Fort Worth, Texas, has grown from a small frontier outpost to a vast metropolitan area. In fact, it's now the 13th-largest city in the U.S. While this expansion is great news for the local economy, the sprawling metro area can be challenging for residents to traverse. This challenge spurred local transit leaders to begin implementing microtransit in several key districts to fill the gaps in the existing public transportation system. In July 2019, Trinity Metro, a Fort Worth-area public transit provider, partnered with Via to create ZIPZONE: On-demand transit that riders can book in real time for a flat fee. ZIPZONE helps people access health care in the Medical District, businesses, shopping destinations and more, with Via’s dynamic routing technology ensuring a quick and easy ride. “ZIPZONE makes me feel a lot safer getting back and forth late at night than waiting in a dark or isolated area to be picked up by a bus.” For Jane, the ZIPZONE service has enabled access to her own neighborhood. Her family doesn’t have a working car, so when she learned Fort Worth would soon have a similar offering to the Via service she had used when living in Arlington, Texas, she was all in. “It’s a great alternative to the bus for us — it’s faster, easier and more consistent,” she said.
Jane and her husband now rely on ZIPZONE to get to work, take their young daughter to school, and run errands. Jane works two jobs — one in North Richland and one in Dallas — and she often commutes at night. “ZIPZONE makes me feel a lot safer getting back and forth late at night than waiting in a dark or isolated area to be picked up by a bus,” she said.
Jane likes that ZIPZONE consistently uses the same drivers for the same routes. “With ZIPZONE, I see the same people on a daily basis — I’ve built a rapport with them and I know who is driving and what their names are.” Jane said. “As a woman, ZIPZONE gives me reassurance I can get home in a safe way.”
*Name has been changed to protect privacy.