<?xml version="1.0"?>
<feed xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xml:lang="en">
	<id>http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&amp;feedformat=atom&amp;user=Wikimaster</id>
	<title>SUMC Style Wiki - User contributions [en]</title>
	<link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&amp;feedformat=atom&amp;user=Wikimaster"/>
	<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/wiki/index.php/Special:Contributions/Wikimaster"/>
	<updated>2026-09-20T13:43:57Z</updated>
	<subtitle>User contributions</subtitle>
	<generator>MediaWiki 1.45.3</generator>
	<entry>
		<id>http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Main_Page&amp;diff=32</id>
		<title>Main Page</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Main_Page&amp;diff=32"/>
		<updated>2026-04-01T20:20:03Z</updated>

		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Wikimaster: added an image&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&amp;lt;strong&amp;gt;Welcome to the SUMC style and usage guide&amp;lt;/strong&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
This wiki is all about how written work by SUMC should look and feel. It&#039;s a wiki, so you can create and edit pages. Just register for an account, log in, and you can start editing. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Here are some pages:&lt;br /&gt;
* [[SUMC preferred usage]]&lt;br /&gt;
* [[References and bibliographies]]&lt;br /&gt;
* General guidelines for [[alt text]] and [[Detailed best practices for alt text|detailed best practices for it]]&lt;br /&gt;
* [[Style authorities]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[File:Fig06 spin scooters jeffCityMo flickr diversey tony webster.jpg|alt=Several Spin scooters on a sidewalk. |left]]&amp;lt;!-- == Getting started ==&lt;br /&gt;
Consult the [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Help:Contents User&#039;s Guide] for information on using the wiki software.&lt;br /&gt;
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Manual:Configuration_settings Configuration settings list]&lt;br /&gt;
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Manual:FAQ MediaWiki FAQ]&lt;br /&gt;
* [https://lists.wikimedia.org/postorius/lists/mediawiki-announce.lists.wikimedia.org/ MediaWiki release mailing list]&lt;br /&gt;
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Localisation#Translation_resources Localise MediaWiki for your language]&lt;br /&gt;
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Manual:Combating_spam Learn how to combat spam on your wiki]&lt;br /&gt;
--&amp;gt;&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Wikimaster</name></author>
	</entry>
	<entry>
		<id>http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=SUMC_preferred_usage&amp;diff=31</id>
		<title>SUMC preferred usage</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=SUMC_preferred_usage&amp;diff=31"/>
		<updated>2026-03-31T19:17:16Z</updated>

		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Wikimaster: &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;These are the preferred ways to use various terms from our industry. For terms not included here, see the [[style authorities]] page for general guidelines.  &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&#039;&#039;&#039;General rules:&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
* For terms like &#039;&#039;electric vehicles&#039;&#039; that are commonly referred to by initialisms, spell out the term on the first usage in a work or a major section, and indicate the abbreviation in parentheses. After that, you can use the initials (e.g., &amp;quot;electric vehicles (EVs)&amp;quot; on first use, &amp;quot;EVs&amp;quot; thereafter).&lt;br /&gt;
* Unless otherwise indicated, we prefer closed compounds to hyphenated or open ones. So, &#039;&#039;bikeshare&#039;&#039;, not &#039;&#039;bike-share&#039;&#039; or &#039;&#039;bike share&#039;&#039;. There are many exceptions to this rule, and the Chicago Manual of Style has a [https://docslib.org/doc/6204848/the-chicago-manual-of-style-online-hyphenation-table helpful chart] listing most of them.  &lt;br /&gt;
* Also on the subject of hyphens, normally open compounds like &#039;&#039;first and last mile&#039;&#039; should be hyphenated when used as an adjective before a noun (i.e. &#039;&#039;first-mile&#039;&#039;, &#039;&#039;last-mile&#039;&#039;, &#039;&#039;first-/last-mile&#039;&#039;, or &#039;&#039;first- and last-mile&#039;&#039; in front of words like &#039;&#039;problem&#039;&#039; or &#039;&#039;connections&#039;&#039;). They should be left open, regardless of their grammatical function, if used after a noun or on their own.  &lt;br /&gt;
* The normal English rules of capitalization apply to our work: do not capitalize words unless they&#039;re a proper noun (including brand names) or the first word in a sentence. Do not capitalize because it&#039;s being abbreviated to something with capital letters (&#039;&#039;MaaS&#039;&#039; is &#039;&#039;mobility as a service&#039;&#039;, not &#039;&#039;Mobility as a Service&#039;&#039;), or just seems important to what you&#039;re writing.  &lt;br /&gt;
* Automated spell-checkers may have different ideas about what version is correct, so you might consider adding the preferred versions to a personal dictionary to avoid nagging and squiggly lines.&lt;br /&gt;
* We are not obligated to follow companies&#039; branding or promotional choices, particularly in use of ALL-CAPS (or conversely no caps at all) or other non-standard treatments of product names that are not initialisms. Treat these like you would any other proper noun: use normal Title Case. All caps in particular are both visually distracting and read like they&#039;re shouting. If you feel the brand marking deserves discussion (as in a case study or other extended treatment where the question might come up) you might do something like &amp;quot;The Twin Cities&#039; Hourcar service (stylized as HOURCAR), was launched in 2005.&amp;quot; You never need to include markers like™, ®, etc. Those are for companies&#039; defense of their own IP and are not our concern. For less visually distracting, but still nonstandard, names like eBay or iPad, it&#039;s probably easier to just follow the companies&#039; treatment (and no need to capitalize the first letter if you&#039;re starting a sentence with it, but try to avoid this since it&#039;s also distracting).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
If you&#039;re quoting something from a non-SUMC source that uses a different rendering of one of these terms, it&#039;s okay to correct it to our preferred (closed) version without indicating the correction with brackets. If a source uses an entirely different &#039;&#039;word,&#039;&#039; in a way that we define differently (seen most commonly with &#039;&#039;rideshare&#039;&#039; to mean &#039;&#039;ridehail&#039;&#039;), then you should substitute our preferred term but use brackets. (E.g., &amp;quot;The study followed more than 200 [ridehail] drivers on their lunch breaks.&amp;quot;) Formal academic or legal contexts have stricter rules about indicating changes, but the foregoing applies to general writing for sites and publications SUMC controls. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Where this list has entries with no further commentary, it represents the preferred rendering of the term(s), and further usage is assumed to be self-explanatory based on the general rules around hyphens/spacing, abbreviations, etc. If you find yourself frequently using a term that&#039;s not in this list, especially if it&#039;s something you see rendered in a number of different ways, please feel free to add an entry to this list. If this eventually gets too long, we can split it into separate pages, titled something like &amp;quot;Term (usage).&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Autonomous vehicles (AVs)&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Bikeshare&#039;&#039;&#039; or bikesharing &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Carshare&#039;&#039;&#039; or carsharing&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;First and last mile&#039;&#039;&#039;: Use space between words when referring to the concept alone (i.e. “the first and last mile on a transportation journey”). When using part or all of the term as an adjective &amp;lt;u&amp;gt;before&amp;lt;/u&amp;gt; a noun, hyphenate. &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Fixed-route transit&#039;&#039;&#039;: See &#039;&#039;&#039;Public transit&#039;&#039;&#039; &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Limousines&#039;&#039;&#039;: Used interchangeably with &#039;&#039;limos,&#039;&#039; but always &#039;&#039;limousines&#039;&#039; on first reference. &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Micromobility&#039;&#039;&#039;: This term should be used for fleet deployments of bikes and scooters, or else individually owned bikes or scooters used for personal trips--but not to mean bikes and/or scooters generally (just use &#039;&#039;bike&#039;&#039; or &#039;&#039;scooter&#039;&#039;), and definitely not for bikes/trikes transporting cargo or other non-personal loads. &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Microtransit&#039;&#039;&#039;: This is the preferred term for technology-enabled on-demand transit services, especially those that use mobile technology for ride requests, payment, and routing. Other terms that are related, but not necessarily interchangeable with microtransit:&lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Demand-responsive transit/transport (DRT)&#039;&#039;&#039;: Per [https://www.transit.dot.gov/ntd/national-transit-database-ntd-glossary#D NTD], this refers to &amp;quot;a transit mode comprised of passenger cars, vans or small buses operating in response to calls from passengers or their agents to the transit operator, who then dispatches a vehicle to pick up the passengers and transport them to their destinations.&amp;quot; This is the broadest term for this mode, of which microtransit and paratransit are subsets. Without modification, DRT is not necessarily tech-enabled, distinguishing it from &#039;&#039;microtransit&#039;&#039;, and is not limited to riders with disabilities, distinguishing it from &#039;&#039;paratransit&#039;&#039;.  &lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Paratransit&#039;&#039;&#039;: In olden times, and outside the US, &#039;&#039;paratransit&#039;&#039; was used to refer to DRT in general, but since the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), it&#039;s most commonly understood to mean wheelchair-accessible DRT for people with disabilities. Sometimes you&#039;ll see &#039;&#039;ADA paratransit&#039;&#039; to refer to the federally required service in the &amp;quot;shadow&amp;quot; of fixed routes, contrasted with &#039;&#039;premium paratransit&#039;&#039; to mean service provided outside the parameters of what&#039;s required (either in terms of timing, distance, or the passengers served). If you&#039;re talking about paratransit services that are not limited to qualified riders or people with disabilities, it might be useful to call it &#039;&#039;general-public paratransit&#039;&#039;.  &lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Flexible shuttle service&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Flex-route services&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Mobility as a service (MaaS)&#039;&#039;&#039;: Not capitalized and does not take hyphens in any position.&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Mobility on demand (MOD)&#039;&#039;&#039;: No hyphens, and need not be capitalized in general usage, but it should be in proper names (e.g. &amp;quot;Mobility on Demand Sandbox&amp;quot; but &amp;quot;six new mobility on demand (MOD) projects&amp;quot;).&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Policymaker&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Public transit&#039;&#039;&#039;: This term can be used interchangeably with &#039;&#039;public transportation&#039;&#039; to refer to either the service or the industry generally. It should not be used interchangeably with &#039;&#039;fixed-route transit,&#039;&#039; which you should use only when you want to refer to scheduled bus or train service that operates on a specific route.&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Ridehail&#039;&#039;&#039; or ridehailing: This is SUMC&#039;s preferred term for the commercial, on-demand small-vehicle taxi service provided by companies like Uber and Lyft. Many writers, with the industry&#039;s encouragement, use &#039;&#039;ridesharing&#039;&#039; instead, but in our work this should be reserved for non-commercial carpool-like services where the rider and passengers actually share a destination. You&#039;ll often see it used interchangeably with the following, and it&#039;s not worth correcting when quoting (beyond fixing space or hyphenation):&lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Transportation network company/companies (TNCs)&#039;&#039;&#039;: This originates with the California legal definition of the service type, the first statutory definition in the US. &lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Ridesourcing&#039;&#039;&#039;: Means the same thing as &#039;&#039;ridehailing&#039;&#039;, and in early SUMC publications we often preferred this, but now we&#039;re grown and prefer &#039;&#039;-hailing&#039;&#039; in our own original writing. &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Ridesharing&#039;&#039;&#039;: Use only to refer to non-commercial carpool-like services where the rider and passengers actually share a destination. It should not be used for what Uber does. This term can be used interchangeably with:&lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Carpool/carpooling&#039;&#039;&#039; &lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Slugging&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Community carpool&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Scootersharing&#039;&#039;&#039;: Please refer to the shared mode as &#039;&#039;electric scootershare/scootersharing&#039;&#039; or &#039;&#039;scootershare/scootersharing&#039;&#039;. Do not use &#039;&#039;e-scootershare/e-scootersharing&#039;&#039;. If referring to electric scooters themselves, individually or as a group, shared or not, it&#039;s fine to use &#039;&#039;e-scooters&#039;&#039; or &#039;&#039;electric scooters&#039;&#039;.&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Shared mobility&#039;&#039;&#039;: This is a preferred term but can be used interchangeably with &#039;&#039;shared-use mobility,&#039;&#039; in which you should always hyphenate &#039;&#039;shared-use&#039;&#039;.&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Taxis&#039;&#039;&#039;: Interchangeable with &#039;&#039;taxi services&#039;&#039;.&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Wheelchair-accessible vehicles (WAVs)&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Wikimaster</name></author>
	</entry>
	<entry>
		<id>http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=SUMC_preferred_usage&amp;diff=30</id>
		<title>SUMC preferred usage</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=SUMC_preferred_usage&amp;diff=30"/>
		<updated>2026-03-31T19:15:25Z</updated>

		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Wikimaster: &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;These are the preferred ways to use various terms from our industry. For terms not included here, see the [[style authorities]] page for general guidelines.  &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&#039;&#039;&#039;General rules:&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
* For terms like &#039;&#039;electric vehicles&#039;&#039; that are commonly referred to by initialisms, spell out the term on the first usage in a work or a major section, and indicate the abbreviation in parentheses. After that, you can use the initials (e.g., &amp;quot;electric vehicles (EVs)&amp;quot; on first use, &amp;quot;EVs&amp;quot; thereafter).&lt;br /&gt;
* Unless otherwise indicated, we prefer closed compounds to hyphenated or open ones. So, &#039;&#039;bikeshare&#039;&#039;, not &#039;&#039;bike-share&#039;&#039; or &#039;&#039;bike share&#039;&#039;. There are many exceptions to this rule, and the Chicago Manual of Style has a [https://docslib.org/doc/6204848/the-chicago-manual-of-style-online-hyphenation-table helpful chart] listing most of them.  &lt;br /&gt;
* Also on the subject of hyphens, normally open compounds like &#039;&#039;first and last mile&#039;&#039; should be hyphenated when used as an adjective before a noun (i.e. &#039;&#039;first-mile&#039;&#039;, &#039;&#039;last-mile&#039;&#039;, &#039;&#039;first-/last-mile&#039;&#039;, or &#039;&#039;first- and last-mile&#039;&#039; in front of words like &#039;&#039;problem&#039;&#039; or &#039;&#039;connections&#039;&#039;). They should be left open, regardless of their grammatical function, if used after a noun or on their own.  &lt;br /&gt;
* The normal English rules of capitalization apply to our work: do not capitalize words unless they&#039;re a proper noun (including brand names) or the first word in a sentence. Do not capitalize because it&#039;s being abbreviated to something with capital letters (&#039;&#039;MaaS&#039;&#039; is &#039;&#039;mobility as a service&#039;&#039;, not &#039;&#039;Mobility as a Service&#039;&#039;), or just seems important to what you&#039;re writing.  &lt;br /&gt;
* Automated spell-checkers may have different ideas about what version is correct, so you might consider adding the preferred versions to a personal dictionary to avoid nagging and squiggly lines.&lt;br /&gt;
* We are not obligated to follow companies&#039; branding or promotional choices, particularly in use of ALL-CAPS (or conversely no caps at all) or other non-standard treatments of product names that are not initialisms. Treat these like you would any other proper noun: use normal Title Case. All caps in particular are both visually distracting and read like they&#039;re shouting. If you feel the brand marking deserves discussion (as in a case study or other extended treatment where the question might come up) you might do something like &amp;quot;The Twin Cities&#039; Hourcar service (stylized as HOURCAR), was launched in 2005.&amp;quot; You never need to include markers like™, ®, etc. Those are for companies&#039; defense of their own IP and are not our concern. For less visually distracting, but still nonstandard, names like eBay or iPad, it&#039;s probably easier to just follow the companies&#039; treatment (and no need to capitalize the first letter if you&#039;re starting a sentence with it, but try to avoid this since it&#039;s also distracting).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
If you&#039;re quoting something from a non-SUMC source that uses a different rendering of one of these terms, it&#039;s okay to correct it to our preferred (closed) version without indicating the correction with brackets. If a source uses an entirely different &#039;&#039;word,&#039;&#039; in a way that we define differently (seen most commonly with &#039;&#039;rideshare&#039;&#039; to mean &#039;&#039;ridehail&#039;&#039;), then you should substitute our preferred term but use brackets. (E.g., &amp;quot;The study followed more than 200 [ridehail] drivers on their lunch breaks.&amp;quot;) Formal academic or legal contexts have stricter rules about indicating changes, but the foregoing applies to general writing for sites and publications SUMC controls. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Where this list has entries with no further commentary, it represents the preferred rendering of the term(s), and further usage is assumed to be self-explanatory based on the general rules around hyphens/spacing, abbreviations, etc. If you find yourself frequently using a term that&#039;s not in this list, especially if it&#039;s something you see rendered in a number of different ways, please feel free to add an entry to this list. If this eventually gets too long, we can split it into separate pages, titled something like &amp;quot;Term (usage).&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Autonomous vehicles (AVs)&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Bikeshare&#039;&#039;&#039; or bikesharing &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Carshare&#039;&#039;&#039; or carsharing&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;First and last mile&#039;&#039;&#039;: Use space between words when referring to the concept alone (i.e. “the first and last mile on a transportation journey”). When using part or all of the term as an adjective &amp;lt;u&amp;gt;before&amp;lt;/u&amp;gt; a noun, hyphenate. &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Fixed-route transit&#039;&#039;&#039;: See &#039;&#039;&#039;Public transit&#039;&#039;&#039; &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Limousines&#039;&#039;&#039;: Used interchangeably with &#039;&#039;limos,&#039;&#039; but always &#039;&#039;limousines&#039;&#039; on first reference. &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Micromobility&#039;&#039;&#039;: This term should be used for fleet deployments of bikes and scooters, or else individually owned bikes or scooters used for personal trips--but not to mean bikes and/or scooters generally (just use &#039;&#039;bike&#039;&#039; or &#039;&#039;scooter&#039;&#039;), and definitely not for bikes/trikes transporting cargo or other non-personal loads. &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Microtransit&#039;&#039;&#039;: This is the preferred term for technology-enabled on-demand transit services, especially those that use mobile technology for ride requests, payment, and routing. Other terms that are related, but not necessarily interchangeable with microtransit:&lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Demand-responsive transit/transport (DRT)&#039;&#039;&#039;: Per [https://www.transit.dot.gov/ntd/national-transit-database-ntd-glossary#D NTD], this refers to &amp;quot;a transit mode comprised of passenger cars, vans or small buses operating in response to calls from passengers or their agents to the transit operator, who then dispatches a vehicle to pick up the passengers and transport them to their destinations.&amp;quot; This is the broadest term for this mode, of which microtransit and paratransit are subsets. Without modification, DRT is not necessarily tech-enabled, distinguishing it from &#039;&#039;microtransit&#039;&#039;, and is not limited to riders with disabilities, distinguishing it from &#039;&#039;paratransit&#039;&#039;.  &lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Paratransit&#039;&#039;&#039;: In olden times, and outside the US, &#039;&#039;paratransit&#039;&#039; was used to refer to DRT in general, but since the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), it&#039;s most commonly understood to mean wheelchair-accessible DRT for people with disabilities. Sometimes you&#039;ll see &#039;&#039;ADA paratransit&#039;&#039; to refer to the federally required service in the &amp;quot;shadow&amp;quot; of fixed routes, contrasted with &#039;&#039;premium paratransit&#039;&#039; to mean service provided outside the parameters of what&#039;s required (either in terms of timing, distance, or the passengers served). If you&#039;re talking about paratransit services that are not limited to qualified riders or people with disabilities, it might be useful to call it &#039;&#039;general-public paratransit&#039;&#039;.  &lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Flexible shuttle service&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Flex-route services&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Mobility as a service (MaaS)&#039;&#039;&#039;: Not capitalized and does not take hyphens in any position.&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Mobility on demand (MOD)&#039;&#039;&#039;: No hyphens, and need not be capitalized in general usage, but it should be in proper names (e.g. &amp;quot;Mobility on Demand Sandbox&amp;quot; but &amp;quot;six new mobility on demand (MOD) projects&amp;quot;).&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Policymaker&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Public transit&#039;&#039;&#039;: This term can be used interchangeably with &#039;&#039;public transportation&#039;&#039; to refer to either the service or the industry generally. It should not be used interchangeably with &#039;&#039;fixed-route transit,&#039;&#039; which you should use only when you want to refer to scheduled bus or train service that operates on a specific route.&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Ridehail&#039;&#039;&#039; or ridehailing: This is SUMC&#039;s preferred term for the commercial, on-demand small-vehicle taxi service provided by companies like Uber and Lyft. Many writers, with the industry&#039;s encouragement, use &#039;&#039;ridesharing&#039;&#039; instead, but in our work this should be reserved for non-commercial carpool-like services where the rider and passengers actually share a destination. You&#039;ll often see it used interchangeably with the following, and it&#039;s not worth correcting when quoting (beyond fixing space or hyphenation):&lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Transportation network company/companies (TNCs)&#039;&#039;&#039;: This originates with the California legal definition of the service type, the first statutory definition in the US. &lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Ridesourcing&#039;&#039;&#039;: Means the same thing as &#039;&#039;ridehailing&#039;&#039;, and in early SUMC publications we often preferred this, but now we&#039;re grown and prefer &#039;&#039;-hailing&#039;&#039; in our own original writing. &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Ridesharing&#039;&#039;&#039;: Use only to refer to non-commercial carpool-like services where the rider and passengers actually share a destination. It should not be used for what Uber does. This term can be used interchangeably with:&lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Carpool/carpooling&#039;&#039;&#039; &lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Slugging&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Community carpool&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Scootersharing&#039;&#039;&#039;: Please refer to the shared mode as &#039;&#039;electric scootershare/scootersharing&#039;&#039; or &#039;&#039;scootershare/scootersharing&#039;&#039;. Do not use &#039;&#039;e-scootershare/e-scootersharing&#039;&#039;. If referring to electric scooters themselves, individually or as a group, shared or not, it&#039;s fine to use &#039;&#039;e-scooters&#039;&#039; or &#039;&#039;electric scooters&#039;&#039;.&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Shared mobility&#039;&#039;&#039;: This is a preferred term but can be used interchangeably with &#039;&#039;shared-use mobility,&#039;&#039; in which you should always hyphenate shared-use.&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Taxis&#039;&#039;&#039;: Interchangeable with &#039;&#039;taxi services&#039;&#039;.&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Wheelchair-accessible vehicles (WAVs)&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Wikimaster</name></author>
	</entry>
	<entry>
		<id>http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=SUMC_preferred_usage&amp;diff=29</id>
		<title>SUMC preferred usage</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=SUMC_preferred_usage&amp;diff=29"/>
		<updated>2026-03-31T19:10:23Z</updated>

		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Wikimaster: &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;These are the preferred ways to use various terms from our industry. For terms not included here, see the [[style authorities]] page for general guidelines.  &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&#039;&#039;&#039;General rules:&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
* For terms like &#039;&#039;electric vehicles&#039;&#039; that are commonly referred to by initialisms, spell out the term on the first usage in a work or a major section, and indicate the abbreviation in parentheses. After that, you can use the initials (e.g., &amp;quot;electric vehicles (EVs)&amp;quot; on first use, &amp;quot;EVs&amp;quot; thereafter).&lt;br /&gt;
* Unless otherwise indicated, we prefer closed compounds to hyphenated or open ones. So, &#039;&#039;bikeshare&#039;&#039;, not &#039;&#039;bike-share&#039;&#039; or &#039;&#039;bike share&#039;&#039;. There are many exceptions to this rule, and the Chicago Manual of Style has a [https://docslib.org/doc/6204848/the-chicago-manual-of-style-online-hyphenation-table helpful chart] listing most of them.  &lt;br /&gt;
* Also on the subject of hyphens, normally open compounds like &#039;&#039;first and last mile&#039;&#039; should be hyphenated when used as an adjective before a noun (i.e. &#039;&#039;first-mile&#039;&#039;, &#039;&#039;last-mile&#039;&#039;, &#039;&#039;first-/last-mile&#039;&#039;, or &#039;&#039;first- and last-mile&#039;&#039; in front of words like &#039;&#039;problem&#039;&#039; or &#039;&#039;connections&#039;&#039;). They should be left open, regardless of their grammatical function, if used after a noun or on their own.  &lt;br /&gt;
* The normal English rules of capitalization apply to our work: do not capitalize words unless they&#039;re a proper noun (including brand names) or the first word in a sentence. Do not capitalize because it&#039;s being abbreviated to something with capital letters (&#039;&#039;MaaS&#039;&#039; is &#039;&#039;mobility as a service&#039;&#039;, not &#039;&#039;Mobility as a Service&#039;&#039;), or just seems important to what you&#039;re writing.  &lt;br /&gt;
* Automated spell-checkers may have different ideas about what version is correct, so you might consider adding the preferred versions to a personal dictionary to avoid nagging and squiggly lines.&lt;br /&gt;
* We are not obligated to follow companies&#039; branding or promotional choices, particularly in use of ALL-CAPS (or conversely no caps at all) or other non-standard treatments of product names that are not initialisms. Treat these like you would any other proper noun: use normal Title Case. All caps in particular are both visually distracting and read like they&#039;re shouting. If you feel the brand marking deserves discussion (as in a case study or other extended treatment where the question might come up) you might do something like &amp;quot;The Twin Cities&#039; Hourcar service (stylized as HOURCAR), was launched in 2005.&amp;quot; You never need to include markers like™, ®, etc. Those are for companies&#039; defense of their own IP and are not our concern. For less visually distracting, but still nonstandard, names like eBay or iPad, it&#039;s probably easier to just follow the companies&#039; treatment (and no need to capitalize the first letter if you&#039;re starting a sentence with it, but try to avoid this since it&#039;s also distracting).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
If you&#039;re quoting something from a non-SUMC source that uses a different rendering of one of these terms, it&#039;s okay to correct it to our preferred (closed) version without indicating the correction with brackets. If a source uses an entirely different &#039;&#039;word,&#039;&#039; in a way that we define differently (seen most commonly with &#039;&#039;rideshare&#039;&#039; to mean &#039;&#039;ridehail&#039;&#039;), then you should substitute our preferred term but use brackets. (E.g., &amp;quot;The study followed more than 200 [ridehail] drivers on their lunch breaks.&amp;quot;) Formal academic or legal contexts have stricter rules about indicating changes, but the foregoing applies to general writing for sites and publications SUMC controls. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Where this list has entries with no further commentary, it represents the preferred rendering of the term(s), and further usage is assumed to be self-explanatory based on the general rules around hyphens/spacing, abbreviations, etc. If you find yourself frequently using a term that&#039;s not in this list, especially if it&#039;s something you see rendered in a number of different ways, please feel free to add an entry to this list. If this eventually gets too long, we can split it into separate pages, titled something like &amp;quot;Term (usage).&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Autonomous vehicles (AVs)&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Bikeshare&#039;&#039;&#039; or bikesharing &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Carshare&#039;&#039;&#039; or carsharing&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;First and last mile&#039;&#039;&#039;: Use space between words when referring to the concept alone (i.e. “the first and last mile on a transportation journey”). When using part or all of the term as an adjective &amp;lt;u&amp;gt;before&amp;lt;/u&amp;gt; a noun, hyphenate. &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Fixed-route transit&#039;&#039;&#039;: See &#039;&#039;&#039;Public transit&#039;&#039;&#039; &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Limousines&#039;&#039;&#039;: Used interchangeably with &#039;&#039;limos,&#039;&#039; but always &#039;&#039;limousines&#039;&#039; on first reference. &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Micromobility&#039;&#039;&#039;: This term should be used for fleet deployments of bikes and scooters, or else individually owned bikes or scooters used for personal trips--but not to mean bikes and/or scooters generally (just use &#039;&#039;bike&#039;&#039; or &#039;&#039;scooter&#039;&#039;), and definitely not for bikes/trikes transporting cargo or other non-personal loads. &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Microtransit&#039;&#039;&#039;: This is the preferred term for technology-enabled on-demand transit services, especially those that use mobile technology for ride requests, payment, and routing. Other terms that are related, but not necessarily interchangeable with microtransit:&lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Demand-responsive transit/transport (DRT)&#039;&#039;&#039;: Per [https://www.transit.dot.gov/ntd/national-transit-database-ntd-glossary#D NTD], this refers to &amp;quot;a transit mode comprised of passenger cars, vans or small buses operating in response to calls from passengers or their agents to the transit operator, who then dispatches a vehicle to pick up the passengers and transport them to their destinations.&amp;quot; This is the broadest term for this mode, of which microtransit and paratransit are subsets. Without modification, DRT is not necessarily tech-enabled, distinguishing it from &#039;&#039;microtransit&#039;&#039;, and is not limited to riders with disabilities, distinguishing it from &#039;&#039;paratransit&#039;&#039;.  &lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Paratransit&#039;&#039;&#039;: In olden times, and outside the US, &#039;&#039;paratransit&#039;&#039; was used to refer to DRT in general, but since the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), it&#039;s most commonly understood to mean wheelchair-accessible DRT for people with disabilities. Sometimes you&#039;ll see &#039;&#039;ADA paratransit&#039;&#039; to refer to the federally required service in the &amp;quot;shadow&amp;quot; of fixed routes, contrasted with &#039;&#039;premium paratransit&#039;&#039; to mean service provided outside the parameters of what&#039;s required (either in terms of timing, distance, or the passengers served). If you&#039;re talking about paratransit services that are not limited to qualified riders or people with disabilities, it might be useful to call it &#039;&#039;general-public paratransit&#039;&#039;.  &lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Flexible shuttle service&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Flex-route services&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Mobility as a service (MaaS)&#039;&#039;&#039;: Not capitalized and does not take hyphens in any position.&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Mobility on demand (MOD)&#039;&#039;&#039;: No hyphens, and need not be capitalized in general usage, but it should be in proper names (e.g. &amp;quot;Mobility on Demand Sandbox&amp;quot; but &amp;quot;six new mobility on demand (MOD) projects&amp;quot;).&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Policymaker&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Public transit&#039;&#039;&#039;: This term can be used interchangeably with &#039;&#039;public transportation&#039;&#039; to refer to either the service or the industry generally. It should not be used interchangeably with &#039;&#039;fixed-route transit,&#039;&#039; which you should use only when you want to refer to scheduled bus or train service that operates on a specific route.&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Ridehail&#039;&#039;&#039; or ridehailing: This is SUMC&#039;s preferred term for commercial, on-demand small-vehicle taxi service provided by Uber and Lyft. Many writers, with the industry&#039;s urging, use &#039;&#039;ridesharing&#039;&#039; instead, but in our work this should be reserved for non-commercial carpool-like services where the rider and passengers actually share a destination. You&#039;ll often see it used interchangeably with the following, and it&#039;s not worth correcting when quoting (beyond fixing space or hyphenation):&lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Transportation network company/companies (TNCs)&#039;&#039;&#039;: This originates with the California legal definition of the service type, the first statutory definition in the US. &lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Ridesourcing&#039;&#039;&#039;: Means the same thing as &#039;&#039;ridehailing&#039;&#039;, and in early SUMC publications we often preferred this, but now we&#039;re grown and prefer &#039;&#039;-hailing&#039;&#039; in our own original writing. &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Ridesharing&#039;&#039;&#039;: Use only to refer to non-commercial carpool-like services where the rider and passengers actually share a destination. It should not be used for what Uber does. This term can be used interchangeably with:&lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Carpool/carpooling&#039;&#039;&#039; &lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Slugging&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Community carpool&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Scootersharing&#039;&#039;&#039;: Please refer to the shared mode as &#039;&#039;electric scootershare/scootersharing&#039;&#039; or &#039;&#039;scootershare/scootersharing&#039;&#039;. Do not use &#039;&#039;e-scootershare/e-scootersharing&#039;&#039;. If referring to electric scooters themselves, individually or as a group, shared or not, it&#039;s fine to use &#039;&#039;e-scooters&#039;&#039; or &#039;&#039;electric scooters&#039;&#039;.&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Shared mobility&#039;&#039;&#039;: This is a preferred term but can be used interchangeably with &#039;&#039;shared-use mobility,&#039;&#039; in which you should always hyphenate shared-use.&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Taxis&#039;&#039;&#039;: Interchangeable with &#039;&#039;taxi services&#039;&#039;.&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Wheelchair-accessible vehicles (WAVs)&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Wikimaster</name></author>
	</entry>
	<entry>
		<id>http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=SUMC_preferred_usage&amp;diff=28</id>
		<title>SUMC preferred usage</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=SUMC_preferred_usage&amp;diff=28"/>
		<updated>2026-03-31T19:09:52Z</updated>

		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Wikimaster: &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;These are the preferred ways to use various terms from our industry. For terms not included here, see the [[style authorities]] page for general guidelines.  &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&#039;&#039;&#039;General rules:&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
* For terms like &#039;&#039;electric vehicles&#039;&#039; that are commonly referred to by initialisms, spell out the term on the first usage in a work or a major section, and indicate the abbreviation in parentheses. After that, you can use the initials (e.g., &amp;quot;electric vehicles (EVs)&amp;quot; on first use, &amp;quot;EVs&amp;quot; thereafter).&lt;br /&gt;
* Unless otherwise indicated, we prefer closed compounds to hyphenated or open ones. So, &#039;&#039;bikeshare&#039;&#039;, not &#039;&#039;bike-share&#039;&#039; or &#039;&#039;bike share&#039;&#039;. There are many exceptions to this rule, and the Chicago Manual of Style has a [https://docslib.org/doc/6204848/the-chicago-manual-of-style-online-hyphenation-table helpful chart] listing most of them.  &lt;br /&gt;
* Also on the subject of hyphens, normally open compounds like &#039;&#039;first and last mile&#039;&#039; should be hyphenated when used as an adjective before a noun (i.e. &#039;&#039;first-mile&#039;&#039;, &#039;&#039;last-mile&#039;&#039;, &#039;&#039;first-/last-mile&#039;&#039;, or &#039;&#039;first- and last-mile&#039;&#039; in front of words like &#039;&#039;problem&#039;&#039; or &#039;&#039;connections&#039;&#039;). They should be left open, regardless of their grammatical function, if used after a noun or on their own.  &lt;br /&gt;
* The normal English rules of capitalization apply to our work: do not capitalize words unless they&#039;re a proper noun (including brand names) or the first word in a sentence. Do not capitalize because it&#039;s being abbreviated to something with capital letters (&#039;&#039;MaaS&#039;&#039; is &#039;&#039;mobility as a service&#039;&#039;, not &#039;&#039;Mobility as a Service&#039;&#039;), or just seems important to what you&#039;re writing.  &lt;br /&gt;
* Automated spell-checkers may have different ideas about what version is correct, so you might consider adding the preferred versions to a personal dictionary to avoid nagging and squiggly lines.&lt;br /&gt;
* We are not obligated to follow companies&#039; branding or promotional choices, particularly in use of ALL-CAPS (or conversely no caps at all) or other non-standard treatments of product names that are not initialisms. Treat these like you would any other proper noun: use normal Title Case. All caps in particular are both visually distracting and read like they&#039;re shouting. If you feel the brand marking deserves discussion (as in a case study or other extended treatment where the question might come up) you might do something like &amp;quot;The Twin Cities&#039; Hourcar service (stylized as HOURCAR), was launched in 2005&amp;quot;. You never need to include markers like™, ®, etc. Those are for companies&#039; defense of their own IP and are not our concern. For less visually distracting, but still nonstandard, names like eBay or iPad, it&#039;s probably easier to just follow the companies&#039; treatment (and no need to capitalize the first letter if you&#039;re starting a sentence with it, but try to avoid this since it&#039;s also distracting).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
If you&#039;re quoting something from a non-SUMC source that uses a different rendering of one of these terms, it&#039;s okay to correct it to our preferred (closed) version without indicating the correction with brackets. If a source uses an entirely different &#039;&#039;word,&#039;&#039; in a way that we define differently (seen most commonly with &#039;&#039;rideshare&#039;&#039; to mean &#039;&#039;ridehail&#039;&#039;), then you should substitute our preferred term but use brackets. (E.g., &amp;quot;The study followed more than 200 [ridehail] drivers on their lunch breaks.&amp;quot;) Formal academic or legal contexts have stricter rules about indicating changes, but the foregoing applies to general writing for sites and publications SUMC controls. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Where this list has entries with no further commentary, it represents the preferred rendering of the term(s), and further usage is assumed to be self-explanatory based on the general rules around hyphens/spacing, abbreviations, etc. If you find yourself frequently using a term that&#039;s not in this list, especially if it&#039;s something you see rendered in a number of different ways, please feel free to add an entry to this list. If this eventually gets too long, we can split it into separate pages, titled something like &amp;quot;Term (usage).&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Autonomous vehicles (AVs)&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Bikeshare&#039;&#039;&#039; or bikesharing &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Carshare&#039;&#039;&#039; or carsharing&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;First and last mile&#039;&#039;&#039;: Use space between words when referring to the concept alone (i.e. “the first and last mile on a transportation journey”). When using part or all of the term as an adjective &amp;lt;u&amp;gt;before&amp;lt;/u&amp;gt; a noun, hyphenate. &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Fixed-route transit&#039;&#039;&#039;: See &#039;&#039;&#039;Public transit&#039;&#039;&#039; &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Limousines&#039;&#039;&#039;: Used interchangeably with &#039;&#039;limos,&#039;&#039; but always &#039;&#039;limousines&#039;&#039; on first reference. &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Micromobility&#039;&#039;&#039;: This term should be used for fleet deployments of bikes and scooters, or else individually owned bikes or scooters used for personal trips--but not to mean bikes and/or scooters generally (just use &#039;&#039;bike&#039;&#039; or &#039;&#039;scooter&#039;&#039;), and definitely not for bikes/trikes transporting cargo or other non-personal loads. &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Microtransit&#039;&#039;&#039;: This is the preferred term for technology-enabled on-demand transit services, especially those that use mobile technology for ride requests, payment, and routing. Other terms that are related, but not necessarily interchangeable with microtransit:&lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Demand-responsive transit/transport (DRT)&#039;&#039;&#039;: Per [https://www.transit.dot.gov/ntd/national-transit-database-ntd-glossary#D NTD], this refers to &amp;quot;a transit mode comprised of passenger cars, vans or small buses operating in response to calls from passengers or their agents to the transit operator, who then dispatches a vehicle to pick up the passengers and transport them to their destinations.&amp;quot; This is the broadest term for this mode, of which microtransit and paratransit are subsets. Without modification, DRT is not necessarily tech-enabled, distinguishing it from &#039;&#039;microtransit&#039;&#039;, and is not limited to riders with disabilities, distinguishing it from &#039;&#039;paratransit&#039;&#039;.  &lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Paratransit&#039;&#039;&#039;: In olden times, and outside the US, &#039;&#039;paratransit&#039;&#039; was used to refer to DRT in general, but since the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), it&#039;s most commonly understood to mean wheelchair-accessible DRT for people with disabilities. Sometimes you&#039;ll see &#039;&#039;ADA paratransit&#039;&#039; to refer to the federally required service in the &amp;quot;shadow&amp;quot; of fixed routes, contrasted with &#039;&#039;premium paratransit&#039;&#039; to mean service provided outside the parameters of what&#039;s required (either in terms of timing, distance, or the passengers served). If you&#039;re talking about paratransit services that are not limited to qualified riders or people with disabilities, it might be useful to call it &#039;&#039;general-public paratransit&#039;&#039;.  &lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Flexible shuttle service&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Flex-route services&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Mobility as a service (MaaS)&#039;&#039;&#039;: Not capitalized and does not take hyphens in any position.&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Mobility on demand (MOD)&#039;&#039;&#039;: No hyphens, and need not be capitalized in general usage, but it should be in proper names (e.g. &amp;quot;Mobility on Demand Sandbox&amp;quot; but &amp;quot;six new mobility on demand (MOD) projects&amp;quot;).&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Policymaker&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Public transit&#039;&#039;&#039;: This term can be used interchangeably with &#039;&#039;public transportation&#039;&#039; to refer to either the service or the industry generally. It should not be used interchangeably with &#039;&#039;fixed-route transit,&#039;&#039; which you should use only when you want to refer to scheduled bus or train service that operates on a specific route.&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Ridehail&#039;&#039;&#039; or ridehailing: This is SUMC&#039;s preferred term for commercial, on-demand small-vehicle taxi service provided by Uber and Lyft. Many writers, with the industry&#039;s urging, use &#039;&#039;ridesharing&#039;&#039; instead, but in our work this should be reserved for non-commercial carpool-like services where the rider and passengers actually share a destination. You&#039;ll often see it used interchangeably with the following, and it&#039;s not worth correcting when quoting (beyond fixing space or hyphenation):&lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Transportation network company/companies (TNCs)&#039;&#039;&#039;: This originates with the California legal definition of the service type, the first statutory definition in the US. &lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Ridesourcing&#039;&#039;&#039;: Means the same thing as &#039;&#039;ridehailing&#039;&#039;, and in early SUMC publications we often preferred this, but now we&#039;re grown and prefer &#039;&#039;-hailing&#039;&#039; in our own original writing. &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Ridesharing&#039;&#039;&#039;: Use only to refer to non-commercial carpool-like services where the rider and passengers actually share a destination. It should not be used for what Uber does. This term can be used interchangeably with:&lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Carpool/carpooling&#039;&#039;&#039; &lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Slugging&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Community carpool&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Scootersharing&#039;&#039;&#039;: Please refer to the shared mode as &#039;&#039;electric scootershare/scootersharing&#039;&#039; or &#039;&#039;scootershare/scootersharing&#039;&#039;. Do not use &#039;&#039;e-scootershare/e-scootersharing&#039;&#039;. If referring to electric scooters themselves, individually or as a group, shared or not, it&#039;s fine to use &#039;&#039;e-scooters&#039;&#039; or &#039;&#039;electric scooters&#039;&#039;.&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Shared mobility&#039;&#039;&#039;: This is a preferred term but can be used interchangeably with &#039;&#039;shared-use mobility,&#039;&#039; in which you should always hyphenate shared-use.&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Taxis&#039;&#039;&#039;: Interchangeable with &#039;&#039;taxi services&#039;&#039;.&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Wheelchair-accessible vehicles (WAVs)&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Wikimaster</name></author>
	</entry>
	<entry>
		<id>http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=SUMC_preferred_usage&amp;diff=27</id>
		<title>SUMC preferred usage</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=SUMC_preferred_usage&amp;diff=27"/>
		<updated>2026-03-31T19:08:07Z</updated>

		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Wikimaster: &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;These are the preferred ways to use various terms from our industry. For terms not included here, see the [[style authorities]] page for general guidelines.  &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&#039;&#039;&#039;General rules:&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
* For terms like &#039;&#039;electric vehicles&#039;&#039; that are commonly referred to by initialisms, spell out the term on the first usage in a work or a major section, and indicate the abbreviation in parentheses. After that, you can use the initials (e.g., &amp;quot;electric vehicles (EVs)&amp;quot; on first use, &amp;quot;EVs&amp;quot; thereafter).&lt;br /&gt;
* Unless otherwise indicated, we prefer closed compounds to hyphenated or open ones. So, &#039;&#039;bikeshare&#039;&#039;, not &#039;&#039;bike-share&#039;&#039; or &#039;&#039;bike share&#039;&#039;. There are many exceptions to this rule, and the Chicago Manual of Style has a [https://docslib.org/doc/6204848/the-chicago-manual-of-style-online-hyphenation-table helpful chart] listing most of them.  &lt;br /&gt;
* Also on the subject of hyphens, normally open compounds like &#039;&#039;first and last mile&#039;&#039; should be hyphenated when used as an adjective before a noun (i.e. &#039;&#039;first-mile&#039;&#039;, &#039;&#039;last-mile&#039;&#039;, &#039;&#039;first-/last-mile&#039;&#039;, or &#039;&#039;first- and last-mile&#039;&#039; in front of words like &#039;&#039;problem&#039;&#039; or &#039;&#039;connections&#039;&#039;). They should be left open, regardless of their grammatical function, if used after a noun or on their own.  &lt;br /&gt;
* The normal English rules of capitalization apply to our work: do not capitalize words unless they&#039;re a proper noun (including brand names) or the first word in a sentence. Do not capitalize because it&#039;s being abbreviated to something with capital letters (&#039;&#039;MaaS&#039;&#039; is &#039;&#039;mobility as a service&#039;&#039;, not &#039;&#039;Mobility as a Service&#039;&#039;), or just seems important to what you&#039;re writing.  &lt;br /&gt;
* Automated spell-checkers may have different ideas about what version is correct, so you might consider adding the preferred versions to a personal dictionary to avoid nagging and squiggly lines.&lt;br /&gt;
* We are not obligated to follow companies&#039; branding or promotional choices, particularly in use of ALL-CAPS (or conversely no caps at all) or other non-standard treatments of product names that are not initialisms. Treat these like you would any other proper noun: use normal Title Case. All caps in particular provide If you feel the brand marking deserves discussion (as in a case study or other extended treatment where the question might come up) you might do something like &amp;quot;The Twin Cities&#039; Hourcar service (stylized as HOURCAR), was launched in 2005&amp;quot;. You never need to include markers like™, ®, etc. Those are for companies&#039; defense of their own IP and are not our concern. For less visually distracting, but still nonstandard, names like eBay or iPad, it&#039;s probably easier to just follow the companies&#039; treatment (and no need to capitalize the first letter if you&#039;re starting a sentence with it, but try to avoid this since it&#039;s also distracting).  &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
If you&#039;re quoting something from a non-SUMC source that uses a different rendering of one of these terms, it&#039;s okay to correct it to our preferred (closed) version without indicating the correction with brackets. If a source uses an entirely different &#039;&#039;word,&#039;&#039; in a way that we define differently (seen most commonly with &#039;&#039;rideshare&#039;&#039; to mean &#039;&#039;ridehail&#039;&#039;), then you should substitute our preferred term but use brackets. (E.g., &amp;quot;The study followed more than 200 [ridehail] drivers on their lunch breaks.&amp;quot;) Formal academic or legal contexts have stricter rules about indicating changes, but the foregoing applies to general writing for sites and publications SUMC controls. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Where this list has entries with no further commentary, it represents the preferred rendering of the term(s), and further usage is assumed to be self-explanatory based on the general rules around hyphens/spacing, abbreviations, etc. If you find yourself frequently using a term that&#039;s not in this list, especially if it&#039;s something you see rendered in a number of different ways, please feel free to add an entry to this list. If this eventually gets too long, we can split it into separate pages, titled something like &amp;quot;Term (usage).&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Autonomous vehicles (AVs)&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Bikeshare&#039;&#039;&#039; or bikesharing &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Carshare&#039;&#039;&#039; or carsharing&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;First and last mile&#039;&#039;&#039;: Use space between words when referring to the concept alone (i.e. “the first and last mile on a transportation journey”). When using part or all of the term as an adjective &amp;lt;u&amp;gt;before&amp;lt;/u&amp;gt; a noun, hyphenate. &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Fixed-route transit&#039;&#039;&#039;: See &#039;&#039;&#039;Public transit&#039;&#039;&#039; &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Limousines&#039;&#039;&#039;: Used interchangeably with &#039;&#039;limos,&#039;&#039; but always &#039;&#039;limousines&#039;&#039; on first reference. &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Micromobility&#039;&#039;&#039;: This term should be used for fleet deployments of bikes and scooters, or else individually owned bikes or scooters used for personal trips--but not to mean bikes and/or scooters generally (just use &#039;&#039;bike&#039;&#039; or &#039;&#039;scooter&#039;&#039;), and definitely not for bikes/trikes transporting cargo or other non-personal loads. &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Microtransit&#039;&#039;&#039;: This is the preferred term for technology-enabled on-demand transit services, especially those that use mobile technology for ride requests, payment, and routing. Other terms that are related, but not necessarily interchangeable with microtransit:&lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Demand-responsive transit/transport (DRT)&#039;&#039;&#039;: Per [https://www.transit.dot.gov/ntd/national-transit-database-ntd-glossary#D NTD], this refers to &amp;quot;a transit mode comprised of passenger cars, vans or small buses operating in response to calls from passengers or their agents to the transit operator, who then dispatches a vehicle to pick up the passengers and transport them to their destinations.&amp;quot; This is the broadest term for this mode, of which microtransit and paratransit are subsets. Without modification, DRT is not necessarily tech-enabled, distinguishing it from &#039;&#039;microtransit&#039;&#039;, and is not limited to riders with disabilities, distinguishing it from &#039;&#039;paratransit&#039;&#039;.  &lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Paratransit&#039;&#039;&#039;: In olden times, and outside the US, &#039;&#039;paratransit&#039;&#039; was used to refer to DRT in general, but since the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), it&#039;s most commonly understood to mean wheelchair-accessible DRT for people with disabilities. Sometimes you&#039;ll see &#039;&#039;ADA paratransit&#039;&#039; to refer to the federally required service in the &amp;quot;shadow&amp;quot; of fixed routes, contrasted with &#039;&#039;premium paratransit&#039;&#039; to mean service provided outside the parameters of what&#039;s required (either in terms of timing, distance, or the passengers served). If you&#039;re talking about paratransit services that are not limited to qualified riders or people with disabilities, it might be useful to call it &#039;&#039;general-public paratransit&#039;&#039;.  &lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Flexible shuttle service&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Flex-route services&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Mobility as a service (MaaS)&#039;&#039;&#039;: Not capitalized and does not take hyphens in any position.&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Mobility on demand (MOD)&#039;&#039;&#039;: No hyphens, and need not be capitalized in general usage, but it should be in proper names (e.g. &amp;quot;Mobility on Demand Sandbox&amp;quot; but &amp;quot;six new mobility on demand (MOD) projects&amp;quot;).&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Policymaker&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Public transit&#039;&#039;&#039;: This term can be used interchangeably with &#039;&#039;public transportation&#039;&#039; to refer to either the service or the industry generally. It should not be used interchangeably with &#039;&#039;fixed-route transit,&#039;&#039; which you should use only when you want to refer to scheduled bus or train service that operates on a specific route.&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Ridehail&#039;&#039;&#039; or ridehailing: This is SUMC&#039;s preferred term for commercial, on-demand small-vehicle taxi service provided by Uber and Lyft. Many writers, with the industry&#039;s urging, use &#039;&#039;ridesharing&#039;&#039; instead, but in our work this should be reserved for non-commercial carpool-like services where the rider and passengers actually share a destination. You&#039;ll often see it used interchangeably with the following, and it&#039;s not worth correcting when quoting (beyond fixing space or hyphenation):&lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Transportation network company/companies (TNCs)&#039;&#039;&#039;: This originates with the California legal definition of the service type, the first statutory definition in the US. &lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Ridesourcing&#039;&#039;&#039;: Means the same thing as &#039;&#039;ridehailing&#039;&#039;, and in early SUMC publications we often preferred this, but now we&#039;re grown and prefer &#039;&#039;-hailing&#039;&#039; in our own original writing. &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Ridesharing&#039;&#039;&#039;: Use only to refer to non-commercial carpool-like services where the rider and passengers actually share a destination. It should not be used for what Uber does. This term can be used interchangeably with:&lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Carpool/carpooling&#039;&#039;&#039; &lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Slugging&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Community carpool&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Scootersharing&#039;&#039;&#039;: Please refer to the shared mode as &#039;&#039;electric scootershare/scootersharing&#039;&#039; or &#039;&#039;scootershare/scootersharing&#039;&#039;. Do not use &#039;&#039;e-scootershare/e-scootersharing&#039;&#039;. If referring to electric scooters themselves, individually or as a group, shared or not, it&#039;s fine to use &#039;&#039;e-scooters&#039;&#039; or &#039;&#039;electric scooters&#039;&#039;.&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Shared mobility&#039;&#039;&#039;: This is a preferred term but can be used interchangeably with &#039;&#039;shared-use mobility,&#039;&#039; in which you should always hyphenate shared-use.&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Taxis&#039;&#039;&#039;: Interchangeable with &#039;&#039;taxi services&#039;&#039;.&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Wheelchair-accessible vehicles (WAVs)&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Wikimaster</name></author>
	</entry>
	<entry>
		<id>http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Main_Page&amp;diff=26</id>
		<title>Main Page</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Main_Page&amp;diff=26"/>
		<updated>2026-03-30T19:39:40Z</updated>

		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Wikimaster: hid general info&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&amp;lt;strong&amp;gt;Welcome to the SUMC style and usage guide&amp;lt;/strong&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
This wiki is all about how written work by SUMC should look and feel. It&#039;s a wiki, so you can create and edit pages. Just register for an account, log in, and you can start editing. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Here are some pages:&lt;br /&gt;
* [[SUMC preferred usage]]&lt;br /&gt;
* [[References and bibliographies]]&lt;br /&gt;
* General guidelines for [[alt text]] and [[Detailed best practices for alt text|detailed best practices for it]]&lt;br /&gt;
* [[Style authorities]]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;!-- == Getting started ==&lt;br /&gt;
Consult the [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Help:Contents User&#039;s Guide] for information on using the wiki software.&lt;br /&gt;
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Manual:Configuration_settings Configuration settings list]&lt;br /&gt;
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Manual:FAQ MediaWiki FAQ]&lt;br /&gt;
* [https://lists.wikimedia.org/postorius/lists/mediawiki-announce.lists.wikimedia.org/ MediaWiki release mailing list]&lt;br /&gt;
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Localisation#Translation_resources Localise MediaWiki for your language]&lt;br /&gt;
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Manual:Combating_spam Learn how to combat spam on your wiki]&lt;br /&gt;
--&amp;gt;&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Wikimaster</name></author>
	</entry>
	<entry>
		<id>http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Style_authorities&amp;diff=25</id>
		<title>Style authorities</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Style_authorities&amp;diff=25"/>
		<updated>2026-03-30T19:31:08Z</updated>

		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Wikimaster: &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;The following are the preferred authorities for style, usage, and spelling not specified in this guide:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&#039;&#039;&#039;General style, references and bibliographies:&#039;&#039;&#039; [https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/home.html Chicago Manual of Style], latest edition&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
* [[References and bibliographies|Quick guide to CMS-style citation]]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&#039;&#039;&#039;Spelling, definitions, synonyms, and basic usage:&#039;&#039;&#039; [https://www.merriam-webster.com/ Webster&#039;s Dictionary online]&lt;br /&gt;
    &lt;br /&gt;
&#039;&#039;&#039;Transit-specific terminology:&#039;&#039;&#039; [https://www.transit.dot.gov/ntd/national-transit-database-ntd-glossary National Transit Database Glossary]&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Wikimaster</name></author>
	</entry>
	<entry>
		<id>http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=SUMC_preferred_usage&amp;diff=24</id>
		<title>SUMC preferred usage</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=SUMC_preferred_usage&amp;diff=24"/>
		<updated>2026-03-30T19:30:12Z</updated>

		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Wikimaster: &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;These are the preferred ways to use various terms from our industry. For terms not included here, see the [[style authorities]] page for general guidelines.  &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&#039;&#039;&#039;General rules:&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
* For terms like &#039;&#039;electric vehicles&#039;&#039; that are commonly referred to by initialisms, spell out the term on the first usage in a work or a major section, and indicate the abbreviation in parentheses. After that, you can use the initials (e.g., &amp;quot;electric vehicles (EVs)&amp;quot; on first use, &amp;quot;EVs&amp;quot; thereafter).&lt;br /&gt;
* Unless otherwise indicated, we prefer closed compounds to hyphenated or open ones. So, &#039;&#039;bikeshare&#039;&#039;, not &#039;&#039;bike-share&#039;&#039; or &#039;&#039;bike share&#039;&#039;. There are many exceptions to this rule, and the Chicago Manual of Style has a [https://docslib.org/doc/6204848/the-chicago-manual-of-style-online-hyphenation-table helpful chart] listing most of them.  &lt;br /&gt;
* Also on the subject of hyphens, normally open compounds like &#039;&#039;first and last mile&#039;&#039; should be hyphenated when used as an adjective before a noun (i.e. &#039;&#039;first-mile&#039;&#039;, &#039;&#039;last-mile&#039;&#039;, &#039;&#039;first-/last-mile&#039;&#039;, or &#039;&#039;first- and last-mile&#039;&#039; in front of words like &#039;&#039;problem&#039;&#039; or &#039;&#039;connections&#039;&#039;). They should be left open, regardless of their grammatical function, if used after a noun or on their own.  &lt;br /&gt;
* The normal English rules of capitalization apply to our work: do not capitalize words unless they&#039;re a proper noun (including brand names) or the first word in a sentence. Do not capitalize because it&#039;s being abbreviated to something with capital letters, or just seems important to what you&#039;re writing.  &lt;br /&gt;
* Automated spell-checkers may have different ideas about what version is correct, so you might consider adding the preferred versions to a personal dictionary to avoid nagging and squiggly lines.&lt;br /&gt;
* We are not obligated to follow companies&#039; branding or promotional choices, particularly in use of ALL-CAPS (or conversely no caps at all) or other non-standard treatments of product names that are not initialisms. Treat these like you would any other proper noun: use normal Title Case. All caps in particular provide If you feel the brand marking deserves discussion (as in a case study or other extended treatment where the question might come up) you might do something like &amp;quot;The Twin Cities&#039; Hourcar service (stylized as HOURCAR), was launched in 2005&amp;quot;. You never need to include markers like™, ®, etc. Those are for companies&#039; defense of their own IP and are not our concern. For less visually distracting, but still nonstandard, names like eBay or iPad, it&#039;s probably easier to just follow the companies&#039; treatment (and no need to capitalize the first letter if you&#039;re starting a sentence with it, but try to avoid this since it&#039;s also distracting).  &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
If you&#039;re quoting something from a non-SUMC source that uses a different rendering of one of these terms, it&#039;s okay to correct it to our preferred (closed) version without indicating the correction with brackets. If a source uses an entirely different &#039;&#039;word,&#039;&#039; in a way that we define differently (seen most commonly with &#039;&#039;rideshare&#039;&#039; to mean &#039;&#039;ridehail&#039;&#039;), then you should substitute our preferred term but use brackets. (E.g., &amp;quot;The study followed more than 200 [ridehail] drivers on their lunch breaks.&amp;quot;) Formal academic or legal contexts have stricter rules about indicating changes, but the foregoing applies to general writing for sites and publications SUMC controls. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Where this list has entries with no further commentary, it represents the preferred rendering of the term(s), and further usage is assumed to be self-explanatory based on the general rules around hyphens/spacing, abbreviations, etc. If you find yourself frequently using a term that&#039;s not in this list, especially if it&#039;s something you see rendered in a number of different ways, please feel free to add an entry to this list. If this eventually gets too long, we can split it into separate pages, titled something like &amp;quot;Term (usage).&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Autonomous vehicles (AVs)&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Bikeshare&#039;&#039;&#039; or bikesharing &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Carshare&#039;&#039;&#039; or carsharing&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;First and last mile&#039;&#039;&#039;: Use space between words when referring to the concept alone (i.e. “the first and last mile on a transportation journey”). When using part or all of the term as an adjective &amp;lt;u&amp;gt;before&amp;lt;/u&amp;gt; a noun, hyphenate. &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Fixed-route transit&#039;&#039;&#039;: See &#039;&#039;&#039;Public transit&#039;&#039;&#039; &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Limousines&#039;&#039;&#039;: Used interchangeably with &#039;&#039;limos,&#039;&#039; but always &#039;&#039;limousines&#039;&#039; on first reference. &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Micromobility&#039;&#039;&#039;: This term should be used for fleet deployments of bikes and scooters, or else individually owned bikes or scooters used for personal trips--but not to mean bikes and/or scooters generally (just use &#039;&#039;bike&#039;&#039; or &#039;&#039;scooter&#039;&#039;), and definitely not for bikes/trikes transporting cargo or other non-personal loads. &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Microtransit&#039;&#039;&#039;: This is the preferred term for technology-enabled on-demand transit services, especially those that use mobile technology for ride requests, payment, and routing. Other terms that are related, but not necessarily interchangeable with microtransit:&lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Demand-responsive transit/transport (DRT)&#039;&#039;&#039;: Per [https://www.transit.dot.gov/ntd/national-transit-database-ntd-glossary#D NTD], this refers to &amp;quot;a transit mode comprised of passenger cars, vans or small buses operating in response to calls from passengers or their agents to the transit operator, who then dispatches a vehicle to pick up the passengers and transport them to their destinations.&amp;quot; This is the broadest term for this mode, of which microtransit and paratransit are subsets. Without modification, DRT is not necessarily tech-enabled, distinguishing it from &#039;&#039;microtransit&#039;&#039;, and is not limited to riders with disabilities, distinguishing it from &#039;&#039;paratransit&#039;&#039;.  &lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Paratransit&#039;&#039;&#039;: In olden times, and outside the US, &#039;&#039;paratransit&#039;&#039; was used to refer to DRT in general, but since the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), it&#039;s most commonly understood to mean wheelchair-accessible DRT for people with disabilities. Sometimes you&#039;ll see &#039;&#039;ADA paratransit&#039;&#039; to refer to the federally required service in the &amp;quot;shadow&amp;quot; of fixed routes, contrasted with &#039;&#039;premium paratransit&#039;&#039; to mean service provided outside the parameters of what&#039;s required (either in terms of timing, distance, or the passengers served). If you&#039;re talking about paratransit services that are not limited to qualified riders or people with disabilities, it might be useful to call it &#039;&#039;general-public paratransit&#039;&#039;.  &lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Flexible shuttle service&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Flex-route services&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Mobility as a service (MaaS)&#039;&#039;&#039;: Not capitalized and does not take hyphens in any position.&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Mobility on demand (MOD)&#039;&#039;&#039;: No hyphens, and need not be capitalized in general usage, but it should be in proper names (e.g. &amp;quot;Mobility on Demand Sandbox&amp;quot; but &amp;quot;six new mobility on demand (MOD) projects&amp;quot;).&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Policymaker&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Public transit&#039;&#039;&#039;: This term can be used interchangeably with &#039;&#039;public transportation&#039;&#039; to refer to either the service or the industry generally. It should not be used interchangeably with &#039;&#039;fixed-route transit,&#039;&#039; which you should use only when you want to refer to scheduled bus or train service that operates on a specific route.&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Ridehail&#039;&#039;&#039; or ridehailing: This is SUMC&#039;s preferred term for commercial, on-demand small-vehicle taxi service provided by Uber and Lyft. Many writers, with the industry&#039;s urging, use &#039;&#039;ridesharing&#039;&#039; instead, but in our work this should be reserved for non-commercial carpool-like services where the rider and passengers actually share a destination. You&#039;ll often see it used interchangeably with the following, and it&#039;s not worth correcting when quoting (beyond fixing space or hyphenation):&lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Transportation network company/companies (TNCs)&#039;&#039;&#039;: This originates with the California legal definition of the service type, the first statutory definition in the US. &lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Ridesourcing&#039;&#039;&#039;: Means the same thing as &#039;&#039;ridehailing&#039;&#039;, and in early SUMC publications we often preferred this, but now we&#039;re grown and prefer &#039;&#039;-hailing&#039;&#039; in our own original writing. &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Ridesharing&#039;&#039;&#039;: Use only to refer to non-commercial carpool-like services where the rider and passengers actually share a destination. It should not be used for what Uber does. This term can be used interchangeably with:&lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Carpool/carpooling&#039;&#039;&#039; &lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Slugging&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Community carpool&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Scootersharing&#039;&#039;&#039;: Please refer to the shared mode as &#039;&#039;electric scootershare/scootersharing&#039;&#039; or &#039;&#039;scootershare/scootersharing&#039;&#039;. Do not use &#039;&#039;e-scootershare/e-scootersharing&#039;&#039;. If referring to electric scooters themselves, individually or as a group, shared or not, it&#039;s fine to use &#039;&#039;e-scooters&#039;&#039; or &#039;&#039;electric scooters&#039;&#039;.&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Shared mobility&#039;&#039;&#039;: This is a preferred term but can be used interchangeably with &#039;&#039;shared-use mobility,&#039;&#039; in which you should always hyphenate shared-use.&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Taxis&#039;&#039;&#039;: Interchangeable with &#039;&#039;taxi services&#039;&#039;.&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Wheelchair-accessible vehicles (WAVs)&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Wikimaster</name></author>
	</entry>
	<entry>
		<id>http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Style_authorities&amp;diff=23</id>
		<title>Style authorities</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Style_authorities&amp;diff=23"/>
		<updated>2026-03-30T19:29:43Z</updated>

		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Wikimaster: &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;The following are the preferred authorities for style, usage, and spelling not specified in this guide:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&#039;&#039;&#039;General style, references and bibliographies:&#039;&#039;&#039; [https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/home.html Chicago Manual of Style], latest edition&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
* [https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html Quick guide to CMS-style citation]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&#039;&#039;&#039;Spelling, definitions, synonyms, and basic usage:&#039;&#039;&#039; [https://www.merriam-webster.com/ Webster&#039;s Dictionary online]&lt;br /&gt;
    &lt;br /&gt;
&#039;&#039;&#039;Transit-specific terminology:&#039;&#039;&#039; [https://www.transit.dot.gov/ntd/national-transit-database-ntd-glossary National Transit Database Glossary]&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Wikimaster</name></author>
	</entry>
	<entry>
		<id>http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Main_Page&amp;diff=22</id>
		<title>Main Page</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Main_Page&amp;diff=22"/>
		<updated>2026-03-30T19:27:55Z</updated>

		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Wikimaster: &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&amp;lt;strong&amp;gt;Welcome to the SUMC style and usage guide&amp;lt;/strong&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
This wiki is all about how written work by SUMC should look and feel. It&#039;s a wiki, so you can create and edit pages. Just register for an account, log in, and you can start editing. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Here are some pages:&lt;br /&gt;
* [[SUMC preferred usage]]&lt;br /&gt;
* [[References and bibliographies]]&lt;br /&gt;
* General guidelines for [[alt text]] and [[Detailed best practices for alt text|detailed best practices for it]]&lt;br /&gt;
* [[Style authorities]]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== Getting started ==&lt;br /&gt;
Consult the [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Help:Contents User&#039;s Guide] for information on using the wiki software.&lt;br /&gt;
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Manual:Configuration_settings Configuration settings list]&lt;br /&gt;
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Manual:FAQ MediaWiki FAQ]&lt;br /&gt;
* [https://lists.wikimedia.org/postorius/lists/mediawiki-announce.lists.wikimedia.org/ MediaWiki release mailing list]&lt;br /&gt;
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Localisation#Translation_resources Localise MediaWiki for your language]&lt;br /&gt;
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Manual:Combating_spam Learn how to combat spam on your wiki]&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Wikimaster</name></author>
	</entry>
	<entry>
		<id>http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Main_Page&amp;diff=21</id>
		<title>Main Page</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Main_Page&amp;diff=21"/>
		<updated>2026-03-30T19:27:35Z</updated>

		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Wikimaster: &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&amp;lt;strong&amp;gt;Welcome to the SUMC style and usage guide&amp;lt;/strong&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
This wiki is all about how written work by SUMC should look and feel. It&#039;s a wiki, so you can create and edit pages. Just register for an account, log in, and you can start editing. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Here are some pages:&lt;br /&gt;
* [[SUMC preferred usage]]&lt;br /&gt;
* [[References and bibliographies]]&lt;br /&gt;
* General guidelines for [[alt text]] and [[Detailed best practices for alt text|very detailed best practices for alt text]]&lt;br /&gt;
* [[Style authorities]]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== Getting started ==&lt;br /&gt;
Consult the [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Help:Contents User&#039;s Guide] for information on using the wiki software.&lt;br /&gt;
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Manual:Configuration_settings Configuration settings list]&lt;br /&gt;
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Manual:FAQ MediaWiki FAQ]&lt;br /&gt;
* [https://lists.wikimedia.org/postorius/lists/mediawiki-announce.lists.wikimedia.org/ MediaWiki release mailing list]&lt;br /&gt;
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Localisation#Translation_resources Localise MediaWiki for your language]&lt;br /&gt;
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Manual:Combating_spam Learn how to combat spam on your wiki]&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Wikimaster</name></author>
	</entry>
	<entry>
		<id>http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Very_detailed_best_practices_for_it&amp;diff=20</id>
		<title>Very detailed best practices for it</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Very_detailed_best_practices_for_it&amp;diff=20"/>
		<updated>2026-03-30T19:26:27Z</updated>

		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Wikimaster: Wikimaster moved page Very detailed best practices for it to Detailed best practices for alt text&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;#REDIRECT [[Detailed best practices for alt text]]&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Wikimaster</name></author>
	</entry>
	<entry>
		<id>http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Detailed_best_practices_for_alt_text&amp;diff=19</id>
		<title>Detailed best practices for alt text</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Detailed_best_practices_for_alt_text&amp;diff=19"/>
		<updated>2026-03-30T19:26:27Z</updated>

		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Wikimaster: Wikimaster moved page Very detailed best practices for it to Detailed best practices for alt text&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
= General Guidance: Alternative Text =&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== Introduction ==&lt;br /&gt;
Alternative text in accessibility is the requirement meant to help deliver the content in images as a machine-readable structure. Images that convey information, such as images in articles, images of text, images of data charts, and maps need to have alternative text made available to people who are blind or rely on assistive technologies. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
This document explains in depth alternative text and general best practices for using alternative text following the federal accessibility standards for Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) commonly known as Section 508 Standards. The document outlines considerations from WCAG 2.0 and scenarios for different strategies. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The content in this document is not all encompassing and does not constitute legal advice when it comes to compliance with Section 508. For further information, please refer to: &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
# W3C accessibility guidelines, which explains the reasons behind each guideline.&lt;br /&gt;
# W3C accessibility techniques, which explains how to implement each guideline.&lt;br /&gt;
# U.S. Federal Government Section 508 accessibility guidelines.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
You may also reach out to your regional ADA National Network for further assistance.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== Background ==&lt;br /&gt;
Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act is a law that requires federal agencies to develop, procure, maintain and use information and communications technology (ICT) that consider the needs of individuals, members of the general public or federal personnel, who experience a wide-range of barriers to access. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The US Access Board, an independent federal agency supporting greater access for all, established the Section 508 Standards (2017) as a way of providing a set of actionable requirements for a wide-range of ICT technologies such as online training videos or portals, websites, social media, and online word documents and pdfs. The Section 508 Standards were updated in 2017 to incorporate the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 to support the successful implementation of the law by providing clearer guidance and testable metrics to remove cognitive, visual and physical access barriers.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) were developed by the World Wide Web Consortium as a series of guides and testable statements (also known as success criterias) for making web content accessible.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines have been updated from 2.0 to 2.1 since the updated Section 508 Standards (2017) went into effect in March 2018. The WCAG 2.1 updates did not change the meaning of the existing criteria under 2.0 and serve to provide further strategies to achieve compliance. Compliance with Section 508 is possible by following the success criteria under WCAG 2.1.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== Alternative Text ==&lt;br /&gt;
Alternative text is a set of strategies to successfully make information in images accessible to people who are blind and/or use assistive technologies in a comparable manner to the access experienced by those who are not blind or do not rely on assistive technologies. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Section 508 requires that information and communication technologies be made accessible to those who have disabilities in a comparable manner to the access experienced by those without disabilities. The goal is to eliminate barriers to information and communication technologies, provide equal opportunities and help prepare organizations for an aging workforce population. To aid in the process of meeting the equity goals, Section 508 includes a list of Standards or actionable requirements people working with information and communication technologies need to follow in order to make content accessible.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The actionable requirements hinge on the idea that information and communication technologies need to develop and deliver in machine-readable structures that can be outputted in multiple ways depending on a person&#039;s need: visual, aural, etc. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Alternative text allows people who are blind and/or use assistive technology to experience images by having the image conveyed in whatever form best meets their need: as audio from a screen reader, feel via a braille keyboard, etc. If no alternative text is provided, then people who are blind and/or rely on assistive technology cannot access the content of an image. The screen reader will announce the name of the image or simply state “IMAGE”  instead, which can lead to confusion and frustration for those relying on assistive technologies. Thus failing to meet the requirement of providing content in a comparable way.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Unlike when it comes across an image that is missing the alt attribute. The screen reader will read the name of the image instead which can lead to confusion and frustration for those relying on assistive technologies.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The term alternative text should not be confused with “alt text” or the HTML markup alt attribute alt=” “. The term “Alternative text” refers to:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
* Text that, through alt attribute (alt=””), is programmatically associated to a figure. Allows a person using assistive technologies to relate the text to the image then draw information.&lt;br /&gt;
* Text around an image (above it, next to it, below it) that provides a visual description of elements in an image or of images of text. Allows a person using assistive technologies to enjoy the information in a seamless way.&lt;br /&gt;
* A link to an html-only text page that provides a person the possibility to dig deeper into long descriptions or data in whatever form best meets their need.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Thus, it’s important to stress that Alternative text is a combination of html markup and good writing. Also important to note that all images need an alt attribute. What you provide as text between quotation marks (“ “) in the alt attribute alt = “ “ may vary. The text depends on the content of the image and context the image is in.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== Best Practices ==&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
=== General Guidelines ===&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;All images need an alt attribute (alt =&#039;&#039;&#039; &#039;&#039;&#039;&amp;quot; &amp;quot;)&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
** What goes inside the alt attribute, between the quotation marks (&amp;quot; &amp;quot;),  is what varies case by case.&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Only images as content need alternative text&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
** Don’t provide alternative text for a decorative image such as a line or a flourish.&lt;br /&gt;
** Leave the alt text markup null (empty) for decorative images&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Be succinct&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
** Typically no more than a few words should be used and try to use 100 characters at most.&lt;br /&gt;
** If a few words won’t do, then resort to the guidelines for Complex Images.&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Be accurate and equivalent&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
** Provide a description of the image in order to present the content.&lt;br /&gt;
** Evaluate what the person choosing the image was trying to achieve by sharing it.&lt;br /&gt;
** Include text that is part of the image&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Do not be redundant&#039;&#039;&#039;:&lt;br /&gt;
** Don&#039;t provide the same information as text that is surrounding the image.&lt;br /&gt;
** Never start with “Image of…”, “Photo of…” or “Logo of&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
** If the fact that an image is an illustration or a photograph, as in the case of talking about the work of an artist, then it may be useful to include that fact in the alternative text.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
=== Guidance on how to determine text in the alt attribute ===&lt;br /&gt;
Determining the appropriate alternative text strategy for an image depends on whether the image presents content and if the image has a function. Then the next important step is to determine the type of content and what information surrounds the image. When determining the appropriate alternative text strategy, ask yourself:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
* Is the image solely decorating a page? Or are people who do not rely on assistive technology getting more information by having access to the image? &lt;br /&gt;
* Is the image a link and clickable? Does the image have a function?&lt;br /&gt;
* Is the image illustrating something like a chart or diagram? Will the description in the alt attribute (alt=” “) prove to be too long? &lt;br /&gt;
* What information is in the body of text next to the image? Below the image?&lt;br /&gt;
* What relevant information is the person missing by not seeing this image? Is the image conveying information that is not available in the surrounding body of text? Is the information in the image only partly conveyed in the surrounding text?&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==== Is the image solely decorating a page? ====&lt;br /&gt;
All images are considered content unless they are decorative images. Decorative images are those that don’t convey any meaning usually consisting of lines or texture elements on a page. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
# &#039;&#039;&#039;Is the image a line divider or texture element which does not add any meaning to the rest of the content of the page?&#039;&#039;&#039; &lt;br /&gt;
#* If YES, then the image needs a null alt attribute (alt=””)&lt;br /&gt;
#* If NO, then the image needs an alt attribute with text between the quotation marks (“ “).&lt;br /&gt;
#* If the image feels decorative, yet was curated or chosen, then the image needs an alt attribute with text between the quotation marks (“ “).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Decorative images need a null alt text (alt=””) so that the image can be ignored by assistive technologies. For example, a screen reader will completely skip over an image and won’t announce it’s presence when it comes across a null (alt=””) alt text. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&#039;&#039;&#039;Note:&#039;&#039;&#039; Images in an article may be used to help visually style a page. Editorial decisions and curation went into the process of selecting the image displayed next to a body of text. People have the right to experience the editorial choice made by those selecting the image, even when unsighted. Remember: the goal of Section 508 is to increase access and equity by giving those who rely on assistive technologies content in a comparable manner.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==== Is the image a link and clickable? ====&lt;br /&gt;
Images are often used to provide content and important functions, such as navigation or buttons. First decide if the image presents content and if the image has a function. If you determine the image has a function, then look to see if there is adjacent text. Keep in mind that adjacent text within a link is expressed in HTML markup in the following way &amp;lt;a href=&amp;quot;link&amp;quot;&amp;gt;&amp;lt;img src=&amp;quot;jpg&amp;quot;&amp;gt;&#039;&#039;&#039;text&#039;&#039;&#039;&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
# &#039;&#039;&#039;Is the image a link and clickable?&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
#* If YES, then the image has a function. &lt;br /&gt;
#* If the image is a link and does not have adjacent text within the link then an empty or null alt attribute (alt= ““) would never be appropriate.&lt;br /&gt;
#* If the image is a link and has adjacent text within the link then an empty alt attribute (alt= ““) is appropriate.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Figure 1.1 Image is a link. A user is able to click on the image in a window and view it in greater detail. The image has alternative text provided immediately below, yet the text itself is not a link. The alt attribute cannot be empty. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==== Is the image illustrating something like a chart or diagram? Complex Images ====&lt;br /&gt;
Sometimes it feels impossible to be succinct due to the content of the image. Complex images are those that contain substantial information hard to convey in a short sentence, such as graphs, charts, diagrams, illustrations with text and maps. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
# &#039;&#039;&#039;Is the image a graph, chart, illustration with text or a map?&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
* If YES, then the image is considered a complex image. &lt;br /&gt;
* If NO, then provide a succinct alternative text using the guidance provided under the question What information is in the body of text next to the image?&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Complex images need a two-part alternative text. First, a short description in the alt attribute to identify the image and where to find a longer, more complete description. Second, the long description itself using markup such as LONGDESC attributes or inline descriptions that explain the significance of each image to people who use assistive technologies. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
* Provide a link next to the image. The text link refers to a separate web page or section of the same web page that contains the long description. The link text needs to clearly state the destination and how it’s associated with the image since it won’t be structurally associated using HTML markup.&lt;br /&gt;
** &amp;lt;img src=”jpg” alt=”text description”&amp;gt;&amp;lt;a href=”link to long description destination”&amp;gt;text that states the link directs users to a description of the chart or map&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
* Provide text in the alt attribute that describes the location of the long description for the chart. This technique is most commonly used when directing people to a section of the same web page.&lt;br /&gt;
** &amp;lt;img src=”jpg” alt”very short description and destination of the long description in the same page”&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
* Use the figure attribute &amp;lt;figure&amp;gt; &amp;lt;figcaption&amp;gt; to explicitly associate the image to a long description. This technique is most commonly used when the long description requires multiple titles, greater styling of the description and tabular data.&lt;br /&gt;
** &amp;lt;figure role “group”&amp;gt; &amp;lt;img sr=”jpg” alt=”text description&amp;gt;&amp;lt;figcaption&amp;gt;long description&amp;lt;/figcaption&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/figure&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
* Use the attribute longdesc. This technique is most commonly used when the destination is on the same page. Requires creating divs and is less recognized across all web page browsers.&lt;br /&gt;
** &amp;lt;nowiki&amp;gt;&amp;lt;img src= “jpg” alt= “text description” longdesc=”#destination div&amp;quot;&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/nowiki&amp;gt;...&amp;lt;nowiki&amp;gt;&amp;lt;div id=”destination div”&amp;gt; description &amp;lt;/div&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/nowiki&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
* Use the aria-describedby attribute. This technique is most commonly used when the destination is on the same page. &lt;br /&gt;
** &amp;lt;nowiki&amp;gt;&amp;lt;img src=”jpg” alt=”text description” aria-describedby =”nameid”&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/nowiki&amp;gt;...&amp;lt;nowiki&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p id=”nameid”&amp;gt;long description&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/nowiki&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
For more details please visit the link to W3C’s guidance on Complex Images&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==== What information is in the body of text next to the image? Below the image? ====&lt;br /&gt;
The meaning of an image within the context of the overall page is an important consideration when writing a descriptive alternative text. The alternative text for an image needs to be evaluated on a page-by-page use. Alternative text needs to be written to consider how an image is being used in each page.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
# &#039;&#039;&#039;Is all of the image’s content present within the surrounding text?&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
#* If the content of the image is present within the text paragraph above or below it, then alt =” “ (an empty or null alt attribute) may be sufficient. &lt;br /&gt;
#* If the content of the image is not immediately surrounding it, then the alt attribute should not be empty.&lt;br /&gt;
#*# Provide a few words.&lt;br /&gt;
#*# Ensure the meaning of the image is shared.&lt;br /&gt;
#*# If the content of the image can’t be explained in a succinct manner then rely on the guidance for complex images.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
There are scenarios where an image is uploaded to a Content Management System (CMS) and used in multiple places. While not endorsed, the best suggestion available is to: &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
* Provide a basic description of the content in the image in the Content Management System&lt;br /&gt;
* Provide further information that accounts for the context in which the image is being used via the &amp;lt;figcaption&amp;gt; html attribute after the image element on the page.&lt;br /&gt;
* Follow the guidance to define what an image means within the content of the overall page.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The chart below portrays a simplified decision tree to help you remember the main questions and what  alternative text would work best for different scenarios.&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Wikimaster</name></author>
	</entry>
	<entry>
		<id>http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Main_Page&amp;diff=18</id>
		<title>Main Page</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Main_Page&amp;diff=18"/>
		<updated>2026-03-30T19:24:12Z</updated>

		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Wikimaster: &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&amp;lt;strong&amp;gt;Welcome to the SUMC style and usage guide&amp;lt;/strong&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
This wiki is all about how written work by SUMC should look and feel. It&#039;s a wiki, so you can create and edit pages. Just register for an account, log in, and you can start editing. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Here are some pages:&lt;br /&gt;
* [[SUMC preferred usage]]&lt;br /&gt;
* [[References and bibliographies]]&lt;br /&gt;
* General guidelines for [[alt text]] and [[very detailed best practices for it|very detailed best practices for alt text]]&lt;br /&gt;
* [[Style authorities]]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== Getting started ==&lt;br /&gt;
Consult the [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Help:Contents User&#039;s Guide] for information on using the wiki software.&lt;br /&gt;
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Manual:Configuration_settings Configuration settings list]&lt;br /&gt;
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Manual:FAQ MediaWiki FAQ]&lt;br /&gt;
* [https://lists.wikimedia.org/postorius/lists/mediawiki-announce.lists.wikimedia.org/ MediaWiki release mailing list]&lt;br /&gt;
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Localisation#Translation_resources Localise MediaWiki for your language]&lt;br /&gt;
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Manual:Combating_spam Learn how to combat spam on your wiki]&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Wikimaster</name></author>
	</entry>
	<entry>
		<id>http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Alt_text&amp;diff=17</id>
		<title>Alt text</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Alt_text&amp;diff=17"/>
		<updated>2026-03-30T19:22:31Z</updated>

		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Wikimaster: Created page with &amp;quot; === General Guidelines ===  * &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;All images need an alt attribute (alt =&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;quot; &amp;quot;)&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; ** What goes inside the alt attribute, between the quotation marks (&amp;quot; &amp;quot;),  is what varies case by case. * &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Only images as content need alternative text&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; ** Don’t provide alternative text for a decorative image such as a line or a flourish. ** Leave the alt text markup null (empty) for decorative images * &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Be succinct&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; ** Typically no more than a few words should be used and...&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
=== General Guidelines ===&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;All images need an alt attribute (alt =&#039;&#039;&#039; &#039;&#039;&#039;&amp;quot; &amp;quot;)&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
** What goes inside the alt attribute, between the quotation marks (&amp;quot; &amp;quot;),  is what varies case by case.&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Only images as content need alternative text&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
** Don’t provide alternative text for a decorative image such as a line or a flourish.&lt;br /&gt;
** Leave the alt text markup null (empty) for decorative images&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Be succinct&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
** Typically no more than a few words should be used and try to use 100 characters at most.&lt;br /&gt;
** If a few words won’t do, then resort to the guidelines for Complex Images.&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Be accurate and equivalent&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
** Provide a description of the image in order to present the content.&lt;br /&gt;
** Evaluate what the person choosing the image was trying to achieve by sharing it.&lt;br /&gt;
** Include text that is part of the image&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Do not be redundant&#039;&#039;&#039;:&lt;br /&gt;
** Don&#039;t provide the same information as text that is surrounding the image.&lt;br /&gt;
** Never start with “Image of…”, “Photo of…” or “Logo of&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
** If the fact that an image is an illustration or a photograph, as in the case of talking about the work of an artist, then it may be useful to include that fact in the alternative text.&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Wikimaster</name></author>
	</entry>
	<entry>
		<id>http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Detailed_best_practices_for_alt_text&amp;diff=16</id>
		<title>Detailed best practices for alt text</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Detailed_best_practices_for_alt_text&amp;diff=16"/>
		<updated>2026-03-30T19:21:10Z</updated>

		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Wikimaster: Created page with &amp;quot; = General Guidance: Alternative Text =  == Introduction == Alternative text in accessibility is the requirement meant to help deliver the content in images as a machine-readable structure. Images that convey information, such as images in articles, images of text, images of data charts, and maps need to have alternative text made available to people who are blind or rely on assistive technologies.   This document explains in depth alternative text and general best pract...&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
= General Guidance: Alternative Text =&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== Introduction ==&lt;br /&gt;
Alternative text in accessibility is the requirement meant to help deliver the content in images as a machine-readable structure. Images that convey information, such as images in articles, images of text, images of data charts, and maps need to have alternative text made available to people who are blind or rely on assistive technologies. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
This document explains in depth alternative text and general best practices for using alternative text following the federal accessibility standards for Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) commonly known as Section 508 Standards. The document outlines considerations from WCAG 2.0 and scenarios for different strategies. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The content in this document is not all encompassing and does not constitute legal advice when it comes to compliance with Section 508. For further information, please refer to: &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
# W3C accessibility guidelines, which explains the reasons behind each guideline.&lt;br /&gt;
# W3C accessibility techniques, which explains how to implement each guideline.&lt;br /&gt;
# U.S. Federal Government Section 508 accessibility guidelines.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
You may also reach out to your regional ADA National Network for further assistance.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== Background ==&lt;br /&gt;
Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act is a law that requires federal agencies to develop, procure, maintain and use information and communications technology (ICT) that consider the needs of individuals, members of the general public or federal personnel, who experience a wide-range of barriers to access. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The US Access Board, an independent federal agency supporting greater access for all, established the Section 508 Standards (2017) as a way of providing a set of actionable requirements for a wide-range of ICT technologies such as online training videos or portals, websites, social media, and online word documents and pdfs. The Section 508 Standards were updated in 2017 to incorporate the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 to support the successful implementation of the law by providing clearer guidance and testable metrics to remove cognitive, visual and physical access barriers.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) were developed by the World Wide Web Consortium as a series of guides and testable statements (also known as success criterias) for making web content accessible.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines have been updated from 2.0 to 2.1 since the updated Section 508 Standards (2017) went into effect in March 2018. The WCAG 2.1 updates did not change the meaning of the existing criteria under 2.0 and serve to provide further strategies to achieve compliance. Compliance with Section 508 is possible by following the success criteria under WCAG 2.1.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== Alternative Text ==&lt;br /&gt;
Alternative text is a set of strategies to successfully make information in images accessible to people who are blind and/or use assistive technologies in a comparable manner to the access experienced by those who are not blind or do not rely on assistive technologies. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Section 508 requires that information and communication technologies be made accessible to those who have disabilities in a comparable manner to the access experienced by those without disabilities. The goal is to eliminate barriers to information and communication technologies, provide equal opportunities and help prepare organizations for an aging workforce population. To aid in the process of meeting the equity goals, Section 508 includes a list of Standards or actionable requirements people working with information and communication technologies need to follow in order to make content accessible.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The actionable requirements hinge on the idea that information and communication technologies need to develop and deliver in machine-readable structures that can be outputted in multiple ways depending on a person&#039;s need: visual, aural, etc. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Alternative text allows people who are blind and/or use assistive technology to experience images by having the image conveyed in whatever form best meets their need: as audio from a screen reader, feel via a braille keyboard, etc. If no alternative text is provided, then people who are blind and/or rely on assistive technology cannot access the content of an image. The screen reader will announce the name of the image or simply state “IMAGE”  instead, which can lead to confusion and frustration for those relying on assistive technologies. Thus failing to meet the requirement of providing content in a comparable way.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Unlike when it comes across an image that is missing the alt attribute. The screen reader will read the name of the image instead which can lead to confusion and frustration for those relying on assistive technologies.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The term alternative text should not be confused with “alt text” or the HTML markup alt attribute alt=” “. The term “Alternative text” refers to:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
* Text that, through alt attribute (alt=””), is programmatically associated to a figure. Allows a person using assistive technologies to relate the text to the image then draw information.&lt;br /&gt;
* Text around an image (above it, next to it, below it) that provides a visual description of elements in an image or of images of text. Allows a person using assistive technologies to enjoy the information in a seamless way.&lt;br /&gt;
* A link to an html-only text page that provides a person the possibility to dig deeper into long descriptions or data in whatever form best meets their need.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Thus, it’s important to stress that Alternative text is a combination of html markup and good writing. Also important to note that all images need an alt attribute. What you provide as text between quotation marks (“ “) in the alt attribute alt = “ “ may vary. The text depends on the content of the image and context the image is in.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== Best Practices ==&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
=== General Guidelines ===&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;All images need an alt attribute (alt =&#039;&#039;&#039; &#039;&#039;&#039;&amp;quot; &amp;quot;)&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
** What goes inside the alt attribute, between the quotation marks (&amp;quot; &amp;quot;),  is what varies case by case.&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Only images as content need alternative text&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
** Don’t provide alternative text for a decorative image such as a line or a flourish.&lt;br /&gt;
** Leave the alt text markup null (empty) for decorative images&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Be succinct&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
** Typically no more than a few words should be used and try to use 100 characters at most.&lt;br /&gt;
** If a few words won’t do, then resort to the guidelines for Complex Images.&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Be accurate and equivalent&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
** Provide a description of the image in order to present the content.&lt;br /&gt;
** Evaluate what the person choosing the image was trying to achieve by sharing it.&lt;br /&gt;
** Include text that is part of the image&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Do not be redundant&#039;&#039;&#039;:&lt;br /&gt;
** Don&#039;t provide the same information as text that is surrounding the image.&lt;br /&gt;
** Never start with “Image of…”, “Photo of…” or “Logo of&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
** If the fact that an image is an illustration or a photograph, as in the case of talking about the work of an artist, then it may be useful to include that fact in the alternative text.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
=== Guidance on how to determine text in the alt attribute ===&lt;br /&gt;
Determining the appropriate alternative text strategy for an image depends on whether the image presents content and if the image has a function. Then the next important step is to determine the type of content and what information surrounds the image. When determining the appropriate alternative text strategy, ask yourself:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
* Is the image solely decorating a page? Or are people who do not rely on assistive technology getting more information by having access to the image? &lt;br /&gt;
* Is the image a link and clickable? Does the image have a function?&lt;br /&gt;
* Is the image illustrating something like a chart or diagram? Will the description in the alt attribute (alt=” “) prove to be too long? &lt;br /&gt;
* What information is in the body of text next to the image? Below the image?&lt;br /&gt;
* What relevant information is the person missing by not seeing this image? Is the image conveying information that is not available in the surrounding body of text? Is the information in the image only partly conveyed in the surrounding text?&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==== Is the image solely decorating a page? ====&lt;br /&gt;
All images are considered content unless they are decorative images. Decorative images are those that don’t convey any meaning usually consisting of lines or texture elements on a page. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
# &#039;&#039;&#039;Is the image a line divider or texture element which does not add any meaning to the rest of the content of the page?&#039;&#039;&#039; &lt;br /&gt;
#* If YES, then the image needs a null alt attribute (alt=””)&lt;br /&gt;
#* If NO, then the image needs an alt attribute with text between the quotation marks (“ “).&lt;br /&gt;
#* If the image feels decorative, yet was curated or chosen, then the image needs an alt attribute with text between the quotation marks (“ “).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Decorative images need a null alt text (alt=””) so that the image can be ignored by assistive technologies. For example, a screen reader will completely skip over an image and won’t announce it’s presence when it comes across a null (alt=””) alt text. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&#039;&#039;&#039;Note:&#039;&#039;&#039; Images in an article may be used to help visually style a page. Editorial decisions and curation went into the process of selecting the image displayed next to a body of text. People have the right to experience the editorial choice made by those selecting the image, even when unsighted. Remember: the goal of Section 508 is to increase access and equity by giving those who rely on assistive technologies content in a comparable manner.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==== Is the image a link and clickable? ====&lt;br /&gt;
Images are often used to provide content and important functions, such as navigation or buttons. First decide if the image presents content and if the image has a function. If you determine the image has a function, then look to see if there is adjacent text. Keep in mind that adjacent text within a link is expressed in HTML markup in the following way &amp;lt;a href=&amp;quot;link&amp;quot;&amp;gt;&amp;lt;img src=&amp;quot;jpg&amp;quot;&amp;gt;&#039;&#039;&#039;text&#039;&#039;&#039;&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
# &#039;&#039;&#039;Is the image a link and clickable?&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
#* If YES, then the image has a function. &lt;br /&gt;
#* If the image is a link and does not have adjacent text within the link then an empty or null alt attribute (alt= ““) would never be appropriate.&lt;br /&gt;
#* If the image is a link and has adjacent text within the link then an empty alt attribute (alt= ““) is appropriate.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Figure 1.1 Image is a link. A user is able to click on the image in a window and view it in greater detail. The image has alternative text provided immediately below, yet the text itself is not a link. The alt attribute cannot be empty. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==== Is the image illustrating something like a chart or diagram? Complex Images ====&lt;br /&gt;
Sometimes it feels impossible to be succinct due to the content of the image. Complex images are those that contain substantial information hard to convey in a short sentence, such as graphs, charts, diagrams, illustrations with text and maps. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
# &#039;&#039;&#039;Is the image a graph, chart, illustration with text or a map?&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
* If YES, then the image is considered a complex image. &lt;br /&gt;
* If NO, then provide a succinct alternative text using the guidance provided under the question What information is in the body of text next to the image?&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Complex images need a two-part alternative text. First, a short description in the alt attribute to identify the image and where to find a longer, more complete description. Second, the long description itself using markup such as LONGDESC attributes or inline descriptions that explain the significance of each image to people who use assistive technologies. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
* Provide a link next to the image. The text link refers to a separate web page or section of the same web page that contains the long description. The link text needs to clearly state the destination and how it’s associated with the image since it won’t be structurally associated using HTML markup.&lt;br /&gt;
** &amp;lt;img src=”jpg” alt=”text description”&amp;gt;&amp;lt;a href=”link to long description destination”&amp;gt;text that states the link directs users to a description of the chart or map&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
* Provide text in the alt attribute that describes the location of the long description for the chart. This technique is most commonly used when directing people to a section of the same web page.&lt;br /&gt;
** &amp;lt;img src=”jpg” alt”very short description and destination of the long description in the same page”&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
* Use the figure attribute &amp;lt;figure&amp;gt; &amp;lt;figcaption&amp;gt; to explicitly associate the image to a long description. This technique is most commonly used when the long description requires multiple titles, greater styling of the description and tabular data.&lt;br /&gt;
** &amp;lt;figure role “group”&amp;gt; &amp;lt;img sr=”jpg” alt=”text description&amp;gt;&amp;lt;figcaption&amp;gt;long description&amp;lt;/figcaption&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/figure&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
* Use the attribute longdesc. This technique is most commonly used when the destination is on the same page. Requires creating divs and is less recognized across all web page browsers.&lt;br /&gt;
** &amp;lt;nowiki&amp;gt;&amp;lt;img src= “jpg” alt= “text description” longdesc=”#destination div&amp;quot;&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/nowiki&amp;gt;...&amp;lt;nowiki&amp;gt;&amp;lt;div id=”destination div”&amp;gt; description &amp;lt;/div&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/nowiki&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
* Use the aria-describedby attribute. This technique is most commonly used when the destination is on the same page. &lt;br /&gt;
** &amp;lt;nowiki&amp;gt;&amp;lt;img src=”jpg” alt=”text description” aria-describedby =”nameid”&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/nowiki&amp;gt;...&amp;lt;nowiki&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p id=”nameid”&amp;gt;long description&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/nowiki&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
For more details please visit the link to W3C’s guidance on Complex Images&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==== What information is in the body of text next to the image? Below the image? ====&lt;br /&gt;
The meaning of an image within the context of the overall page is an important consideration when writing a descriptive alternative text. The alternative text for an image needs to be evaluated on a page-by-page use. Alternative text needs to be written to consider how an image is being used in each page.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
# &#039;&#039;&#039;Is all of the image’s content present within the surrounding text?&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
#* If the content of the image is present within the text paragraph above or below it, then alt =” “ (an empty or null alt attribute) may be sufficient. &lt;br /&gt;
#* If the content of the image is not immediately surrounding it, then the alt attribute should not be empty.&lt;br /&gt;
#*# Provide a few words.&lt;br /&gt;
#*# Ensure the meaning of the image is shared.&lt;br /&gt;
#*# If the content of the image can’t be explained in a succinct manner then rely on the guidance for complex images.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
There are scenarios where an image is uploaded to a Content Management System (CMS) and used in multiple places. While not endorsed, the best suggestion available is to: &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
* Provide a basic description of the content in the image in the Content Management System&lt;br /&gt;
* Provide further information that accounts for the context in which the image is being used via the &amp;lt;figcaption&amp;gt; html attribute after the image element on the page.&lt;br /&gt;
* Follow the guidance to define what an image means within the content of the overall page.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The chart below portrays a simplified decision tree to help you remember the main questions and what  alternative text would work best for different scenarios.&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Wikimaster</name></author>
	</entry>
	<entry>
		<id>http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=SUMC_preferred_usage&amp;diff=15</id>
		<title>SUMC preferred usage</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=SUMC_preferred_usage&amp;diff=15"/>
		<updated>2026-03-10T22:22:34Z</updated>

		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Wikimaster: numbers to text&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;These are the preferred ways to use various terms from our industry. For terms not included here, see the [[style authorities]] page for general guidelines.  &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&#039;&#039;&#039;General rules:&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
* For terms like &#039;&#039;electric vehicles&#039;&#039; that are commonly referred to by initialisms, spell out the term on the first usage in a work or a major section, and indicate the abbreviation in parentheses. After that, you can use the initials (e.g., &amp;quot;electric vehicles (EVs)&amp;quot; on first use, &amp;quot;EVs&amp;quot; thereafter).&lt;br /&gt;
* Unless otherwise indicated, we prefer closed compounds to hyphenated or open ones. So, &#039;&#039;bikeshare&#039;&#039;, not &#039;&#039;bike-share&#039;&#039; or &#039;&#039;bike share&#039;&#039;. There are many exceptions to this rule, and the Chicago Manual of Style has a [https://docslib.org/doc/6204848/the-chicago-manual-of-style-online-hyphenation-table helpful chart] listing most of them.  &lt;br /&gt;
* Also on the subject of hyphens, normally open compounds like &#039;&#039;first and last mile&#039;&#039; should be hyphenated when used as an adjective before a noun (i.e. &#039;&#039;first-mile&#039;&#039;, &#039;&#039;last-mile&#039;&#039;, &#039;&#039;first-/last-mile&#039;&#039;, or &#039;&#039;first- and last-mile&#039;&#039; in front of words like &#039;&#039;problem&#039;&#039; or &#039;&#039;connections&#039;&#039;). They should be left open, regardless of their grammatical function, if used after a noun or on their own.  &lt;br /&gt;
* The normal English rules of capitalization apply to our work: do not capitalize words unless they&#039;re a proper noun (including brand names) or the first word in a sentence. Do not capitalize because it&#039;s being abbreviated to something with capital letters, or just seems important to what you&#039;re writing.  &lt;br /&gt;
* Automated spell-checkers may have different ideas about what version is correct, so you might consider adding the preferred versions to a personal dictionary to avoid nagging and squiggly lines.&lt;br /&gt;
* We are not obligated to follow companies&#039; branding or promotional choices, particularly in use of ALL-CAPS (or conversely no caps at all) or other non-standard treatments of product names that are not initialisms. Treat these like you would any other proper noun: use normal Title Case. All caps in particular provide If you feel the brand marking deserves discussion (as in a case study or other extended treatment where the question might come up) you might do something like &amp;quot;The Twin Cities&#039; Hourcar service (stylized as HOURCAR), was launched in 2005&amp;quot;. You never need to include markers like™, ®, etc. Those are for companies&#039; defense of their own IP and are not our concern. For less visually distracting, but still nonstandard, names like eBay or iPad, it&#039;s probably easier to just follow the companies&#039; treatment (and no need to capitalize the first letter if you&#039;re starting a sentence with it, but try to avoid this since it&#039;s also distracting).  &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
If you&#039;re quoting something from a non-SUMC source that uses a different rendering of one of these terms, it&#039;s okay to correct it to our preferred (closed) version without indicating the correction with brackets. If a source uses an entirely different &#039;&#039;word,&#039;&#039; in a way that we define differently (seen most commonly with &#039;&#039;rideshare&#039;&#039; to mean &#039;&#039;ridehail&#039;&#039;), then you should substitute our preferred term but use brackets. (E.g., &amp;quot;The study followed more than 200 [ridehail] drivers on their lunch breaks.&amp;quot;) Formal academic or legal contexts have stricter rules about indicating changes, but the foregoing applies to general writing for sites and publications SUMC controls. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Where this list has entries with no further commentary, it represents the preferred rendering of the term(s), and further usage is assumed to be self-explanatory based on the general rules around hyphens/spacing, abbreviations, etc. If you find yourself frequently using a term that&#039;s not in this list, especially if it&#039;s something you see rendered in a number of different ways, please feel free to add an entry to this list. If this eventually gets too long, we can split it into separate pages, titled something like &amp;quot;Term (usage).&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Autonomous vehicles (AVs)&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Bikeshare&#039;&#039;&#039; or bikesharing &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Carshare&#039;&#039;&#039; or carsharing&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;First and last mile&#039;&#039;&#039;: Use space between words when referring to the concept alone (i.e. “the first and last mile on a transportation journey”). When using part or all of the term as an adjective &amp;lt;u&amp;gt;before&amp;lt;/u&amp;gt; a noun, hyphenate. &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Fixed-route transit&#039;&#039;&#039;: See &#039;&#039;&#039;Public transit&#039;&#039;&#039; &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Limousines&#039;&#039;&#039;: Used interchangeably with &#039;&#039;limos,&#039;&#039; but always &#039;&#039;limousines&#039;&#039; on first reference. &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Micromobility&#039;&#039;&#039;: This term should be used for fleet deployments of bikes and scooters, or else individually owned bikes or scooters used for personal trips--but not to mean bikes and/or scooters generally (just use &#039;&#039;bike&#039;&#039; or &#039;&#039;scooter&#039;&#039;), and definitely not for bikes/trikes transporting cargo or other non-personal loads. &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;[[Microtransit]]&#039;&#039;&#039;: This is the preferred term for technology-enabled on-demand transit services, especially those that use mobile technology for ride requests, payment, and routing. Other terms that are related, but not necessarily interchangeable with microtransit:&lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Demand-responsive transit/transport (DRT)&#039;&#039;&#039;: Per [https://www.transit.dot.gov/ntd/national-transit-database-ntd-glossary#D NTD], this refers to &amp;quot;a transit mode comprised of passenger cars, vans or small buses operating in response to calls from passengers or their agents to the transit operator, who then dispatches a vehicle to pick up the passengers and transport them to their destinations.&amp;quot; This is the broadest term for this mode, of which microtransit and paratransit are subsets. Without modification, DRT is not necessarily tech-enabled, distinguishing it from &#039;&#039;microtransit&#039;&#039;, and is not limited to riders with disabilities, distinguishing it from &#039;&#039;paratransit&#039;&#039;.  &lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Paratransit&#039;&#039;&#039;: In olden times, and outside the US, &#039;&#039;paratransit&#039;&#039; was used to refer to DRT in general, but since the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), it&#039;s most commonly understood to mean wheelchair-accessible DRT for people with disabilities. Sometimes you&#039;ll see &#039;&#039;ADA paratransit&#039;&#039; to refer to the federally required service in the &amp;quot;shadow&amp;quot; of fixed routes, contrasted with &#039;&#039;premium paratransit&#039;&#039; to mean service provided outside the parameters of what&#039;s required (either in terms of timing, distance, or the passengers served). If you&#039;re talking about paratransit services that are not limited to qualified riders or people with disabilities, it might be useful to call it &#039;&#039;general-public paratransit&#039;&#039;.  &lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Flexible shuttle service&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Flex-route services&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Mobility as a service (MaaS)&#039;&#039;&#039;: Not capitalized and does not take hyphens in any position.&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Mobility on demand (MOD)&#039;&#039;&#039;: No hyphens, and need not be capitalized in general usage, but it should be in proper names (e.g. &amp;quot;Mobility on Demand Sandbox&amp;quot; but &amp;quot;six new mobility on demand (MOD) projects&amp;quot;).&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Policymaker&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Public transit&#039;&#039;&#039;: This term can be used interchangeably with &#039;&#039;public transportation&#039;&#039; to refer to either the service or the industry generally. It should not be used interchangeably with &#039;&#039;fixed-route transit,&#039;&#039; which you should use only when you want to refer to scheduled bus or train service that operates on a specific route.&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Ridehail&#039;&#039;&#039; or ridehailing: This is SUMC&#039;s preferred term for commercial, on-demand small-vehicle taxi service provided by Uber and Lyft. Many writers, with the industry&#039;s urging, use &#039;&#039;ridesharing&#039;&#039; instead, but in our work this should be reserved for non-commercial carpool-like services where the rider and passengers actually share a destination. You&#039;ll often see it used interchangeably with the following, and it&#039;s not worth correcting when quoting (beyond fixing space or hyphenation):&lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Transportation network company/companies (TNCs)&#039;&#039;&#039;: This originates with the California legal definition of the service type, the first statutory definition in the US. &lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Ridesourcing&#039;&#039;&#039;: Means the same thing as &#039;&#039;ridehailing&#039;&#039;, and in early SUMC publications we often preferred this, but now we&#039;re grown and prefer &#039;&#039;-hailing&#039;&#039; in our own original writing. &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Ridesharing&#039;&#039;&#039;: Use only to refer to non-commercial carpool-like services where the rider and passengers actually share a destination. It should not be used for what Uber does. This term can be used interchangeably with:&lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Carpool/carpooling&#039;&#039;&#039; &lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Slugging&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Community carpool&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Scootersharing&#039;&#039;&#039;: Please refer to the shared mode as &#039;&#039;electric scootershare/scootersharing&#039;&#039; or &#039;&#039;scootershare/scootersharing&#039;&#039;. Do not use &#039;&#039;e-scootershare/e-scootersharing&#039;&#039;. If referring to electric scooters themselves, individually or as a group, shared or not, it&#039;s fine to use &#039;&#039;e-scooters&#039;&#039; or &#039;&#039;electric scooters&#039;&#039;.&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Shared mobility&#039;&#039;&#039;: This is a preferred term but can be used interchangeably with &#039;&#039;shared-use mobility,&#039;&#039; in which you should always hyphenate shared-use.&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Taxis&#039;&#039;&#039;: Interchangeable with &#039;&#039;taxi services&#039;&#039;.&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Wheelchair-accessible vehicles (WAVs)&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Wikimaster</name></author>
	</entry>
	<entry>
		<id>http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=References_and_bibliographies&amp;diff=14</id>
		<title>References and bibliographies</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=References_and_bibliographies&amp;diff=14"/>
		<updated>2026-03-10T22:20:07Z</updated>

		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Wikimaster: created page&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;What should we cite, and why? As the &#039;&#039;Chicago Manual of Style&#039;&#039; (CMS) puts it, &amp;quot;Ethics, copyright laws, and courtesy to readers require authors to identify the sources of &#039;&#039;direct quotations or paraphrases of any facts or opinions not generally know or easily checked.&#039;&#039;&amp;quot; (CMS16, 14.1, emphasis mine)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Unless we&#039;re preparing a manuscript for a publication or entity with its own style guidelines, follow [https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html CMS Notes and Bibliography style]. That is, superscripted reference numbers in running text, corresponding to a footnote with a shortened citation on the same page, and a single full bibliography at the end of the document. In longer works or where page layout makes footnotes difficult, you might opt for per-chapter or per-section endnotes, but you still need a bibliography fully documenting the citations used. CMS provides [https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide/citation-guide-1.html detailed guidelines for citing] many different media and types of source material (e.g. book, chapter, online-only resource, new article, etc.), but here are the basics (lifted directly from the page linked here).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
====== Shortened notes ======&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
# Yu, &#039;&#039;Interior Chinatown&#039;&#039;, 48. [Author last name(s), &#039;&#039;Title,&#039;&#039; page.]&lt;br /&gt;
# Binder and Kidder, &#039;&#039;Channels of Student Activism&#039;&#039;, 125.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
====== Bibliography entries (in alphabetical order, and these should have hanging indents in your document) ======&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;blockquote&amp;gt;Binder, Amy J., and Jeffrey L. Kidder. &#039;&#039;The Channels of Student Activism: How the Left and Right Are Winning (and Losing) in Campus Politics Today.&#039;&#039; University of Chicago Press, 2022.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Yu, Charles. &#039;&#039;Interior Chinatown&#039;&#039;. Pantheon Books, 2020.&amp;lt;/blockquote&amp;gt;In academic settings, you&#039;re more likely to see a preference for [https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide/citation-guide-2.html Author-Date style], which use a parenthetical citation in running text (Binder and Kidder, 2022, 122), with a corresponding entry in an alphabetical reference list.   &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
For anything longer than a few pages, a reference management system like the open-source [https://www.zotero.org/ Zotero] makes it much easier to deal with tracking and inserting sources, and lets you easily switch between citation formats if needed (e.g. for submission to journals or other publications with different style preferences). We have a SUMC shared library for Zotero--ask a manager for access if you need it.&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Wikimaster</name></author>
	</entry>
	<entry>
		<id>http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=SUMC_preferred_usage&amp;diff=13</id>
		<title>SUMC preferred usage</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=SUMC_preferred_usage&amp;diff=13"/>
		<updated>2026-03-09T18:45:51Z</updated>

		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Wikimaster: updated brand mark treatment&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;These are the preferred ways to use various terms from our industry. For terms not included here, see the [[style authorities]] page for general guidelines.  &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&#039;&#039;&#039;General rules:&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
* For terms like &#039;&#039;electric vehicles&#039;&#039; that are commonly referred to by initialisms, spell out the term on the first usage in a work or a major section, and indicate the abbreviation in parentheses. After that, you can use the initials (e.g., &amp;quot;electric vehicles (EVs)&amp;quot; on first use, &amp;quot;EVs&amp;quot; thereafter).&lt;br /&gt;
* Unless otherwise indicated, we prefer closed compounds to hyphenated or open ones. So, &#039;&#039;bikeshare&#039;&#039;, not &#039;&#039;bike-share&#039;&#039; or &#039;&#039;bike share&#039;&#039;. There are many exceptions to this rule, and the Chicago Manual of Style has a [https://docslib.org/doc/6204848/the-chicago-manual-of-style-online-hyphenation-table helpful chart] listing most of them.  &lt;br /&gt;
* Also on the subject of hyphens, normally open compounds like &#039;&#039;first and last mile&#039;&#039; should be hyphenated when used as an adjective before a noun (i.e. &#039;&#039;first-mile&#039;&#039;, &#039;&#039;last-mile&#039;&#039;, &#039;&#039;first-/last-mile&#039;&#039;, or &#039;&#039;first- and last-mile&#039;&#039; in front of words like &#039;&#039;problem&#039;&#039; or &#039;&#039;connections&#039;&#039;). They should be left open, regardless of their grammatical function, if used after a noun or on their own.  &lt;br /&gt;
* The normal English rules of capitalization apply to our work: do not capitalize words unless they&#039;re a proper noun (including brand names) or the first word in a sentence. Do not capitalize because it&#039;s being abbreviated to something with capital letters, or just seems important to what you&#039;re writing.  &lt;br /&gt;
* Automated spell-checkers may have different ideas about what version is correct, so you might consider adding the preferred versions to a personal dictionary to avoid nagging and squiggly lines.&lt;br /&gt;
* We are not obligated to follow companies&#039; branding or promotional choices, particularly in use of ALL-CAPS (or conversely no caps at all) or other non-standard treatments of product names that are not initialisms. Treat these like you would any other proper noun: use normal Title Case. All caps in particular provide If you feel the brand marking deserves discussion (as in a case study or other extended treatment where the question might come up) you might do something like &amp;quot;The Twin Cities&#039; Hourcar service (stylized as HOURCAR), was launched in 2005&amp;quot;. You never need to include markers like™, ®, etc. Those are for companies&#039; defense of their own IP and are not our concern. For less visually distracting, but still nonstandard, names like eBay or iPad, it&#039;s probably easier to just follow the companies&#039; treatment (and no need to capitalize the first letter if you&#039;re starting a sentence with it, but try to avoid this since it&#039;s also distracting).  &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
If you&#039;re quoting something from a non-SUMC source that uses a different rendering of one of these terms, it&#039;s okay to correct it to our preferred (closed) version without indicating the correction with brackets. If a source uses an entirely different &#039;&#039;word,&#039;&#039; in a way that we define differently (seen most commonly with &#039;&#039;rideshare&#039;&#039; to mean &#039;&#039;ridehail&#039;&#039;), then you should substitute our preferred term but use brackets. (E.g., &amp;quot;The study followed more than 200 [ridehail] drivers on their lunch breaks.&amp;quot;) Formal academic or legal contexts have stricter rules about indicating changes, but the foregoing applies to general writing for sites and publications SUMC controls. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Where this list has entries with no further commentary, it represents the preferred rendering of the term(s), and further usage is assumed to be self-explanatory based on the general rules around hyphens/spacing, abbreviations, etc. If you find yourself frequently using a term that&#039;s not in this list, especially if it&#039;s something you see rendered in a number of different ways, please feel free to add an entry to this list. If this eventually gets too long, we can split it into separate pages, titled something like &amp;quot;Term (usage).&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Autonomous vehicles (AVs)&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Bikeshare&#039;&#039;&#039; or bikesharing &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Carshare&#039;&#039;&#039; or carsharing&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;First and last mile&#039;&#039;&#039;: Use space between words when referring to the concept alone (i.e. “the first and last mile on a transportation journey”). When using part or all of the term as an adjective &amp;lt;u&amp;gt;before&amp;lt;/u&amp;gt; a noun, hyphenate. &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Fixed-route transit&#039;&#039;&#039;: See &#039;&#039;&#039;Public transit&#039;&#039;&#039; &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Limousines&#039;&#039;&#039;: Used interchangeably with &#039;&#039;limos,&#039;&#039; but always &#039;&#039;limousines&#039;&#039; on first reference. &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Micromobility&#039;&#039;&#039;: This term should be used for fleet deployments of bikes and scooters, or else individually owned bikes or scooters used for personal trips--but not to mean bikes and/or scooters generally (just use &#039;&#039;bike&#039;&#039; or &#039;&#039;scooter&#039;&#039;), and definitely not for bikes/trikes transporting cargo or other non-personal loads. &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;[[Microtransit]]&#039;&#039;&#039;: This is the preferred term for technology-enabled on-demand transit services, especially those that use mobile technology for ride requests, payment, and routing. Other terms that are related, but not necessarily interchangeable with microtransit:&lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Demand-responsive transit/transport (DRT)&#039;&#039;&#039;: Per [https://www.transit.dot.gov/ntd/national-transit-database-ntd-glossary#D NTD], this refers to &amp;quot;a transit mode comprised of passenger cars, vans or small buses operating in response to calls from passengers or their agents to the transit operator, who then dispatches a vehicle to pick up the passengers and transport them to their destinations.&amp;quot; This is the broadest term for this mode, of which microtransit and paratransit are subsets. Without modification, DRT is not necessarily tech-enabled, distinguishing it from &#039;&#039;microtransit&#039;&#039;, and is not limited to riders with disabilities, distinguishing it from &#039;&#039;paratransit&#039;&#039;.  &lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Paratransit&#039;&#039;&#039;: In olden times, and outside the US, &#039;&#039;paratransit&#039;&#039; was used to refer to DRT in general, but since the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), it&#039;s most commonly understood to mean wheelchair-accessible DRT for people with disabilities. Sometimes you&#039;ll see &#039;&#039;ADA paratransit&#039;&#039; to refer to the federally required service in the &amp;quot;shadow&amp;quot; of fixed routes, contrasted with &#039;&#039;premium paratransit&#039;&#039; to mean service provided outside the parameters of what&#039;s required (either in terms of timing, distance, or the passengers served). If you&#039;re talking about paratransit services that are not limited to qualified riders or people with disabilities, it might be useful to call it &#039;&#039;general-public paratransit&#039;&#039;.  &lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Flexible shuttle service&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Flex-route services&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Mobility as a service (MaaS)&#039;&#039;&#039;: Not capitalized and does not take hyphens in any position.&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Mobility on demand (MOD)&#039;&#039;&#039;: No hyphens, and need not be capitalized in general usage, but it should be in proper names (e.g. &amp;quot;Mobility on Demand Sandbox&amp;quot; but &amp;quot;sixteen mobility on demand (MOD) projects&amp;quot;).&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Policymaker&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Public transit&#039;&#039;&#039;: This term can be used interchangeably with &#039;&#039;public transportation&#039;&#039; to refer to either the service or the industry generally. It should not be used interchangeably with &#039;&#039;fixed-route transit,&#039;&#039; which you should use only when you want to refer to scheduled bus or train service that operates on a specific route.&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Ridehail&#039;&#039;&#039; or ridehailing: This is SUMC&#039;s preferred term for commercial, on-demand small-vehicle taxi service provided by Uber and Lyft. Many writers, with the industry&#039;s urging, use &#039;&#039;ridesharing&#039;&#039; instead, but in our work this should be reserved for non-commercial carpool-like services where the rider and passengers actually share a destination. You&#039;ll often see it used interchangeably with the following, and it&#039;s not worth correcting when quoting (beyond fixing space or hyphenation):&lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Transportation network company/companies (TNCs)&#039;&#039;&#039;: This originates with the California legal definition of the service type, the first statutory definition in the US. &lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Ridesourcing&#039;&#039;&#039;: Means the same thing as &#039;&#039;ridehailing&#039;&#039;, and in early SUMC publications we often preferred this, but now we&#039;re grown and prefer &#039;&#039;-hailing&#039;&#039; in our own original writing. &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Ridesharing&#039;&#039;&#039;: Use only to refer to non-commercial carpool-like services where the rider and passengers actually share a destination. It should not be used for what Uber does. This term can be used interchangeably with:&lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Carpool/carpooling&#039;&#039;&#039; &lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Slugging&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Community carpool&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Scootersharing&#039;&#039;&#039;: Please refer to the shared mode as &#039;&#039;electric scootershare/scootersharing&#039;&#039; or &#039;&#039;scootershare/scootersharing&#039;&#039;. Do not use &#039;&#039;e-scootershare/e-scootersharing&#039;&#039;. If referring to electric scooters themselves, individually or as a group, shared or not, it&#039;s fine to use &#039;&#039;e-scooters&#039;&#039; or &#039;&#039;electric scooters&#039;&#039;.&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Shared mobility&#039;&#039;&#039;: This is a preferred term but can be used interchangeably with &#039;&#039;shared-use mobility,&#039;&#039; in which you should always hyphenate shared-use.&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Taxis&#039;&#039;&#039;: Interchangeable with &#039;&#039;taxi services&#039;&#039;.&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Wheelchair-accessible vehicles (WAVs)&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Wikimaster</name></author>
	</entry>
	<entry>
		<id>http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=SUMC_preferred_usage&amp;diff=12</id>
		<title>SUMC preferred usage</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=SUMC_preferred_usage&amp;diff=12"/>
		<updated>2026-02-13T19:45:48Z</updated>

		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Wikimaster: &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;These are the preferred ways to use various terms from our industry. For terms not included here, see the [[style authorities]] page for general guidelines.  &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&#039;&#039;&#039;General rules:&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
* For terms like &#039;&#039;electric vehicles&#039;&#039; that are commonly referred to by initialisms, spell out the term on the first usage in a work or a major section, and indicate the abbreviation in parentheses. After that, you can use the initials (e.g., &amp;quot;electric vehicles (EVs)&amp;quot; on first use, &amp;quot;EVs&amp;quot; thereafter).&lt;br /&gt;
* Unless otherwise indicated, we prefer closed compounds to hyphenated or open ones. So, &#039;&#039;bikeshare&#039;&#039;, not &#039;&#039;bike-share&#039;&#039; or &#039;&#039;bike share&#039;&#039;. There are many exceptions to this rule, and the Chicago Manual of Style has a [https://docslib.org/doc/6204848/the-chicago-manual-of-style-online-hyphenation-table helpful chart] listing most of them.  &lt;br /&gt;
* Also on the subject of hyphens, normally open compounds like &#039;&#039;first and last mile&#039;&#039; should be hyphenated when used as an adjective before a noun (i.e. &#039;&#039;first-mile&#039;&#039;, &#039;&#039;last-mile&#039;&#039;, &#039;&#039;first-/last-mile&#039;&#039;, or &#039;&#039;first- and last-mile&#039;&#039; in front of words like &#039;&#039;problem&#039;&#039; or &#039;&#039;connections&#039;&#039;). They should be left open, regardless of their grammatical function, if used after a noun or on their own.  &lt;br /&gt;
* The normal English rules of capitalization apply to our work: do not capitalize words unless they&#039;re a proper noun (including brand names) or the first word in a sentence. Do not capitalize because it&#039;s being abbreviated to something with capital letters, or just seems important to what you&#039;re writing.  &lt;br /&gt;
* Automated spell-checkers may have different ideas about what version is correct, so you might consider adding the preferred versions to a personal dictionary to avoid nagging and squiggly lines.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
If you&#039;re quoting something from a non-SUMC source that uses a different rendering of one of these terms, it&#039;s okay to correct it to our preferred (closed) version without indicating the correction with brackets. If a source uses an entirely different &#039;&#039;word,&#039;&#039; in a way that we define differently (seen most commonly with &#039;&#039;rideshare&#039;&#039; to mean &#039;&#039;ridehail&#039;&#039;), then you should substitute our preferred term but use brackets. (E.g., &amp;quot;The study followed more than 200 [ridehail] drivers on their lunch breaks.&amp;quot;) Formal academic or legal contexts have stricter rules about indicating changes, but the foregoing applies to general writing for sites and publications SUMC controls. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Where this list has entries with no further commentary, it represents the preferred rendering of the term(s), and further usage is assumed to be self-explanatory based on the general rules around hyphens/spacing, abbreviations, etc. If you find yourself frequently using a term that&#039;s not in this list, especially if it&#039;s something you see rendered in a number of different ways, please feel free to add an entry to this list. If this eventually gets too long, we can split it into separate pages, titled something like &amp;quot;Term (usage).&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Autonomous vehicles (AVs)&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Bikeshare&#039;&#039;&#039; or bikesharing &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Carshare&#039;&#039;&#039; or carsharing&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;First and last mile&#039;&#039;&#039;: Use space between words when referring to the concept alone (i.e. “the first and last mile on a transportation journey”). When using part or all of the term as an adjective &amp;lt;u&amp;gt;before&amp;lt;/u&amp;gt; a noun, hyphenate. &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Fixed-route transit&#039;&#039;&#039;: See &#039;&#039;&#039;Public transit&#039;&#039;&#039; &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Limousines&#039;&#039;&#039;: Used interchangeably with &#039;&#039;limos,&#039;&#039; but always &#039;&#039;limousines&#039;&#039; on first reference. &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Micromobility&#039;&#039;&#039;: This term should be used for fleet deployments of bikes and scooters, or else individually owned bikes or scooters used for personal trips--but not to mean bikes and/or scooters generally (just use &#039;&#039;bike&#039;&#039; or &#039;&#039;scooter&#039;&#039;), and definitely not for bikes/trikes transporting cargo or other non-personal loads. &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;[[Microtransit]]&#039;&#039;&#039;: This is the preferred term for technology-enabled on-demand transit services, especially those that use mobile technology for ride requests, payment, and routing. Other terms that are related, but not necessarily interchangeable with microtransit:&lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Demand-responsive transit/transport (DRT)&#039;&#039;&#039;: Per [https://www.transit.dot.gov/ntd/national-transit-database-ntd-glossary#D NTD], this refers to &amp;quot;a transit mode comprised of passenger cars, vans or small buses operating in response to calls from passengers or their agents to the transit operator, who then dispatches a vehicle to pick up the passengers and transport them to their destinations.&amp;quot; This is the broadest term for this mode, of which microtransit and paratransit are subsets. Without modification, DRT is not necessarily tech-enabled, distinguishing it from &#039;&#039;microtransit&#039;&#039;, and is not limited to riders with disabilities, distinguishing it from &#039;&#039;paratransit&#039;&#039;.  &lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Paratransit&#039;&#039;&#039;: In olden times, and outside the US, &#039;&#039;paratransit&#039;&#039; was used to refer to DRT in general, but since the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), it&#039;s most commonly understood to mean wheelchair-accessible DRT for people with disabilities. Sometimes you&#039;ll see &#039;&#039;ADA paratransit&#039;&#039; to refer to the federally required service in the &amp;quot;shadow&amp;quot; of fixed routes, contrasted with &#039;&#039;premium paratransit&#039;&#039; to mean service provided outside the parameters of what&#039;s required (either in terms of timing, distance, or the passengers served). If you&#039;re talking about paratransit services that are not limited to qualified riders or people with disabilities, it might be useful to call it &#039;&#039;general-public paratransit&#039;&#039;.  &lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Flexible shuttle service&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Flex-route services&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Mobility as a service (MaaS)&#039;&#039;&#039;: Not capitalized and does not take hyphens in any position.&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Mobility on demand (MOD)&#039;&#039;&#039;: No hyphens, and need not be capitalized in general usage, but it should be in proper names (e.g. &amp;quot;Mobility on Demand Sandbox&amp;quot; but &amp;quot;sixteen mobility on demand (MOD) projects&amp;quot;).&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Policymaker&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Public transit&#039;&#039;&#039;: This term can be used interchangeably with &#039;&#039;public transportation&#039;&#039; to refer to either the service or the industry generally. It should not be used interchangeably with &#039;&#039;fixed-route transit,&#039;&#039; which you should use only when you want to refer to scheduled bus or train service that operates on a specific route.&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Ridehail&#039;&#039;&#039; or ridehailing: This is SUMC&#039;s preferred term for commercial, on-demand small-vehicle taxi service provided by Uber and Lyft. Many writers, with the industry&#039;s urging, use &#039;&#039;ridesharing&#039;&#039; instead, but in our work this should be reserved for non-commercial carpool-like services where the rider and passengers actually share a destination. You&#039;ll often see it used interchangeably with the following, and it&#039;s not worth correcting when quoting (beyond fixing space or hyphenation):&lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Transportation network company/companies (TNCs)&#039;&#039;&#039;: This originates with the California legal definition of the service type, the first statutory definition in the US. &lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Ridesourcing&#039;&#039;&#039;: Means the same thing as &#039;&#039;ridehailing&#039;&#039;, and in early SUMC publications we often preferred this, but now we&#039;re grown and prefer &#039;&#039;-hailing&#039;&#039; in our own original writing. &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Ridesharing&#039;&#039;&#039;: Use only to refer to non-commercial carpool-like services where the rider and passengers actually share a destination. It should not be used for what Uber does. This term can be used interchangeably with:&lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Carpool/carpooling&#039;&#039;&#039; &lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Slugging&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Community carpool&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Scootersharing&#039;&#039;&#039;: Please refer to the shared mode as &#039;&#039;electric scootershare/scootersharing&#039;&#039; or &#039;&#039;scootershare/scootersharing&#039;&#039;. Do not use &#039;&#039;e-scootershare/e-scootersharing&#039;&#039;. If referring to electric scooters themselves, individually or as a group, shared or not, it&#039;s fine to use &#039;&#039;e-scooters&#039;&#039; or &#039;&#039;electric scooters&#039;&#039;.&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Shared mobility&#039;&#039;&#039;: This is a preferred term but can be used interchangeably with &#039;&#039;shared-use mobility,&#039;&#039; in which you should always hyphenate shared-use.&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Taxis&#039;&#039;&#039;: Interchangeable with &#039;&#039;taxi services&#039;&#039;.&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Wheelchair-accessible vehicles (WAVs)&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Wikimaster</name></author>
	</entry>
	<entry>
		<id>http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=File:Fig06_spin_scooters_jeffCityMo_flickr_diversey_tony_webster.jpg&amp;diff=11</id>
		<title>File:Fig06 spin scooters jeffCityMo flickr diversey tony webster.jpg</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=File:Fig06_spin_scooters_jeffCityMo_flickr_diversey_tony_webster.jpg&amp;diff=11"/>
		<updated>2026-02-09T22:46:05Z</updated>

		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Wikimaster: &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Wikimaster</name></author>
	</entry>
	<entry>
		<id>http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=File:SUMC_rosette-only.jpg&amp;diff=10</id>
		<title>File:SUMC rosette-only.jpg</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=File:SUMC_rosette-only.jpg&amp;diff=10"/>
		<updated>2026-02-09T22:41:10Z</updated>

		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Wikimaster: &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Wikimaster</name></author>
	</entry>
	<entry>
		<id>http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=File:SUMC_Logo_Big.png&amp;diff=9</id>
		<title>File:SUMC Logo Big.png</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=File:SUMC_Logo_Big.png&amp;diff=9"/>
		<updated>2026-02-09T22:39:28Z</updated>

		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Wikimaster: &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Wikimaster</name></author>
	</entry>
	<entry>
		<id>http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=SUMC_preferred_usage&amp;diff=8</id>
		<title>SUMC preferred usage</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=SUMC_preferred_usage&amp;diff=8"/>
		<updated>2026-02-05T22:08:49Z</updated>

		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Wikimaster: further definitions&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;These are the preferred ways to use various terms from our industry. For terms not included here, see the [[style authorities]] page for general guidelines.  &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&#039;&#039;&#039;General rules:&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
* For terms like &#039;&#039;electric vehicles&#039;&#039; that are commonly referred to by initialisms, spell out the term on the first usage in a work or a major section, and indicate the abbreviation in parentheses. After that, you can use the initials (e.g., &amp;quot;electric vehicles (EVs)&amp;quot; on first use, &amp;quot;EVs&amp;quot; thereafter).&lt;br /&gt;
* Unless otherwise indicated, we prefer closed compounds to hyphenated or open ones. So, &#039;&#039;bikeshare&#039;&#039;, not &#039;&#039;bike-share&#039;&#039; or &#039;&#039;bike share&#039;&#039;. There are many exceptions to this rule, and the Chicago Manual of Style has a [https://docslib.org/doc/6204848/the-chicago-manual-of-style-online-hyphenation-table helpful chart] listing most of them.  &lt;br /&gt;
* Also on the subject of hyphens, normally open compounds like &#039;&#039;first and last mile&#039;&#039; should be hyphenated when used as an adjective before a noun (i.e. &#039;&#039;first-mile&#039;&#039;, &#039;&#039;last-mile&#039;&#039;, &#039;&#039;first-/last-mile&#039;&#039;, or &#039;&#039;first- and last-mile&#039;&#039; in front of words like &#039;&#039;problem&#039;&#039; or &#039;&#039;connections&#039;&#039;). They should be left open, regardless of their grammatical function, if used after a noun or on their own.  &lt;br /&gt;
* The normal English rules of capitalization apply to our work: do not capitalize words unless they&#039;re a proper noun (including brand names) or the first word in a sentence. Do not capitalize because it&#039;s being abbreviated to something with capital letters, or just seems important to what you&#039;re writing.  &lt;br /&gt;
* Automated spell-checkers may have different ideas about what version is correct, so you might consider adding the preferred versions to a personal dictionary to avoid nagging and squiggly lines.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
If you&#039;re quoting something from a non-SUMC source that uses a different rendering of one of these terms, it&#039;s okay to correct it to our preferred (closed) version without indicating the correction with brackets. If a source uses an entirely different &#039;&#039;word,&#039;&#039; in a way that we define differently (seen most commonly with &#039;&#039;rideshare&#039;&#039; to mean &#039;&#039;ridehail&#039;&#039;), then you should substitute our preferred term but use brackets. (E.g., &amp;quot;The study followed more than 200 [ridehail] drivers on their lunch breaks.&amp;quot;) Formal academic or legal contexts have stricter rules about indicating changes, but the foregoing applies to general writing for sites and publications SUMC controls. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Where this list has entries with no further commentary, it represents the preferred rendering of the term(s), and further usage is assumed to be self-explanatory based on the general rules around hyphens/spacing, abbreviations, etc. If you find yourself frequently using a term that&#039;s not in this list, especially if it&#039;s something you see rendered in a number of different ways, please feel free to add an entry to this list. If this eventually gets too long, we can split it into separate pages, titled something like &amp;quot;Term (usage).&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Autonomous vehicles (AVs)&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Bikeshare&#039;&#039;&#039; or bikesharing &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Carshare&#039;&#039;&#039; or carsharing&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;First and last mile&#039;&#039;&#039;: Use space between words when referring to the concept alone (i.e. “the first and last mile on a transportation journey”). When using part or all of the term as an adjective &amp;lt;u&amp;gt;before&amp;lt;/u&amp;gt; a noun, hyphenate. &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Fixed-route transit&#039;&#039;&#039;: See &#039;&#039;&#039;Public transit&#039;&#039;&#039; &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Limousines&#039;&#039;&#039;: Used interchangeably with &#039;&#039;limos,&#039;&#039; but always &#039;&#039;limousines&#039;&#039; on first reference. &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Micromobility&#039;&#039;&#039;: This term should be used for fleet deployments of bikes and scooters, or else individually owned bikes or scooters used for personal trips--but not to mean bikes and/or scooters generally (just use &#039;&#039;bike&#039;&#039; or &#039;&#039;scooter&#039;&#039;), and definitely not for bikes/trikes transporting cargo or other non-personal loads. &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;[[Microtransit]]&#039;&#039;&#039;: This is the preferred term for technology-enabled on-demand transit services, especially those that use mobile technology for ride requests, payment, and routing. Other terms that are related, but not necessarily interchangeable with microtransit:&lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Demand-responsive transit/transport (DRT)&#039;&#039;&#039;: Per [https://www.transit.dot.gov/ntd/national-transit-database-ntd-glossary#D NTD], this refers to &amp;quot;a transit mode comprised of passenger cars, vans or small buses operating in response to calls from passengers or their agents to the transit operator, who then dispatches a vehicle to pick up the passengers and transport them to their destinations.&amp;quot; This is the broadest term for this mode, of which microtransit and paratransit are subsets. Without modification, DRT is not necessarily tech-enabled, distinguishing it from &#039;&#039;microtransit&#039;&#039;, and is not limited to riders with disabilities, distinguishing it from &#039;&#039;paratransit&#039;&#039;.  &lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Paratransit&#039;&#039;&#039;: In olden times, and outside the US, &#039;&#039;paratransit&#039;&#039; was used to refer to DRT in general, but since the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), it&#039;s most commonly understood to mean wheelchair-accessible DRT for people with disabilities. Sometimes you&#039;ll see &#039;&#039;ADA paratransit&#039;&#039; to refer to the federally required service in the &amp;quot;shadow&amp;quot; of fixed routes, contrasted with &#039;&#039;premium paratransit&#039;&#039; to mean service provided outside the parameters of what&#039;s required (either in terms of timing, distance, or the passengers served). If you&#039;re talking about paratransit services that are not limited to qualified riders or people with disabilities, it might be useful to call it &#039;&#039;general-public paratransit&#039;&#039;.  &lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Flexible shuttle service&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Flex-route services&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Mobility as a service (MaaS)&#039;&#039;&#039;: Not capitalized and does not take hyphens in any position.&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Mobility on demand (MOD)&#039;&#039;&#039;: No hyphens, and need not be capitalized in general usage, but it should be in proper names (e.g. &amp;quot;Mobility on Demand Sandbox&amp;quot; but &amp;quot;sixteen mobility on demand (MOD) projects&amp;quot;).&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Public transit&#039;&#039;&#039;: This term can be used interchangeably with &#039;&#039;public transportation&#039;&#039; to refer to either the service or the industry generally. It should not be used interchangeably with &#039;&#039;fixed-route transit,&#039;&#039; which you should use only when you want to refer to scheduled bus or train service that operates on a specific route.&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Ridehail&#039;&#039;&#039; or ridehailing: This is SUMC&#039;s preferred term for commercial, on-demand small-vehicle taxi service provided by Uber and Lyft. Many writers, with the industry&#039;s urging, use &#039;&#039;ridesharing&#039;&#039; instead, but in our work this should be reserved for non-commercial carpool-like services where the rider and passengers actually share a destination. You&#039;ll often see it used interchangeably with the following, and it&#039;s not worth correcting when quoting (beyond fixing space or hyphenation):&lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Transportation network company/companies (TNCs)&#039;&#039;&#039;: This originates with the California legal definition of the service type, the first statutory definition in the US. &lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Ridesourcing&#039;&#039;&#039;: Means the same thing as &#039;&#039;ridehailing&#039;&#039;, and in early SUMC publications we often preferred this, but now we&#039;re grown and prefer &#039;&#039;-hailing&#039;&#039; in our own original writing. &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Ridesharing&#039;&#039;&#039;: Use only to refer to non-commercial carpool-like services where the rider and passengers actually share a destination. It should not be used for what Uber does. This term can be used interchangeably with:&lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Carpool/carpooling&#039;&#039;&#039; &lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Slugging&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Community carpool&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Scootersharing&#039;&#039;&#039;: Please refer to the shared mode as &#039;&#039;electric scootershare/scootersharing&#039;&#039; or &#039;&#039;scootershare/scootersharing&#039;&#039;. Do not use &#039;&#039;e-scootershare/e-scootersharing&#039;&#039;. If referring to electric scooters themselves, individually or as a group, shared or not, it&#039;s fine to use &#039;&#039;e-scooters&#039;&#039; or &#039;&#039;electric scooters&#039;&#039;.&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Shared mobility&#039;&#039;&#039;: This is a preferred term but can be used interchangeably with &#039;&#039;shared-use mobility,&#039;&#039; in which you should always hyphenate shared-use.&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Taxis&#039;&#039;&#039;: Interchangeable with &#039;&#039;taxi services&#039;&#039;.&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Wheelchair-accessible vehicles (WAVs)&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Wikimaster</name></author>
	</entry>
	<entry>
		<id>http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=SUMC_preferred_usage&amp;diff=7</id>
		<title>SUMC preferred usage</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=SUMC_preferred_usage&amp;diff=7"/>
		<updated>2026-02-05T21:57:17Z</updated>

		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Wikimaster: lots of edits to definitions and formatting&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;These are the preferred ways to use various terms from our industry. For terms not included here, see the [[style authorities]] page for general guidelines.  &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&#039;&#039;&#039;General rules:&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
* For terms like &#039;&#039;electric vehicles&#039;&#039; that are commonly referred to by initialisms, spell out the term on the first usage in a work or a major section, and indicate the abbreviation in parentheses. After that, you can use the initials (e.g., &amp;quot;electric vehicles (EVs)&amp;quot; on first use, &amp;quot;EVs&amp;quot; thereafter).&lt;br /&gt;
* Unless otherwise indicated, we prefer closed compounds to hyphenated or open ones. So, &#039;&#039;bikeshare&#039;&#039;, not &#039;&#039;bike-share&#039;&#039; or &#039;&#039;bike share&#039;&#039;. There are many exceptions to this rule, and the Chicago Manual of Style has a [https://docslib.org/doc/6204848/the-chicago-manual-of-style-online-hyphenation-table helpful chart] listing most of them.  &lt;br /&gt;
* Automated spell-checkers may have different ideas about what version is correct, so you might consider adding the preferred versions to a personal dictionary to avoid nagging and squiggly lines.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
If you&#039;re quoting something from a non-SUMC source that uses a different rendering of one of these terms, it&#039;s okay to correct it to our preferred (closed) version without indicating the correction with brackets. If a source uses an entirely different &#039;&#039;word,&#039;&#039; in a way that we define differently (seen most commonly with &#039;&#039;rideshare&#039;&#039; to mean &#039;&#039;ridehail&#039;&#039;), then you should substitute our preferred term but use brackets. (E.g., &amp;quot;The study followed more than 200 [ridehail] drivers on their lunch breaks.&amp;quot;) Formal academic or legal contexts have stricter rules about indicating changes, but the foregoing applies to general writing for sites and publications SUMC controls. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Where this list has entries with no further commentary, it represents the preferred rendering of the term(s), and further usage is assumed to be self-explanatory based on the general rules around hyphens/spacing, abbreviations, etc. If you find yourself frequently using a term that&#039;s not in this list, especially if it&#039;s something you see rendered in a number of different ways, please feel free to add an entry to this list. If this eventually gets too long, we can split it into separate pages, titled something like &amp;quot;Term (usage).&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Autonomous vehicles (AVs)&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Bikeshare&#039;&#039;&#039; or bikesharing &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Carshare&#039;&#039;&#039; or carsharing&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;First and last mile&#039;&#039;&#039;: Use space between words when referring to the concept alone (i.e. “the first and last mile on a transportation journey”). When using part or all of the term as an adjective *before* a noun, hyphenate (i.e. “first-mile”, “last-mile”, “first-/last-mile”, “first- and last-mile”, and “first- or last-mile” in front of words like “problem” or “connections”). For adjectival use placed after a noun, no hyphens are necessary. Do not capitalize unless used at the beginning of a sentence.&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Fixed-route transit&#039;&#039;&#039;: See &#039;&#039;&#039;Public transit&#039;&#039;&#039; &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Limousines&#039;&#039;&#039;: Used interchangeably with &#039;&#039;limos,&#039;&#039; but always &#039;&#039;limousines&#039;&#039; on first reference. &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Micromobility&#039;&#039;&#039;: This term should be used for fleet deployments of bikes and scooters, or else individually owned bikes or scooters used for personal trips--but not to mean bikes and/or scooters generally (just use &amp;quot;bike&amp;quot; or &amp;quot;scooter&amp;quot;), and definitely not for bikes/trikes transporting cargo or other non-personal loads. &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;[[Microtransit]]&#039;&#039;&#039;: This is the preferred term for technology-enabled on-demand transit services, especially those that use mobile technology for ride requests, payment, and routing. Other terms that are related, but not necessarily interchangeable with microtransit:&lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Demand-responsive transit/transport (DRT)&#039;&#039;&#039;: Per [https://www.transit.dot.gov/ntd/national-transit-database-ntd-glossary#D NTD], this refers to &amp;quot;a transit mode comprised of passenger cars, vans or small buses operating in response to calls from passengers or their agents to the transit operator, who then dispatches a vehicle to pick up the passengers and transport them to their destinations.&amp;quot; This is the broadest term for this mode, of which microtransit and paratransit are subsets. Without modification, DRT is not necessarily tech-enabled, distinguishing it from &#039;&#039;microtransit&#039;&#039;, and is not limited to riders with disabilities, distinguishing it from &#039;&#039;paratransit&#039;&#039;.  &lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Paratransit&#039;&#039;&#039;: In olden times, and outside the US, &#039;&#039;paratransit&#039;&#039; was used to refer to DRT in general, but since the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), it&#039;s most commonly understood to mean wheelchair-accessible DRT for people with disabilities. Sometimes you&#039;ll see &#039;&#039;ADA paratransit&#039;&#039; to refer to the required service in the &amp;quot;shadow&amp;quot; of fixed routes, contrasted with &#039;&#039;premium paratransit&#039;&#039; to mean service provided outside the parameters of what&#039;s required (either in terms of timing, distance, or the passengers served). If you&#039;re talking about paratransit services that are not limited to qualified riders or people with disabilities, it might be useful to call it &#039;&#039;general-public paratransit&#039;&#039;.  &lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Flexible shuttle service&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Flex-route services&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Mobility as a service (MaaS)&#039;&#039;&#039;: The full term is not capitalized and does not take hyphens in any position. &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Mobility on demand (MOD)&#039;&#039;&#039;: No hyphens, and need not be capitalized in general usage, but it should be in proper names (e.g. &amp;quot;Mobility on Demand Sandbox&amp;quot; but &amp;quot;sixteen mobility on demand (MOD) projects&amp;quot;).&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Public transit&#039;&#039;&#039;: This term can be used interchangeably with &#039;&#039;public transportation&#039;&#039; to refer to either the service or the industry generally. It should not be used interchangeably with &#039;&#039;fixed-route transit,&#039;&#039; which you should use only when you want to refer to scheduled bus or train service that operates on a specific route.&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Ridehail&#039;&#039;&#039; or ridehailing: This is SUMC&#039;s preferred term for commercial, on-demand small-vehicle taxi service provided by Uber and Lyft. Many writers, with the industry&#039;s urging, use &#039;&#039;ridesharing&#039;&#039; instead, but in our work this should be reserved for non-commercial carpool-like services where the rider and passengers actually share a destination. You&#039;ll often see it used interchangeably with the following, and it&#039;s not worth correcting when quoting (beyond fixing space or hyphenation):&lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Transportation network company/companies (TNCs)&#039;&#039;&#039;: This originates with the California legal definition of the service type, the first statutory definition in the US. &lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Ridesourcing&#039;&#039;&#039;: Means the same thing as &#039;&#039;ridehailing&#039;&#039;, and in early SUMC publications we often preferred this, but now we&#039;re grown and prefer &#039;&#039;-hailing&#039;&#039; in our own original writing. &lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Ridesharing&#039;&#039;&#039;: Use only to refer to non-commercial carpool-like services where the rider and passengers actually share a destination. It should not be used for what Uber does. This term can be used interchangeably with:&lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Carpool/carpooling&#039;&#039;&#039; &lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Slugging&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
** &#039;&#039;&#039;Community carpool&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Scootersharing&#039;&#039;&#039;: Please refer to the shared mode as &#039;&#039;electric scootershare/scootersharing&#039;&#039; or &#039;&#039;scootershare/scootersharing&#039;&#039;. Do not use &#039;&#039;e-scootershare/e-scootersharing&#039;&#039;. If referring to electric scooters themselves, individually or as a group, shared or not, it&#039;s fine to use &#039;&#039;e-scooters&#039;&#039; or &#039;&#039;electric scooters&#039;&#039;.&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Shared mobility&#039;&#039;&#039;: This is a preferred term but can be used interchangeably with &#039;&#039;shared-use mobility,&#039;&#039; in which you should always hyphenate shared-use.&lt;br /&gt;
* &#039;&#039;&#039;Taxis&#039;&#039;&#039;: Interchangeable with &#039;&#039;taxi services&#039;&#039;.&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Wikimaster</name></author>
	</entry>
	<entry>
		<id>http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Style_authorities&amp;diff=5</id>
		<title>Style authorities</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Style_authorities&amp;diff=5"/>
		<updated>2026-02-04T21:23:16Z</updated>

		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Wikimaster: Created page with &amp;quot;The following are the preferred authorities for style, usage, and spelling not specified in this guide:  &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;General style, references and bibliographies:&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; Chicago Manual of Style, latest edition  &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Spelling, definitions, synonyms, and basic usage:&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; [https://www.merriam-webster.com/ Webster&amp;#039;s Dictionary online]      &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Transit-specific terminology:&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; [https://www.transit.dot.gov/ntd/national-transit-database-ntd-glossary National Transit Database Glossary]&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;The following are the preferred authorities for style, usage, and spelling not specified in this guide:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&#039;&#039;&#039;General style, references and bibliographies:&#039;&#039;&#039; Chicago Manual of Style, latest edition&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&#039;&#039;&#039;Spelling, definitions, synonyms, and basic usage:&#039;&#039;&#039; [https://www.merriam-webster.com/ Webster&#039;s Dictionary online]&lt;br /&gt;
    &lt;br /&gt;
&#039;&#039;&#039;Transit-specific terminology:&#039;&#039;&#039; [https://www.transit.dot.gov/ntd/national-transit-database-ntd-glossary National Transit Database Glossary]&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Wikimaster</name></author>
	</entry>
	<entry>
		<id>http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=SUMC_preferred_usage&amp;diff=4</id>
		<title>SUMC preferred usage</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=SUMC_preferred_usage&amp;diff=4"/>
		<updated>2026-02-04T21:13:25Z</updated>

		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Wikimaster: Created page with &amp;quot;These are the preferred ways to use various terms from our industry. Generally we can say that we prefer closed compounds to hyphenated or open ones. For terms not included here, see the style authorities page for general guidelines. If you find yourself frequently using a term that&amp;#039;s not in this list, and it&amp;#039;s something you see rendered in a number of different ways, please feel free to add an entry to this list. If this eventually gets too long, we can split it int...&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;These are the preferred ways to use various terms from our industry. Generally we can say that we prefer closed compounds to hyphenated or open ones. For terms not included here, see the [[style authorities]] page for general guidelines. If you find yourself frequently using a term that&#039;s not in this list, and it&#039;s something you see rendered in a number of different ways, please feel free to add an entry to this list. If this eventually gets too long, we can split it into separate pages, titled something like &amp;quot;Term (usage).&amp;quot; For terms like autonomous vehicles or electric vehicles that are commonly referred to by initialisms, spell out the term on the first usage in a work or a major section, and indicate the abbreviation in parentheses. After that, you can use the initials. (E.g., &amp;quot;electric vehicles (EVs)&amp;quot; on first use, &amp;quot;EVs&amp;quot; thereafter.)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Automated spell-checkers may have different ideas about what is correct, so you might consider adding the preferred versions to a personal dictionary to avoid nagging and squiggly lines. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
If you&#039;re quoting something from a non-SUMC source that uses a different rendering of one of these terms, it&#039;s okay to correct it to our preferred version without indicating the correction with brackets. If a source uses an entirely different term, in a way that we define differently (seen most commonly with &amp;quot;rideshare&amp;quot; to mean ridehail), then you should substitute our preferred term but use brackets. (This all goes for general writing, but not formal academic or legal contexts, which have stricter rules about indicating changes.) &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Where this list has entries with no further commentary, assume that this is the preferred version of the term, and further usage is assumed to be self-explanatory based on general rules around abbreviations, etc.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
* Autonomous vehicles (AVs)&lt;br /&gt;
* Bikeshare: Write “bikeshare” or “bikesharing.” No hyphenation (“bike-share”) or spacing (“bike share”).&lt;br /&gt;
* Carshare: Use “carshare” or “carsharing.” No hyphenation (“car-share”) or spacing (“car share”).&lt;br /&gt;
* First and Last Mile: Use space between words when referring to the concept alone (i.e. “the first and last mile on a transportation journey”). When using part or all of the term as an adjective *before* a noun, hyphenate (i.e. “first-mile”, “last-mile”, “first-/last-mile”, “first- and last-mile”, and “first- or last-mile” in front of words like “problem” or “connections”). For adjectival use placed after a noun, no hyphens are necessary. Do not capitalize unless used at the beginning of a sentence.&lt;br /&gt;
* Micromobility: No hyphenation or spacing. This term should be used for fleet deployments of bikes and scooters, or else individually owned bikes or scooters used for personal trips--but not to mean bikes and scooters generally, and definitely not for bikes/trikes transporting cargo or other non-personal loads. &lt;br /&gt;
* [[Microtransit]]: Please refer to the service format as “microtransit”. There should be no hyphenation (ie. “micro-transit”) or spacing (ie. “micro transit”). DEFINE USAGE. Other terms that are related but not necessarily  interchangeable with microtransit:&lt;br /&gt;
** Demand-responsive transit/transport (DRT): Note hyphenation and also that it&#039;s not &amp;quot;demand-response.&amp;quot; Per [https://www.transit.dot.gov/ntd/national-transit-database-ntd-glossary#D NTD], this refers to &amp;quot;a transit mode comprised of passenger cars, vans or small buses operating in response to calls from passengers or their agents to the transit operator, who then dispatches a vehicle to pick up the passengers and transport them to their destinations.&amp;quot; This is the broadest term for this class of transit, of which microtransit and paratransit are subsets.  &lt;br /&gt;
** Paratransit:  Even though in olden times, and outside the US, paratransit was used to refer to DRT in general, since the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), it&#039;s most commonly understood to mean wheelchair-accessible DRT for people with disabilities. Sometimes you&#039;ll see &amp;quot;ADA paratransit&amp;quot; to refer to the required service in the &amp;quot;shadow&amp;quot; of fixed routes, contrasted with &amp;quot;premium paratransit&amp;quot; to mean service outside the parameters of what&#039;s required (either in terms of timing, distance, or the passengers served).  &lt;br /&gt;
** Flexible shuttle service&lt;br /&gt;
** Flex-route services&lt;br /&gt;
* Mobility as a service (MaaS): Use “mobility as a service (MaaS)” at first reference. The full term is not capitalized and does not take hyphens in any position. &lt;br /&gt;
* Mobility on demand (MOD): No hyphens and need not be capitalized in general usage, but it should be in proper names (e.g. &amp;quot;Mobility on Demand Sandbox&amp;quot; but &amp;quot;sixteen mobility on demand (MOD) projects&amp;quot;).&lt;br /&gt;
* Public transit: This term can be used interchangeably with “public transportation.” &lt;br /&gt;
** However, it should not be used interchangeably with “fixed-route transit”: Use in preference to “public transit” when you want to refer to scheduled bus or train service that operates on a specific route, and not the service or industry generally.  &lt;br /&gt;
* Ridehail: Use “ridehail” or “ridehailing.” This is our preferred term for the on-demand freeform taxi service provided by Uber and Lyft. You&#039;ll often see it used interchangeably with the following, and it&#039;s not worth correcting when quoting (beyond fixing space or hyphenation):&lt;br /&gt;
** Transportation network company/companies (TNCs): This originates with the California legal definition of the service type, the first statutory definition in the US. &lt;br /&gt;
** Ridesourcing: Means the same thing as ridehailing, but we should prefer -hailing in our own original writing. &lt;br /&gt;
* Ridesharing: Please refer to the practice as “rideshare” or “ridesharing”. DEFINE IN OPPOSITION TO RIDEHAIL. This term can be used interchangeably with:&lt;br /&gt;
** Carpool/carpooling &lt;br /&gt;
** Slugging&lt;br /&gt;
** Community carpool&lt;br /&gt;
** Vanpooling&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Wikimaster</name></author>
	</entry>
	<entry>
		<id>http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Main_Page&amp;diff=3</id>
		<title>Main Page</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Main_Page&amp;diff=3"/>
		<updated>2026-02-04T19:31:01Z</updated>

		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Wikimaster: Initial list of pages&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&amp;lt;strong&amp;gt;Welcome to the SUMC style and usage guide&amp;lt;/strong&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
This wiki is all about how written work by SUMC should look and feel. It&#039;s a wiki, so you can create and edit pages. Just register for an account, log in, and you can start editing. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Here are some pages:&lt;br /&gt;
* [[SUMC preferred usage]]&lt;br /&gt;
* [[References and bibliographies]]&lt;br /&gt;
* General guidelines for [[alt text]] and [[very detailed best practices for it]]&lt;br /&gt;
* [[Style authorities]]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== Getting started ==&lt;br /&gt;
Consult the [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Help:Contents User&#039;s Guide] for information on using the wiki software.&lt;br /&gt;
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Manual:Configuration_settings Configuration settings list]&lt;br /&gt;
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Manual:FAQ MediaWiki FAQ]&lt;br /&gt;
* [https://lists.wikimedia.org/postorius/lists/mediawiki-announce.lists.wikimedia.org/ MediaWiki release mailing list]&lt;br /&gt;
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Localisation#Translation_resources Localise MediaWiki for your language]&lt;br /&gt;
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Manual:Combating_spam Learn how to combat spam on your wiki]&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Wikimaster</name></author>
	</entry>
	<entry>
		<id>http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Main_Page&amp;diff=2</id>
		<title>Main Page</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://maps.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Main_Page&amp;diff=2"/>
		<updated>2026-02-04T19:21:15Z</updated>

		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Wikimaster: &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&amp;lt;strong&amp;gt;Welcome to the SUMC style guide&amp;lt;/strong&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== Getting started ==&lt;br /&gt;
Consult the [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Help:Contents User&#039;s Guide] for information on using the wiki software.&lt;br /&gt;
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Manual:Configuration_settings Configuration settings list]&lt;br /&gt;
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Manual:FAQ MediaWiki FAQ]&lt;br /&gt;
* [https://lists.wikimedia.org/postorius/lists/mediawiki-announce.lists.wikimedia.org/ MediaWiki release mailing list]&lt;br /&gt;
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Localisation#Translation_resources Localise MediaWiki for your language]&lt;br /&gt;
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Manual:Combating_spam Learn how to combat spam on your wiki]&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Wikimaster</name></author>
	</entry>
</feed>