Via Transportation Inc is picking up where Bridj left off—offering on demand ride sharing in cities in California and Texas.
Ride-share business Via has announced a partnership with the cities of West Sacramento, California and Arlington, Texas to provide on-demand ride sharing.
"Customers will set pick-up and drop-off locations on the Via app just like other ride-shares, and then a van will pick up several riders headed in the same direction and make multiple stops along a route devised in real time," explains Katie Pyzyk for Smart Cities Dive.
Service is expected to launch in Arlington in December 2017. The Via service will "replace the city's one existing bus line, 'the Max,' which runs one route connecting the University of Texas at Arlington and with transit center south of the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport," according to Pyzyk. Via will also offer service in areas not covered by the Max, which is also a pilot program that will expire at the end of the year.
Local coverage is also available for each partnership, by Alice Barr in Arlington and Ellen Garrison in West Sacramento. A press release by Via Transportation Inc. also provides additional details on the new partnerships.
For a history of a high-profile precedent in on demand ride hailing, see Planetizen's coverage of the Bridj system, which launched in Boston in 2014 and ended operations three years later.
FULL STORY: 2 cities partner with ride-share service Via for public transit alternatives
The Slow Death of Ride Sharing
From the beginning, TNCs like Lyft and Uber touted shared rides as their key product. Now, Lyft is ending the practice.
Ride-Hailing Prices Skyrocket as the U.S. Emerges From the Pandemic
A shortage of drivers and spiking demand are driving Uber and Lyft prices higher than ever as the companies struggle to achieve profitability.
Poor Returns for L.A.'s Transit on Demand Pilot
Similar to microtransit on demand programs in other cities, Los Angeles' ongoing experiment is proving to be very expensive (for the public) for the benefit of very few riders.
Alabama: Trump Terminates Settlements for Black Communities Harmed By Raw Sewage
Trump deemed the landmark civil rights agreement “illegal DEI and environmental justice policy.”
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
The 120 Year Old Tiny Home Villages That Sheltered San Francisco’s Earthquake Refugees
More than a century ago, San Francisco mobilized to house thousands of residents displaced by the 1906 earthquake. Could their strategy offer a model for the present?
In Both Crashes and Crime, Public Transportation is Far Safer than Driving
Contrary to popular assumptions, public transportation has far lower crash and crime rates than automobile travel. For safer communities, improve and encourage transit travel.
Report: Zoning Reforms Should Complement Nashville’s Ambitious Transit Plan
Without reform, restrictive zoning codes will limit the impact of the city’s planned transit expansion and could exclude some of the residents who depend on transit the most.
Judge Orders Release of Frozen IRA, IIJA Funding
The decision is a victory for environmental groups who charged that freezing funds for critical infrastructure and disaster response programs caused “real and irreparable harm” to communities.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Clanton & Associates, Inc.
Jessamine County Fiscal Court
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
Salt Lake City
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service