Transportation or transit services, whether public or privately owned, traditionally maintain a fleet of their own vehicles to provide Ride on Demand services. These services can be for Shuttle, Taxi, Sedan, Paratransit bus or Rideshare programs.
However, with the emergence of Transportation Network Companies (TNC’s), like Lyft and Uber, the model is beginning to shift.
“In an effort to provide more accessible, flexible and cost-efficient residential transit services, the RTC (Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada) recently launched a pilot program called Ride On-Demand with Lyft, the fastest-growing ride-share company in the United States, for a small select group of Paratransit riders. The Lyft pilot program will allow up to 200 Paratransit customers the ability to enjoy more flexible service and to be more spontaneous by scheduling rides on demand, something they previously could not do.“ MassTransitMag – June 2018
One of the benefits of these new pilot programs is giving the customers more control. They no longer have to schedule rides in advance and can get a ride on-demand to be picked up within minutes…not hours with traditional Paratransit bus services that pick up multiple passengers.
For the transit agencies, it saves money because a taxi or TNC ride is less costly than using traditional shared ride transportation.
We’ve seen the emergence of this hybrid model recently when the city of London, who had previously banned Uber, allowed them to provide services upon agreeing to the same vehicle and driver safety requirements as licensed taxis and other commercially approved transportation.
Shift in the Model
The real shift is then in vehicle ownership from fleet to the individual driver of the TNC model reducing the cost of overhead for maintenance as well as any capital barriers for entry into the market. Again, reducing both transit agency and end user costs.
The majority of dispatch or scheduling control for various agencies remains in house. As the agencies adopt new mobile technology with their partner TNC’s, users of subsidized transit services may soon have the ability to book trips directly. This model is being used in the RTC’s pilot program providing an overall seamless user experience and ease of use data management for the agencies.
Leading the Transition
As a leading transportation management and software company providing solutions to transit agencies, taxi companies and major airports nationally, MJM Innovations has been engaged to facilitate their seamless technology development connecting transit agencies, transportation providers and major TNC’s to get a “Lyft” up on the competition.
To learn more how MJM Innovations continues to be the industry leader, click here.
