#microtransit

The Philadelphia-area Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority (SEPTA) is experimenting with micro-transit. I have heard that the idea of micro-transit, including semi-fixed but flexible bus routes people can schedule with apps, has not worked all that well in trials elsewhere. And SEPTA has a history and tendency of underwhelming. Nonetheless, I think that if the U.S. remains committed to its…

Microtransit is a new type of public transportation that helps older adults age in place and travel more conveniently. It's a flexible, affordable way to get around town and can be utilized by various people. This innovative service is becoming a popular choice for many older adults.

Microtransit is more equitably accessible

Microtransit is a new public transportation option that serves local communities on a micro-scale. The idea is to provide more convenient, efficient, and environmentally friendly transportation. Microtransit uses automated dispatch technology to minimize operating costs and carbon emissions while delivering exceptional mobility services. It also offers customers real-time vehicle tracking, arrival notifications, and service alerts.

Microtransit is an excellent option for local communities that have difficulty accessing public transit. It provides a faster and easier way for people to get to work, school, and other locations. It also reduces road congestion and allows public agencies to focus their resources on more important tasks. In many cases, microtransit service can be very affordable for public agencies. Some public agencies are even considering public-private partnerships with microtransit companies to increase coverage and efficiency. For example, the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority recently launched a public-private partnership with Ford to provide microtransit service.

It is flexible

Microtransit can improve local communities' mobility in areas that traditional fixed-route buses may not serve effectively. For example, microtransit can provide service in areas where the population density is low and where it is difficult to build new transit infrastructure. Moreover, it can reduce a community's reliance on private vehicles. Microtransit service also helps to improve air quality and reduce

The City of West Sacramento has recently launched an on-demand, door-to-door microtransit service with private operator Via. This service leverages a $600,000 Transportation Development Act grant and $150,000 in expected fare revenues to provide door-to-door on-demand service to 23 square miles of West Sacramento. Since the service's launch, ridership has surpassed expectations. It has averaged over three hundred rides per day.

It is a cost-effective way to get around

Microtransit is an emerging transportation technology that provides local communities with a more accessible and convenient way to get around. Often, these services are data-rich and mobile, allowing agencies to offer customized routes and services that respond to demand. Individuals using these services can set up applications' profiles, allowing agencies to charge fares in different zones or prioritize disabled riders.

Microtransit services are delivered by local transit agencies and are generally complementary to ADA-required demand response services. This flexibility allows microtransit agencies to cater to the needs of individual customers and provide more personalized service. Microtransit agencies typically charge higher fares than conventional fixed route services, but the benefits are more convenient and flexible. These services are also ideal for rural or hilly areas that are hard to serve by traditional buses.

It helps older adults age in place

The aging population is a substantial population to address in the transportation sector. Access to non-medical transportation is vital for the long-term health of older adults. A recent study found that nearly 90 percent of older adults plan to age in place, emphasising the need for accessible transportation.

A nutritious meal is like the heart of welfare services in any successful nation. To fulfill that dream many agencies induce their program through low or subsidized prices. But here is a twist, the one size fits all doesn’t apply to the meal program. The programs should be customized to the targeted communities before planning and implementing the system. One such successful nationwide program is Meals on Wheels America.

Meals on Wheels America is a program that offers regular meals to seniors whose mobility makes it impossible for them to leave the house to get food. It is made up of a network of over 5,000 individually owned groups. Meals on Wheels volunteers not only bring nutritious food on a daily basis, but they also serve as a safety check.

Some local chapters, such as the one in Austin, Texas, offer a unique "Veteran Services Program" to assist veterans in understanding and navigating the VA's and other government's benefits and resources. They provide the service to folks who have difficulty getting around. They serve in gathering areas such as senior centers and community facilities for individuals who are still able to venture out into their neighborhoods.

The service for the elderly for sure is a concern, children and low-income neighborhoods also request attention. Many NPOs look forward to serving low-income neighbors with uncompromised nutrition standards and offering variety. While children are offered specialized meal programs in hand with their education, nurturing them physically and mentally.

Schools are an excellent resource for children whose families are struggling to make ends meet. Food banks and local schools collaborate to ensure that children have access to free or low-cost meals and consumables that they may share with their families. When children eat well, they have the energy and concentration they require to learn and grow. Many organizations assist children in feeding themselves before, during, and after school, as well as during the summer and school breaks.

Having said the importance of meal programs, let’s state the challenges incurred in the path. Not many communities access the program due to lack of awareness or their location being remote to the service area. At times it’s also possible that the transportation to provide meals to these communities is either unavailable or too expensive for families. This hampers the inclusivity of social and societal well-being. As a result millions of people; Elderly, children, and low-income families remain hungry throughout the year, helpless and vulnerable.

This clearly states the need for efficient and reliable meal provision and transportation program that is accustomed to each of these groups’ bodily necessaries. There are a few kind-hearted organizations already working in the field but there is a lot higher demand. Few sponsors employ trucks to carry and serve meals directly at apartment complexes, parks, and other sites where families spend their days to answer this problem. Mobile programs offer a 'hyper local' food delivery strategy that could be especially useful in rural or suburban areas where distance and a lack of public transit are major obstacles to access. Post-Pandemic, many borderline families got pushed into vulnerability and seek assistance.

Where to start?

We have made a board program starter guide for those companies or local authorities who which to take a step, tackle the American Hunger War. This includes planning, analyzing the community needs, aligning the organizational capacity to choose a service model for meal transport beginners. This is an assorted guidebook with guidelines, recommendations, and best practices.

The steps are a list of questions that make us draw a clearer vision of our community to be served and the possible support from the organization. Through answering questions and following the direction, one can identify the level of demand and organizational ability to successfully implement the appropriate service model for those who are just getting started with meal transport or examining chances to improve an existing program.

A spark to launch a customized meal delivery service

Overview and Assessment of Needs: Does meal transport fit in your neighborhood?

You may decide that a "conventional" meals program with set venues will serve the community just as effectively at a lesser cost, based on an assessment of community needs, organizational capability, and financial viability. Alternatively, you might find that, while a meals transport program might be more effective at reaching individuals with meals, your organisation lacks the capacity or funding to establish one. However, if a preliminary investigation (Reco survey) finds that a meals transport is both necessary and practicable, the next step is to devise a strategy for implementing it.

Code of Federal Regulations formulates a set of 48 requirements under 5 categories which have to be regularly updated to establish and maintain the service officially.

Planning and Implementation

Once you've decided that meal transport is the best fit for your program, you'll need to figure out what resources and community partners you'll need to make it work. You'll also need to dig into the details of what makes each component workable and create an implementation strategy that takes into account restrictions, operational costs, food safety, labor, transportation, and outreach.

As you start planning your meal transport program, you'll have a lot of decisions to make about where to serve meals and what resources you'll need to make it a success. In some circumstances, you may need to rely on local community partners to supply resources that your organisation would otherwise be unable to obtain. You have to figure out what additional resources and community partners you'll need to keep your program going, how to communicate partnerships, and a study to choose site locations for areas of need and potential service. Please keep in mind that, while these activities are listed individually for planning purposes, they frequently occur in tandem and reinforce each other.

Meal Service Logistics and Best Practices

This is intended to assist meal program sponsors in developing and implementing a successful delivery and service solution in their areas. The following advice assumes that a thorough feasibility analysis of meal transport programming has already been completed, as well as location selection and community partnership initiatives.

Whether you operate it internally or outsource it, you'll need to meet the demands for hot and cold meals. Choices of vehicle and route, accompanying service provisions, and personnel management.

The Hunger Calculation - Meals Estimate

The Meals Calculator assists service providers in determining how many meals will be provided and/or how much funds will be required to conduct the meals program. The calculator should take into account critical expenses and benchmark data gathered from interviews with sponsors, partners, and vendors. For sponsors who are just started or looking to improve or extend an existing program, they should also consider vehicular capacity and maintenance.

Meal transport success stories

Take a look at the success stories below and be inspired by three different transport models that were meticulously created to satisfy the requirements of kids and families. Each short story will give you new ideas and help you think strategically about designing a successful meal transport program, from real-time food tracking for veterans to electronic voucher cards, each story portrays that meal transport is more than just providing a parcel at door.

#1 Chelsea

Over 2100 veterans in Chelsea, Massachusetts have benefited from seven 7 months of innovative food delivery services. Each week, about 80–100 individual meal deliveries were made, which not only provided emergency food and nutrition but also allowed for non-intrusive connection and checking on our Veterans. The team has also handled the responsibilities of managing the emergency food delivery system for CoVID affected families. Residents who have tested positive for COVID-19 or are quarantined are eligible for a box of healthy fruits, vegetables, and other items.

Drivers pick up packed food boxes from a central location (seen) and deliver them to families according to a route specified on their Qryde developed mobile app. As the vehicle approaches the drop-off location, the recipient receives an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) and SMS.

QRyde is also used to determine the number of boxes that should be sent based on the family's size. The Automation helped them to serve demand within reduced vehicular operation simultaneously cutting the city's carbon footprint.

#2 Real Services

Another renowned member of the Meals on Wheels program is REAL Services based in South Bend, IN. They dedicatedly work towards providing meals to low-income neighbors throughout the week. Besides providing nutrition self-sufficiency, education, and safety programs to 30,000 residents in northern Indiana each year, they also help seniors meet their medical appointments. The scheduling and automation are done through Qryde to meet the industrial level efficiency standards.

#3 CICOA

CICOA Aging & In-Home Solutions' Meals & More service provides delectable, nutritionally balanced meals that are essential for good health and good quality of life. The organization, understanding the behavioral patterns of the elderly provided them with a quick and easy-to-use meal card that can be used and reused for all meals at selective restaurants. To make the data administration simpler, the voucher system is operated through cloud technology. CICOA provides roughly 8,500 nutritionally balanced meals to seniors in central Indiana each month using an electronic meal accounting system based on QRyde technology. Since the partnership, CICOA has been able to efficiently manage the accounting of over 1,200 meals for clients at 35 neighborhood meal sites and cooperating hospitals.

#4 MIDS Transportation Inc.

MIDS Transportation Inc., the agency contracted by Regional Development Centers to conduct DHS travels within its area, maintains a fully coordinated transportation system with a mixed fleet of DOT 5311 trucks and 15 passenger vans, providing over 35,000 trips and 3,600 home-delivered meals monthly in the twenty-four counties it serves.

Their technological advancement developed by Qryde optimized scheduling, simple and precise invoicing, and reporting. Because it has contracts with DCH, DHS, and GDOT, Transportation Inc. is a transportation sector leader. This allows it to fully coordinate and service the areas in which it works.

Thinking Further

There are several things to be taken care of in general during meal transportation.

Keeping the meals Fresh and serving right

Setting the right temperature

Following the nutrition standards

Providing adequate quantity for the families

Transporting it right

Planning the target households

Saving longer journey for meal deliveries

Making user to provider communication easy

Checking other necessary supplies to the consumer (Medicine and groceries)

Communicating the food allergies and necessary customizations

Real-time tracking and costing

Minimal instruction and maximized automation for the delivery tenure

Electronic invoice and enabled customization

Meal tracking through mobiles

During Pandemic

Avoiding contact

Disinfected vehicles and infection-free delivery

Micro transit is a type of public or private collective transportation that employs mid-sized vehicles (such as microbuses, mini busses, or vans) to provide flexible and dynamic transportation routes that adapt to customers’ location and time requirements via IT-enabled services that connect demand and supply in real-time to provide a customer-tailored service.

Micro transit enables agencies to provide users with a more flexible on-demand alternative than fixed routes and appointment-based paratransit.

Riders can request a pickup anywhere in a defined service region, or solely at current bus stops (depending on the agency's arrangement) via a specialized app, online booking tool, or dialing in.

Top 50 Largest Demand Response Agencies (Ranked by Unlinked Passenger Trips)

Source: APTA factbook 2021

Evolution of Micro Transit

One of the reasons the word "micro-transit" might be misleading is that it's a category that's gone through a rapid evolution in the last five years or so, with new companies entering the market all the time. People have some misunderstandings about the kind of vehicles that are being used for micro transit. E scooters, rented mopeds, and shared bikes are not exactly defined as micro-transit, but they are called micromobility, which is a close relative to Micro transit.

Dial a Ride in New Jersey, 1974

Source: Jim Pickerell - U.S. National Archives and Records Administration

Remember those clumsy dial-a-ride services? They are, in fact, an early demand-responsive version of what we now name micro-transit, but without the technology that makes today's micro-transit efficient and easy to use for users.

Modern Day Demand responsive transit vehicles

Regardless of their variations, all micro-transit services have one thing in common. Their major objective is to increase a network's geographic and demographic reach, typically servicing low-density, low-income, and/or underserved regions that lack alternative viable transit options.

Number of unlinked passenger trips in demand-responsive transport in the United States from 1996 to 2020

Source: Statista 2020

The concept started to gain its confidence in the early 2010s, but majorly it gained popularity in 2015, the concept of "flexible routing" has been used in the United States for decades. Some early micro-transit systems depended only on set routes - while users could reserve a seat on their cellphones, the vehicle's actual path was predetermined, much like a typical bus service, but this approach has proven to be ineffective time and time again.

Hence, the new innovations in micro-transit have been introduced and its impact was evident in society.

Influence on the society

Private vehicles (or cabs) and public transportation have long dominated urban mobility in the United States. However, inhabitants of America's major cities have undoubtedly seen a slew of new alternatives that appear to fit somewhere in the middle.

Some communities even started to applaud this new revolution. “Micro-transit” is more beneficial than a fixed-route 40-foot bus or a metro rail system, which is more transit focussed than the conventional options.

There is a trend toward individuals wanting to be free of duties that aren't top priorities, such as owning and maintaining a vehicle, especially in the city.

If micro-and public transit works together as a system, there should be less automobile traffic on the road and more train and bus fees. As a result of the increased money, better service should be provided, resulting in more riders.

How micro-transit connects communities and benefits the Riders

Micro transit has the potential to improve the whole community's transit experience, altering how we commute in the future. Today's micro transit, in contrast to those early systems, means real-time dynamic routing that may alter at any time, letting users move wherever in the service zone on demand. Passengers normally travel a few blocks and catch a ride at a "virtual bus stop" - boarding at a common corner eliminates unnecessary diversions and improves the efficiency of the service.

Sophisticated dynamic routing algorithms employ real-time, on-the-ground information to add other people moving in the same direction onto the same vehicle throughout the passenger's path. In a never-ending stream, riders are picked up and dropped off. Recent numbers show that how it benefited the areas, who are having fewer transport options.

Number of Systems Offering a Mode of Service

Source: APTA factbook 2019

“Better transport services with fewer resources”. Think about the amount of time, fuels, and emissions that are saved from this innovative concept.

This innovative method of transportation not only has the potential to reduce transit times, but it also offers a slew of other advantages for women, the aged and vulnerable, rural areas, and governments and councils.

This equates to a highly efficient, ecologically friendly, and cost-effective ride.

Recently, many works and projects have been taken up by the government and many private players are also doing their part to make this concept successful and make a sustainable alternative for the future.

According to the American public transport association, Micro transit systems, which operate small-scale, on-demand public transit services that may offer fixed routes and timetables as well as flexible routes and on-demand scheduling, are being implemented by transit agencies to improve the user experience.

Micro Transit a Sustainable solution for the future?

Over the years, Micro transit has proven to decrease traffic congestion, spur economic development, and reduce the amount of air pollution. Micro transit, when correctly built and run, has the potential to enhance transit in low-density regions or during off-peak hours. It can act as a bridge between people and conventional transport modes. A system that helps people to meet all their daily needs.

Micro Transit services by QRyde

QRyde allows communities to implement TNC-like solutions for their members. Para transit/ADA Transportation Providers can also implement this technology over their existing scheduling software. It allows them to offer low-cost, on-demand, rider-funded services.

Services provided by QRyde

Source: QRyde Website

https://qryde.com/on-demand-microtransit/

Burke County is a county located along the eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia in Piedmont. Being the second-largest in area, the County is spread over 835 square miles of which 827 square miles is land and 8.0 square miles (1.0%) is water. As the place is well known for its Quality of life, it emerged as one of the important counties in Georgia.

With a housing quality rate of 73% according to US News and world reports, Burke County is one of the most preferable places to live. Transit connections through Air and roadways make it even more desirable to reside. As for the public transit services, Burke Transit operates a rural public transit system. Rural demand response provides service throughout the service area of Burke County.

Burke County Transit is a sub-recipient of FTA funds and provides service for medical appointments, pharmacy visits, school, work, & shopping in the area.

According to their reports, the agency carried out nearly 40,000 trips in the year 2019. Nearly 70% of those trips are fulfilled with complete user satisfaction. During April 2019, the system served 206 unique riders, averaging over 16 trips per person. This Indicates that nearly 2500 unique riders in a year.

Eight different vehicles provided this service, averaging 200 revenue hours per vehicle. From 2011, four new vehicles were added to the service. Burke Transit System has 6 total employees across all its locations and generates $101,220 in sales (USD). Several other sources confirm that their revenue generation has increased by over USD 1,80,000 in recent years. This explains their success story in the county.

The largest share of demand response trips provided during April 2019, was funded by the DHS Aging program (42.3%). Other funding sources were Medicaid (36.4%) and General Public Transit (21.2%).

The story of QRyde was started with the collaboration of Burke County with HBSS according to the guidelines of GDOT.

QRyde reduces the high cost of technology barrier for communities, agencies, and its cost-per-ride pricing model beats, by a large margin, the hundreds of thousands of dollars that are needed for the optimization of transportation systems.

Coweta County is one of the top 50 fastest-growing counties in the United States. This rapid growth is placing demands on both the current – and future – transportation networks that will move people, goods, and services throughout the county safely, reliably, and efficiently.

Coweta Transit agency is one of those dedicated service providers who are actively working on Microtransit services. Rural demand response provides service throughout the service area of Coweta County.

The county provides a Dial-a-ride program to areas like business, commercial and activity centers in Coweta County. It is generally implemented as an on-demand, door-to-door, or curb-to-curb transportation service.

The county officials mentioned that “people who are eligible under ADA act can book these services”. The county is presently running its services with 9 vehicles covering almost every possible land use in the area.

Officials from the agency have informed that the operation of the program is handled by Transitions Commute Solutions, a third-party contractor already operating in Coweta County. The program is designed and available for anyone who needs transportation within Coweta County.

According to the reports released by the county in 2019, Coweta County Transit scheduled 4,912 trips during April 2019. Approximately 74% of those scheduled trips were ultimately provided while 23.2% of trips were canceled by riders in advance.

The Funding for these trips is coming from different authorities over the state. The largest share of demand response trips provided during the trial period was funded by the ‘Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities’ category (44.9%). Other major funding categories were ‘Aging’ and ‘Public Transportation’, which funded 30% and 21% of trips during the sample period, respectively.

Coweta county mentioned that, according to the guidelines provided by the Georgia Department of transportation, we are teamed up with HBSS to manage and streamline our operations. At present, all our vehicles are equipped with the QRyde software which is provided by HBSS.

QRyde reduces the high cost of technology barrier for communities, agencies, and its cost-per-ride pricing model beats, by a large margin, the hundreds of thousands of dollars that are needed for the optimization of transportation systems.

Fixed route service is what most people are familiar with – buses or vans traveling regular routes at scheduled times. This kind of service comes up with many challenges in their daily operations. Augusta Richmond County transit is one of these service agencies that have been providing their services since the early ‘90s. Augusta Transit’s (AT) Fixed Route service consists of a bus service that operates on established routes, days, and scheduled times in Richmond County.

Even though the fixed routes play a crucial role in public transit, they cannot be accessible by all the persons of the society. The Augusta Transit introduced their paratransit system for persons with permanent or temporary disabilities.

In search of improving their services, Augusta transit has teamed up with HBSS to improve their scheduling and Route optimization technology. They helped AT with their QRyde software to improve their operations. Their Rural Dispatch system helped to streamline their scheduling and dispatching which resulted in a decreased operation cost.

Over the past few years, private taxis, jitneys, and other paratransit services have blossomed in cities around the world. Paratransit services are designed to bridge the gap between fixed-route transit and flexible vehicle mobility. It caters to the demands of certain markets and users by providing personalized public transit. In the United States, these services are specialized transportation services for persons with disabilities who are unable to meet all, or part of their mobility demands using fixed-route public transit.

City of Americus Transportation Department is one of such agencies which provide Microtransit facilities to the people of Americus, Georgia. The agency provides responsive services if you need a ride for shopping, work, doctor, or other group charter service.

People with disabilities need health care and health programs for the same reasons anyone else does to stay well, active, and a part of the community. Thus, the city of Americus transit strictly follows, Including the people with disabilities in everyday activities and encouraging them to have roles similar to their peers who do not have a disability which brings equality in the society.

This company currently has approximately 100 to 250 employees and carries out its services in Americus and Sumter County. In the year 2019, the City of Americus transit has performed about 16,260 unlinked trips in the county. It covered around 2 lakh annual revenue miles and 12,000 Annual vehicle revenue Hours.

City of Americus transport has 5 vehicles in operation and is used for demand-responsive paratransit services. To improve their services in the paratransit sector, the Americus transport department has collaborated with QRyde to streamline their services.