To do its job, public transit needs to be accessible. But ADA paratransit has grown unmanageably expensive, even as it delivers a less-than-optimal experience for riders. Without same-day service, paratransit asks riders to plan their lives around transit, rather than empowering them to use transit to live their lives.
What if a transit agency could create an accessible network more cost-effectively, while also delivering spontaneous, same-day mobility? The first step is to optimize paratransit operations with software that improves vehicle productivity and on-time performance. But we can’t stop there: we need to look for opportunities to connect paratransit riders to other accessible transit options whenever possible.
In other words, we’re approaching paratransit improvement as another facet of what we’ve been calling “integrated transit”: a movement in transit planning that relies on technology to link modes together in a way that puts “the right butt in the right seat.” For the general public, this looks like a mix of fixed-route and on-demand trips, depending on location and time of day.
For paratransit riders, it means the same thing — curated, of course, for accessibility, and dependent on robust eligibility management. What does connected paratransit look like in practice? It can take myriad forms, but some of the most common examples would be:
- Commingling: Sharing resources — technology, fleets, driver shifts — between on-demand microtransit and paratransit, enabling better vehicle productivity and access to same-day service through microtransit.
- Trip Brokering: Dispatching trips to non-dedicated TNC ridesharing services, when accessible vehicles are available.
- Fixed Route Referrals: Providing directions — and/or a first-leg accessible on-demand trip — to take fixed-route services with accessible vehicles and stops.
Implementing this vision depends on great technology: sophisticated eligibility management, a scheduling engine that intelligently distributes trips across all available modes, and rider- and agency-facing interfaces offering network-wide visibility.
This isn’t a fantasy. At Via, we’re already making it happen. In Summit County, Utah, commingling microtransit and paratransit has enabled same-day trips for paratransit riders since 2021. In the Durham region of Ontario, near Toronto, our transit agency partner will soon be introducing accessible fixed-route referrals for paratransit riders.
When paratransit riders become microtransit riders.
We’ll give you some numbers from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where Via’s technology is now powering microtransit, paratransit, and fixed-route services. The resulting network redesign has improved transit coverage from 45% to 100% — all of it accessible. As of September 2024, nine months after launch, our powerful paratransit scheduling engine has improved vehicle productivity by 41%.
And while transitions are always tough — we have some tips on rider outreach and messaging — we've seen some really exciting data that suggests paratransit riders are embracing lower-cost, higher-flexibility microtransit. Total trips taken by paratransit-eligible riders are up ~10% from September 2023 to September 2024 — but nearly 20% of these trips were completed on microtransit rather than dedicated paratransit, meaning the overall cost burden to SAM’s network has actually decreased.
Not only is this good for Sioux Area Metro, it’s good for riders. In September 2024, paratransit-eligible riders took ~700 trips on microtransit. Most of these trips were booked same-day, many just minutes before. And we have reason to think that app-based booking — where microtransit and paratransit options are presented side by side to eligible riders — has been a meaningful pathway for exploration by paratransit-eligible riders. We found that paratransit riders who book by app are 5x more likely to also be microtransit riders.
What does all of this mean? Clearly, a more efficient paratransit algorithm drives real improvement: a 41% increase in productivity is nothing to sneeze at. But once the paratransit fleet is operating as efficiently as possible, connecting riders to the rest of the network further reduces the cost burden on the network. Connected paratransit also offers a better experience for riders by surfacing opportunities for spontaneous accessible travel whenever possible.
For the next generation of paratransit software, improving efficiency is only the beginning.
As part of an integrated transit strategy, paratransit is part of a network again. For agencies, it offers a meaningful way to not just optimize efficiency, but reduce paratransit ride volume. And for riders, it offers a truly equivalent transit experience. The ADA didn’t set out to sequester riders with disabilities into a wholly-separate, highly-expensive alternative transit service. It set out to ensure riders with disabilities had as similar a transit experience as possible with the technology available in 1990. That technology has now changed. Let’s change with it.
