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DRCOG pilot 'Bridal Alliance' trip-exchange shows cross-county need; staff to extend pilot and seek funding
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Summary
DRCOG reported results from a six-week Bridal Alliance pilot that tested a regional trip-exchange platform across six counties (56 trip requests, 36 completed, 19 unique clients). Staff will extend the contract to June 30 and pursue alternative funding after stage-2 grant cancellation.
Mallory Miller, senior planner at DRCOG, presented the stage-1 report for Bridal Alliance, a trip-exchange platform designed to help demand-response transportation providers coordinate across the region. The pilot ran as a six-week test that expanded to six counties (Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver and Jefferson). Miller said the pilot recorded 56 trip requests and 36 completed trips, involving 19 unique clients; 42 of the 56 requests were intercounty trips.
Miller described three integration methods tested for provider scheduling systems — direct API, middleware translation, and a CSV import — and said the pilot showed promise for enabling cross-jurisdictional trips. “We saw how many trips were needed across different counties — this highlights the need for coordination between different transportation providers,” Miller said.
The presentation acknowledged challenges: the Stage 1 grant timeline left only about 12 months for implementation after contracting, software vendors’ reluctance to adopt transactional data specifications, and lower-than-expected trip volumes (Miller said many of the 20 uncompleted trips were client cancellations). DRCOG obtained approval from the finance and budget committee on March 4 to extend the contract through June 30 so staff can spend remaining funds and test additional interregional trips.
Miller also said DRCOG is working to create an API between the trip exchange and Aspire (the area-agency-on-aging’s platform) to streamline required reporting, and is exploring alternative funding sources including human-service transportation set-asides, congressional directed spending, and private funding to continue development after the stage-2 grant was canceled.
Directors at the meeting praised the work and offered partnership opportunities, particularly to connect housing authorities and aging-services providers to broaden the client base and outreach.
