The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (METRO), one of the largest public transportation agencies in the United States, needed to find an innovative solution that would help improve the delivery of their public dial-a-ride service. To address operational challenges with call center bookings and manual intervention, METRO partnered with RideCo to implement an automated on-demand transit solution in Missouri City, Kashmere, Acres Homes, and the recently launched Hiram Clarke.
In order to improve service delivery, the key objective of METRO’s partnership with RideCo was to reduce manual intervention for the agency’s schedulers and dispatchers and increase operational efficiency. Additionally, METRO wanted to improve the overall passenger experience through providing more convenient and reliable on-demand service.
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Using RideCo’s on-demand transit platform, METRO Houston launched thecurb2curb service which provides riders with the flexibility to book trips on demand, in advance, or pre-book for multiple days. RideCo’s patented routing algorithm, Solver, ensures efficient routing through autonomous and continuous optimization, providing a solution for METRO’s challenges with manual dispatching. Initially providing increased mobility in Missouri City and Kashmere, thecurb2curb service has since expanded to two additional zones in Acres Homes and Hiram Clarke. The more convenient and efficient service resulted in increased ridership, with a 67% increase in passengers per vehicle hour, 58% shared rides, and 4.8/5 star trip rating.In addition to microtransit, METRO is using RideCo’s platform for its Same-Day METROLift paratransit service.
