Rethinking transit in America’s fastest-growing cities: Lessons from Sioux Falls

An overview.

What happens when growth outpaces your transit system? Sioux Falls, one of the Midwest’s fastest-growing cities, didn’t wait – they innovated. In this webinar, Mayor Paul TenHaken shares how the city stepped back and rethought its transit network as a whole. 

The key takeaways:

Public entrepreneurship as a driving force of change.

Mayor Paul expressed his vision of leading the city with entrepreneurial spirit -"Be transparent about risk, willing to experiment, and clear that doing nothing is often the biggest failure," he said. By being transparent about tradeoffs, honest about uncertainty, and open to experimentation, the city built trust and momentum for change — rather than waiting for decline to force it.

Great transit starts with networks, not modes.

Sioux Falls’ redesign reflected Via’s core belief that fixed routes, microtransit, and paratransit are most powerful when planned and operated as one system. Each mode was used intentionally - fixed routes where frequency and speed matter most, on-demand service where flexibility and coverage unlock access -connected by technology that guides riders to the best option for each trip.

Data driven transit drives real, sustainable efficiency.

By introducing citywide on-demand service, Sioux Falls was able to pool demand-responsive trips, or suggest fixed routes where they were more readily available - thereby reducing duplication across the network. Just as importantly, real trip data revealed where fixed routes were the more efficient solution, allowing the city to effectively respond to demand patterns and continuously re-balance service.

Focus on outcomes for residents.

Change is hard, but a bankrupt transit network is... harder. There are many ways to measure success of transit - from complaint reduction, to cost per ride and increased ridership - Sioux Falls captured all of those, while nearly doubling access to jobs inside the community. Get real about what matters to your residents - and then work towards it.

If you're ready for change, write an RFP that welcomes it.

Sioux Falls’ progress was enabled by an RFP that invited innovation rather than reinforcing the status quo. By signaling a need for integrated networks, data-driven decision-making, strong change management, and continuous improvement, the city created a competitive environment aligned with where transit needs to go—not where it’s been.

About the speakers.