April 2023
Microtransit service pilot
Visalia Council meeting
Today’s Purpose
Staff Recommendation
Council to receive presentation and report
Council to direct Staff on next steps
Staff recommends to continue working with TCRTA and return to Council.
3 What is Microtransit?
Microtransit (sometimes called “on-demand transit”) is tech-enabled transportation where routing algorithms use real-time, on-the-ground information to group passengers into shared rides.
Microtransit
3 Year Pilot Project
Summary
Partnership between Visalia Transit, and TCRTA, with Via as the technology vendor.
TCRTA will use their existing drivers to operate.
TCRTA & TCAG funding project
Via will provide the Micro Transit software
On-Demand Service Design
5 Microtransit is Ideal for Tulare County
6 Local & Regional Connectivity
Urban, suburban + rural populations.
Individualized Rider Experience
General population, students, seniors, Wheelchair accessible vehicles, Dial-A-Ride.
Cost Effectiveness
Large zone with varying requirements: urban areas require short wait times, rural areas require more reasonable transit options.
Custom Ride Parameters by Zone
Wait times, curb-to-curb, door-to-door, fare differential and multimodal connectivity where applicable.
7 Greater Visalia Area
(95 mile2 zone; 15-19 vehicles)
Zone Review for On-demand service
Rationale for Zone Selection: A combined zone will help enable travel across the Visalia region where there is little direct connectivity today Demographics:
Population: 232,800
% of People in poverty: 17%
% of Car Free households: 5%
% of non-white residents: 67%
Use Cases: In addition to helping residents access employment areas, the service would also provide access to businesses such as the Walmart on Caldwell, several Save Marts
Data to be collected
Popularity of service
Most utilized zones
Pickup and drop off location data
Via Technology
9 10
On-Demand Booking
Confidential and Trade Secret
Intermodal
Trips
Riders will be given options for all transit services provided by TCRTA and Visalia Transit Connect rural communities to the transit service
Receive real time updates through the app or web portal 11 Confidential and Trade Secret
Additional Questions to work through
12 What is the Fare structure?
Flat rate, verses mileage rate
What are the scheduling parameters regarding shared rides? How much time will we allow to be added to an existing ride when a secondary passenger is added? How often will adjustments to the pilot be made?
If too many adjustments are made, the collected data may not be accurate.
What will the hours of operation be?
Questions from Council?