Industry Forum for Private Sector Carpooling Solutions for the North Texas Dallas-Fort Worth Region

The Industry Forum

On Friday, March 22, 2019 at 11 a.m. Central Time the North Central Texas Council of
Governments (NCTCOG) will hold a vendor forum for providers of carpooling services and
technologies. The forum will have two purposes: (i) inform the carpooling industry of NCTCOG’s
plans to access private sector carpooling solutions and (ii) seek industry input on a number of
issues such as those described below. The forum will be Web only; no in-person attendance will
be required or accepted. NCTCOG will not contract for services through this industry forum. If
NCTCOG intends to do so in the future, the mechanism to do so will be through a Request for
Proposal.

More information can be found here.

NCTCOG intends the industry forum to be an interactive event. NCTCOG is holding the forum
to explore one basic question: Can private sector carpooling solutions scale to a point that
carpooling can become a dependable mode of travel throughout the day (and night) and
throughout the North Texas region for people who don’t wish to drive or are unable to drive? If
so, what kind and level of effort would it take from the region and from private carpooling
solution providers to get carpooling to become a dependable and cost-effective mode of travel
in North Texas?

Related issues that NCTCOG would like to explore in the industry forum include the following:
• Whether carpooling in a region is best done through a single solution or multiple
carpooling platforms?
• Are there carpooling solutions that can be targeted to increase average vehicle
occupancy on highly congested corridors?
• What incentives are most effective in building carpooling market share?
• What are the biggest obstacles to building carpooling market share?
• What public policies are most effective in building carpooling market share?
• How can the public sector effectively support private sector carpooling companies in
building carpooling market share?
• How can carpooling solutions best serve the mobility needs of low-income and nondriving populations?
• What data are carpooling providers willing and able to share with NCTCOG through an
API with the TryParkingIt data dashboard or some other means?
• Can the TryParkingIt rewards program help advance private carpooling solutions and, if
so, how so?
• What public and private funding sources can be used to support carpooling efforts?
At the industry forum NCTCOG will lay out its vision for carpooling in the North Texas region
and its thoughts on how to best access private sector carpooling solutions. Currently, NCTCOG
is considering two approaches for a regionwide carpooling initiative:
• Approach 1: The first approach would be to use a process to identify private sector
industry partners with whom NCTCOG would cooperate on efforts to expand carpooling
market share in North Texas. These efforts might include joint publicity campaigns,
consumer education, and employer outreach coordination. This approach would not
involve any payments from NCTCOG to carpooling vendors or third parties.
• Approach 2: The second approach would use a process to identify cost-effective
carpooling solutions for which NCTCOG would provide funding to carpooling vendors or
third parties like carpoolers themselves, or both.

The industry forum will be open to all interested parties. While all parties are encouraged to
participate, no one is required to participate. There will be time for short (5 minutes or less)
presentations by up to five parties on a first come first served basis. Please advise Emily
Beckham ([email protected]) if you would like to make a presentation. Presentations
should focus on the basic question outlined above. You may also submit questions and ideas
for the forum to Ms. Beckham. An agenda will then be circulated in advance of the industry
forum to all those who have signed up to participate. You may also submit written materials that
you believe are pertinent to the topics covered by the industry forum to Ms. Beckham.
Following the industry forum, NCTCOG reserves the right to contact participants and hold
individual meetings to seek additional information and/or request one or more participants to
provide a more detailed presentation. This process is intended to be the mechanism by which

NCTCOG receives information from the industry on available technologies. It should not be
construed as a commitment or as authorization to incur cost for which reimbursement would be
required or sought.
Relevant Dates
March 18, 2019: Deadline for submitting questions, suggested forum topics, and requests to
make a presentation at the forum.
March 22, 2019, 11 a.m. Central Time: Industry forum. The forum will be scheduled to run for
one hour but may run longer at NCTCOG’s discretion if the discussion warrants such. In no
event will the forum run for more than two hours. Please send your RSVP to Emily Beckham
([email protected]) by 6 p.m. on March 22, 2019—include participant’s name and
organization in the email body.
Joining the Forum
There are two ways to join the forum—through Webex and/or conference call. If you wish to
view the slides, log in to Webex (details below). A conference call line (details below) is also
provided—you can use both options simultaneously if you’d like to see the slides but listen
through your phone.

Webex:
Click HERE to join.
Meeting number: 807 794 285
If the Webex link, above, does not work, copy and past the following URL into your
internet browser:
https://nctcog.webex.com/nctcog/j.php?MTID=m30a46aad83ee03a6d627ff5c41f4e7a9

Conference Call:
1-888-909-7654
Participant PIN: 504 571 #

About NCTCOG
NCTCOG is a voluntary association of, by, and for local governments. It was established to
assist local governments in planning for common needs, cooperating for mutual benefit, and
coordinating for sound regional development. NCTCOG’s purpose is to strengthen both the
individual and collective power of local governments and to help them recognize regional
opportunities, eliminate unnecessary duplication, and make joint decisions.
Since 1974, NCTCOG has served as the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for
transportation in the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) Metropolitan Area. NCTCOG’s Transportation

Department is responsible for regional transportation planning for all modes of transportation.
The Department provides technical support and staff assistance to the Regional Transportation
Council and its technical committees, which compose the MPO policy-making structure. In
addition, the Transportation Department provides technical assistance to the local governments
of North Texas in planning, programming, coordinating, and implementing transportation
decisions.

Direct all communications to NCTCOG regarding the industry forum to Emily Beckham:
Emily Beckham
Grants and Contracts Manager
North Central Texas Council of Governments
616 Six Flags Drive, Suite 200, Centerpointe Two
Arlington, TX 76011
Phone: 817-608-2308
[email protected]