We are thrilled to announce the City of Arlington, Texas, as a recipient of the first annual Via Impact Awards! This year’s inaugural awards have a focus on equity, and Arlington has been named “Leader in Equitable Regional Transportation” in recognition of the city’s commitment to bringing cutting-edge mobility to every resident, facilitating connections to jobs, education, and healthcare in the city and beyond. With the expansion of the Arlington On-Demand service to the entire city, Arlington has become the first American municipality to use citywide microtransit as its primary mode of public transportation. With the introduction of RAPID, an autonomous vehicle service fully integrated with Arlington On-Demand, the City has become the first in the country to bring cutting-edge AV technology to public transit.
Launched in 2017 to replace an underperforming bus line, Arlington On-Demand now connects every neighborhood across a diverse metropolitan area with greatly improved quality of service. “The convenience of not having to worry about how to get to the bus station, or when you get off the bus, how do you get to where you want to go — it’s just off the charts,” said former Mayor Jeff Williams.
The City’s investment in microtransit also provides regional connectivity for its residents and commuters. Arlington On-Demand connects to the Trinity Railway Express at the CentrePort Station, offering a critical link to the Mid-Cities, Dallas, and Fort Worth. Once in the greater Metroplex, Arlington riders can access further services offered by DART, Trinity Metro, and DCTA.
Getting to know Arlington.
Equity has remained a focus throughout every zone expansion in this highly diverse city; the service now covers the entire population of nearly 400,000 residents and spans nearly 100 square miles. Riders, the majority of whom identify as people of color, use Arlington On-Demand to access jobs, healthcare, education, and more — with high quality service regardless of where they request a trip.
By offering flexible, on-demand service at public transit prices, Arlington On-Demand is a true alternative to private-car ownership for the majority of riders who make less than the City’s median household income of ~$50k. As a frequent rider observed, “It’s awesome to know I don’t need a car right now and still have [transportation] at a low cost.”
Increasing access.
Not only does Arlington On-Demand serve a diverse population, it is proven to increase access to education, essential services, and regional transportation. Top-requested pickup and dropoff destinations include the CentrePort Station just outside the main service zone, Walmart supercenters, the University of Texas at Arlington, and Tarrant County College.
With the Via solution in place, Arlington’s residents can now affordably access almost 50% more of the city’s jobs, hospitals, and schools within 30 minutes than they could prior to the launch of the service.”
Equitable transportation, to anywhere from anywhere.
Arlington On-Demand is truly a service for everyone. Even as ridership and the service zone has grown, service quality remains high no matter where passengers are picked up and dropped off. Passengers frequently traveling from lower-income neighborhoods experienced wait times that were equal or faster to those passengers frequently traveling from higher-income neighborhoods.
This pattern of equity holds for passengers traveling from more diverse neighborhoods: their wait times were equal or faster to those passengers traveling from less diverse neighborhoods.
Congratulations, Arlington!
It has been a true pleasure to watch Arlington On-Demand grow and evolve to benefit all residents regardless of race, location, or income level. We are excited to continue our collaboration and bring new innovations to the City and its riders over the months and years to come. Congratulations!
