When Karen King and her team noticed several years of declining ridership across both their paratransit and fixed routes services, they knew a change was needed. As the CEO of Golden Empire Transit (GET) in Bakersfield, California, King manages a sprawling 106 square mile zone that serves a largely agricultural and oil-producing community with nontraditional commuting patterns. Clearly, fixed routes weren't cutting it.
That’s why, in 2018, GET introduced a microtransit pilot that then led to an RFP requesting integrated demand-response software. As King puts it, “I said: Why are we using several different software products for services that are so similar and why are we sending two vehicles to pick up two different passengers who are essentially making the same trip?”
Via now powers integrated non-emergency medical transportation, ADA-compliant paratransit, and microtransit service for GET. Watch the Quick Chat, hosted by Mass Transit Magazine's Executive Editor Mischa Wanek-Libman, to learn more about the move that has built greater equity and efficiency into the agency’s operations.