Microtransit is a highly flexible, on-demand mode of transportation that couples traditional fixed-route services, such as public buses and trains, with demand-driven options to serve the specific needs of cities and communities. Microtransit can positively impact a community’s social mobility and economic viability while also addressing concerns stemming from traffic and parking congestion.

Powered by TransLoc’s MicroTransit Simulator, a predictive modeling service that can simulate rider demand and determine fleet operations for successful new pilot programs for on-demand transit services, OCTA, CCCTA and SJRTD are now in the initial stages of rolling these new services out to the public. By introducing new agency-owned flexible transit services, each transit agency is now better able to serve their community with their own unique brand of services.

Located southeast of Los Angeles, Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) serves 34 cities, including Anaheim, Santa Ana, Huntington Beach and Newport Beach, California. OCTA’s microtransit service, called OC Flex, will help the agency reduce parking congestions, grow ridership and provide more efficient service for public-transit riders.

OCTA says it plans to launch OC Flex in the summer of 2018 in two zones within the county—one serving the cities of Huntington Beach and Westminster, and the other serving Aliso Viejo and Laguna Niguel.

In the suburbs of the San Francisco Bay Area, CCCTA plans to deploy microtransit to complement its current demand-response services, as well as help its riders connect more seamlessly with the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Walnut Creek station. CCCTA currently transports 20-40 commuters per day on its demand-response service that requires call-ahead scheduling. The new microtransit service is about providing CCCTA riders with a positive customer experience that will help to grow ridership numbers.

San Joaquin Regional Transit District (RTD) in Stockton, California is currently leveraging microtransit services, powered by TransLoc, to better serve its rural residents. RTD piloted microtransit in its community to make it possible for riders to request on-demand rides in both real-time and also to schedule services in advance. San Joaquin RTD’s microtransit pilot began in July 2017.