Affordable housing and economic opportunity are now more accessible to Jersey City residents, thanks to on-demand microtransit filling in transit deserts. Though a regional transit agency supplies a dense network of fixed-route options downtown, sparser coverage in certain neighborhoods prompted City government to take action by introducing microtransit.
Intentional service design and a finely-tuned algorithm were critical to launching and growing a service that genuinely complemented fixed-route coverage, with 40% of trips beginning or ending at a transit hub. Passengers can’t use the service to travel within the downtown core, and the Rider App refers them to fixed-route options when available, reserving microtransit vehicles for those seeking connections to, from, and within former transit deserts. Further tuning of algorithm parameters keeps vehicles full, with 90% of rides shared with other passengers.
Via and technology today allows you to solve all of those [transit desert] problems... It's a flexible model that allows you to adapt based on where people and the need actually are.
Steven Fulop — Mayor of Jersey City, New Jersey