How the right software drives high-performing paratransit

The key takeaways:

A unified operating platform makes it possible to build a “family of services”

YRT covers a large geography and the agency offers multiple transit trip options across the fixed-route bus network, paratransit, and microtransit programs. Unifying the technology stack powering these previously siloed operations allowed YRT to take a holistic view of their network — ensuring every trip request that comes into their system is served by the most efficient mode to the agency and best quality of service to the rider given their mobility and accommodation needs.

The result: A clearer operating model creates the foundation for better service, less manual coordination, and future same-day flexibility.

AI-scheduling agents put schedulers back in control

YRT’s night before schedulers were used to starting their shift with 50-60+ unassigned rides which they had to manually one by one try to squeeze onto the next day’s plan. AI-powered night before optimization trimmed hours every day off these shifts, freeing up schedulers to work on proactive supply management and improving system performance.

The result: 8 hours saved daily on scheduling and 30% more rides served.

A suite of care center tools creates calm for the community and call center staff

For care centers, pickup time can be one of the most stressful parts of the day. Staff are trying to coordinate groups of riders, reassure people who are waiting, and answer the same question over and over: “When is my ride coming?”

With the Caregiver App, YRT gave care center staff real-time visibility into trip status and ETAs. That meant fewer “where’s my ride?” calls, less uncertainty at the door, and a calmer handoff for riders and staff.

The result: Calls to dispatch from day centers reduced by 80%.

Save time and trees with digital eligibility management

Eligibility is often seen as back-office paperwork, but it shapes everything: compliance, follow-ups, rider status, and staff workload. By moving from filing cabinets to a paperless, traceable process with AI-powered application scans and SLA management, YRT gave its team more time to focus on the people behind the applications.

The result: 31+ staff hours saved per month, 70 eligibility types managed, and no missed SLAs.

Commingling can create a path to same-day paratransit

YRT has kept their North Start simple: create more freedom for their paratransit riders. Integrated planning and operating tools made it possible for the YRT team to visualize their trip demand and realize a 70-80% overlap existed between microtransit and paratransit trip patterns. Armed with clear data, this opened the door to ensure that both rider bases could be served efficiently with the same pool of resources — allowing the agency to offer same-day service for eligible riders without needing to add additional fleet.

The result: 100% of same-day paratransit demand met.

York Region Transit’s story is a reminder that better paratransit doesn’t come from asking staff to do more with less. It comes from removing the friction that slows everyone down: manual schedules, fragmented systems, unclear rider updates, and paper-based processes. When that complexity falls away, the service gets calmer, faster, and more dependable. Staff get control back. Care centers are in the loop. Riders get a service they can count on.