Microtransit: Up to Speed in a "Smart" and "On-Demand" Era

The continued advances of the digital revolution have changed the way that we live and expectations from the services we use. This new "smart" and "on-demand" era saw a massive number of people sharply moving away from the "fixed/rigid" schedules of services provided by traditional systems. Households from all generations and walks of life now have "on-demand" platforms as part of their everyday life, be it for listening to music, watching favorite news, television series, or movies, or even taking self-paced online courses. For public transit, this new trend translates into more “mobility on demand” and particularly to its most promising form: micro-transit.

Micro-transit is an app-based service that can incorporate flexible routing and scheduling options. By being “smarter” and more responsive, micro-transit can improve the quality of the system, increasing its reliability, coverage area, and comfort. In a few words, its services offer users a similar experience to Uber, particularly to the UberX Share ride option. However, unlike typical ride-hailing services, micro-transit can use larger vehicles and has fixed fares, making trips more predictable and affordable. 

Should Micro-transit Substitute or Complement Fixed Route Systems?

Every micro-transit trip is custom designed to maximize the transit system’s efficiency, based on the rider’s desire and the system’s availability. According to recent research from the MTI, micro-transit has the potential to be the best substitute for “sparsely used bus routes” (generally located in lower-density neighborhoods), positioning it as a well-suited candidate for helping CAT build up the ridership levels for the regions with underperforming routes. 

The MTI research also suggests that micro-transit can meet the legal service requirements to transporting differently-abled passengers for whom walk-up access to fixed-route bus stops is not always possible. The latter is of particular importance as C3's Transit & Equity report learned from community members that, together with reliability and coverage, safe access to (and from) public transportation is one of the most important equity features of a system.

 A piece of excellent news is that, due to the shrewd resolution of Albemarle Supervisors, the very first micro-transit system for our community may be just around the corner. Over the last year, the County in partnership with the TJPDC conducted a “Transit Expansion Study” to explore the best ways to improve transit service in the Pantops area, Monticello, and the US-29 Corridor (areas that today are not fully covered by CAT’s fixed-routes services). The study concluded in February this year and stated that, as these areas are relatively low-density and car-oriented, micro-transit services are the best public transit alternative for them.

In the short term, beyond helping address equity and access issues to our transit system, this new micro-transit system will also allow Albemarle County to provide a cost-effective immediate solution to the many connectivity gaps resulting from flawed pedestrian infrastructure in lower-density areas of the County. In the mid/long-term, micro-transit’s data-rich platform will allow transit planners to monitor emerging ridership patterns and identify opportunities to adjust services or even replace them with fixed-route services where needed.

What is the “Right Dose” of Micro-Transit?

It is clear that micro-transit might bring many benefits to a community, but that doesn't mean that it should replace all fixed-route systems. For the case of the Charlottesville area, as mentioned in our previous transit-conversations blog, CAT does have some “champion routes” such as the Free Trolley and Route 7, which account for 2/3 of its total ridership while only accounting for 1/3 of CAT’s bus usage. These routes have healthy bus occupancy levels and make positive contributions to our community’s health and environment, despite being fossil-fuel operated.

However, micro-transit also has its caveats. First, by definition, it is designed to carry fewer riders per trip and wouldn’t be the best option for regions with a stable and relevant transit demand. Moreover, the concept of “climate/environmental breakeven" (mentioned in our “Increasing Transit Ridership is Necessary but Not Sufficient” blog) also applies to micro-transit and that means that every new system must carefully assess the best vehicle options (passenger capacity, fuel technology, etc.) to ensure that micro-transit will indeed be a source of net improvements in air and climate pollution.

Notably, the concept of “climate/environmental breakeven" and a mindful selection of the best micro-transit vehicle option was not a priority for the “Albemarle County Transit Expansion Study”. According to the study’s final report, each vehicle is expected to operate weekdays between 6:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. and only transport 12-20 riders per day. However, the recommended future operator of the system is procuring mini-buses with the capacity of carrying 20-passengers per trip to serve this initiative. What’s more: none of these “micro-transit” buses will be zero-emission vehicles.

Transit Equity as a Climate Justice Solution

Making transit more accessible, safe, and reliable certainly is in the right direction for also making it more equitable. However, this blog and our previous transit-conversations blog taught us that unless the transit system is carefully designed and equipped with the right vehicle technologies, it might fall short of reducing air and climate pollution and being a climate justice system.

While building up transit ridership back to its glorious days and beyond, cleaner technologies must be a part of the solution. It is possible: a new array of funding streams for cleaner transit vehicles have been announced by the Federal government. It is economical: transit agencies that completely rely on fossil-fuel technologies (such as CAT) are fully exposed to unpredictable fuel price volatilities, such as the recent 71% YoY increase in diesel prices. 

For more on the best fuel choices for public transit, don’t miss our next and last transit conversations blog, which will be released next week (March 28th). Also, join us and tell us your thoughts in our "Advancing Public Transit in Virginia - Time to ACT on Climate!" webinar. Finally, if you haven’t already, don’t forget to sign our ACT on Climate! letter.

To read Part One: Increasing Transit Ridership is Necessary but Not Sufficient

To read Part Three: What's Fueling Transit?