills Gateway, Larimer County Community Planning Infrastructure & Resources (Community Development), the Larimer County Department of Health and Environment (LCDHE), the Larimer County Office on Aging (LCOA), Partnership for Age-Friendly Communities (PAFC), and Rural Alternative for Transportation (RAFT) on implementing recommendations from the Larimer County Senior Transportation Needs Assessment. From the Needs Assessment, this group has worked on three separate grants: Project MILES, the Proof-of-Concept project, and the Larimer County Senior Transportation Implementation Plan.

Although the project began in Larimer County, the NFRMPO Planning Council approved a region-wide program. As part of this, NFRMPO Mobility staff have begun meeting with Weld County stakeholders to adapt the recommendations from the Implementation Plan. Information from those efforts will be added to this page as it becomes available.

All documents mentioned in the descriptions below are available in the below accordion.

Background

Larimer County Senior Transportation Needs Assessment CoverIn the 2013-2018 Larimer County Strategic Plan, the Larimer County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) set a goal to evaluate the transportation needs and challenges for seniors living in unincorporated Larimer County, and create a strategy of existing and new options for addressing those needs and challenges. This goal led to the Larimer County Senior Transportation Needs Assessment (Needs Assessment).

The Needs Assessment recommended ten programmatic and system-level tasks:

  • On-demand paid services
  • Volunteer driver program
  • Expansion of existing services
  • Family and friend subsidy
  • Fixed route shuttle
  • Education and marketing
  • Dispatch/Call Center
  • Senior Commission and Transit Ambassadors
  • Travel Trainings
  • Online Platform

The NFRMPO, LCOA, Community Development, LCDHE, Foothills Gateway, PAFC, and RAFT met periodically to research and study how to implement these recommendations. The group interviewed agencies, companies, and organizations addressing similar programs around the country. Based on these findings, the group moved forward with the idea of a One Call/One Click Center for Larimer County.

Project MILES

Project MILES CoverProject MILES (Mobility Inclusiveness, Locations Everywhere, Simple.) was a collaborative effort led by PAFC and the NFRMPO with funding from the NADTC through the Getting Ready to Innovate grant program. The funding was used to accomplish two goals:

  • The Expert Panel consisted of staff from transportation providers, riders, advocates, and system-level organizations. Together, the group met six times and was absorbed into the Larimer County Mobility Committee.
  • The Expert Panel created evaluation criteria to use during two “pilots”: the Expert Panel received two walkthrough presentations of Routematch and Cambridge Systematics.

One Call/One Click Center Proof of Concept Project

Proof of Concept CoverThe NFRMPO, LCOA, Via Mobility, RAFT, Senior Alternative in Transportation (SAINT) Volunteer Transportation, Heart&SOUL Paratransit, and zTrip partnered to pilot the use of Via’s Call Center with volunteer and taxi providers. The project was funded using an NADTC Innovations in Accessible Mobility grant.

The community sought to test the viability of a more coordinated transportation management system by utilizing a One Call/One Click Center (OCOCC). As part of this OCOCC, riders contacted the call center directly rather than individual ride providers to schedule rides. The providers had the opportunity to use ride management software and a call center to schedule and report on rides given. The overall goals of the project included:

  • Establishing new relationships and agreements to formalize partnerships among key project participants;
  • Connecting up to five local ride providers with a mobility management system featuring the services of a call center (provided by Via Mobility) and software system (provided by Routematch and Via Mobility);
  • Providing at least 400 rides as requested and documented through the mobility management system between May and August 2019, later extended to October.

During this proof-of-concept project, 514 rides were provided via 237 phone calls. NADTC created a video showing the national impact of these projects, which is available below.

A regional video was also prepared.

Senior Transportation Implementation Plan

Larimer County Senior Transportation Implementation Plan CoverThe NFRMPO and Larimer County applied for an FTA §5304 grant through CDOT to complete a Senior Transportation Implementation Plan, tying together the work done as part of the National Aging and Disability Transportation Center (NADTC) grants, the Needs Assessment, and other efforts. The project is being managed by the NFRMPO with TransitPlus as the consultant. The project kicked off in April 2019 and was completed in November 2019.

The recommendations from the plan include:

  • The NFRMPO host the Mobility Manager and the One-Call/One-Click Center.
  • The program uses open source trip discovery software like 1-Click | CS software.
  • The program uses open source trip scheduling software (like Ride Pilot).

The recommendations were led by the Larimer County Mobility Committee (LCMC), which acted as the Steering Committee for the Plan. The recommendations were approved by the NFRMPO Planning Council on January 9, 2020.

In the News

The project has gained press along the way, including:

Questions or Comments

You may direct any related questions or comments to Cory Schmitt at cschmitt@nfrmpo.org or (970) 999-0072.