The Metro Board of Directors this month will consider three contracts totaling $885,247 with firms to partner with Metro to plan and design the agency’s much-anticipated MicroTransit Pilot Project (MTP). Here’s the Metro staff report.
The proposed on-demand service line will allow Metro to transport customers in a small vehicle that you can order and pay for online and that is not tied to a fixed route or even a fixed schedule. It’s a new service that Metro envisions could improve the experience of Metro customers by offering an easy way to order, pay for and ride Metro to connect to the bus or rail or as a complete trip solution. Please see MicroTransit FAQ for most commonly ask questions. Additional information can also be found at www.metro.net/MicroTransit
Metro staff is recommending to partner with three Contractor Teams — RideCo, NoMad Transit and Transdev — to produce studies on how this new service will work. The teams will work with Metro to determine the type of vehicles, the service zones, the price to ride the service and the level of integration with Metro’s existing service and digital tools.
If the staff recommendation is approved by the Board, the three Contractor Teams will have up to six months to complete the studies. The project budget for service implementation will be submitted for approval by the Metro Board in early 2019.
Metro staff anticipates the launch of the on-demand MicroTransit service in 2019. This project is included in the Board approved Twenty-Eight by ’28 projects.
Categories: Policy & Funding, Projects
MicroTransit might become a useful service in the future, but if Metro wants to improve rider experience, it needs to focus on security. Just improving the 20% of riders from being sexually harassed is critical to Metro’s mission. You can improve various aspect of Metro’s service, but until Metro improves security, then all these improvements will be wasted because nobody is going to ride Metro when they feel unsafe.
Are the three firms planning three different MicroTransit projects in different parts of the county, or are they competing with each other to determine whose MicroTransit concept should be implemented countywide?
Hi Matthew —
They are each coming up with proposals for how/where Microtransit could work. Metro could go forward with all three, just one or even none of them.
Steve Hymon
Editor, The Source