In November, SmartLink’s Alan Herrmann shared information about SmartLink’s mobility management initiatives in Scott and Carver counties at the Minnesota Council on Transportation Access’ bi-monthly meeting.
Herrmann highlighted the history of SmartLink and its current Mobility Board structure. SmartLink also engages with the community through a Needs Group and with a group of transportation providers. Constant engagement with these groups helps SmartLink to understand the gaps in transportation services and to shape its services to meet local needs. Themes include employment, education, and senior transportation.
During COVID-19, SmartLink is involved in the County Emergency Operations Command, has safety procedures in place such as temperature taking, sanitizing of equipment, passenger capacity limitations, and is delivering essential goods such as food and PPE.
Future initiatives mentioned by Herrmann include:
- Hospital/clinic transports-health care workers
- NEMT network uses-foster care, child and family…
- Veterans transportation coordination
- Mobility hubs/automated vehicles
- Food/PPE distribution
- Minority/Senior/Disabled Outreach-equity
- TNC (Uber/Lyft) solutions
- Volunteer van-rural areas
- School needs
- 5310 shared vehicle shopping loops
See Herrmann’s SmartLink Scott/Carver County TCAP Presentation (PDF) for more information.
