Microtransit is a form of bus

demand responsive transport Demand-responsive transport (DRT), also known as demand-responsive transit, demand-responsive service,
US National Trans ...

vehicle for hire A vehicle for hire is a vehicle providing private transport or shared transport for a fee, in which passengers are generally free to choose their points or approximate points of origin and destination, unlike public transport, and which t ...

. This transit service offers a flexible routing and/or flexible scheduling of

minibus A minibus, microbus, or minicoach is a passenger-carrying motor vehicle that is designed to carry more people than a multi-purpose vehicle or minivan, but fewer people than a full-size bus. In the United Kingdom, the word "minibus" is us ...

vehicles shared with other passengers. Microtransit providers build routes ad-hoc exclusively to approximate demands (trips collectively) and supply (driven vehicle) and to purportedly extend the efficiency and accessibility of the transit service. Possible pick-up/drop-off stops are restricted (usually within a geofenced area), and transit can be provided as a stop-to-stop service or a curb-to-curb service. Proponents argue that conceptually, microtransit fits somewhere between private individual transportation (cars or taxicabs or

ridesharing companies A ridesharing company (or ridehailing service) is a company (or service offered by a company) that, via websites and mobile apps, matches passengers with drivers of vehicles for hire that, unlike taxis, cannot legally be hailed from the street. ...

) and public mass transit (bus). Customers can request new routes based on demand. According to

SAE International SAE International is a global professional association and standards organization based in Warrendale, Pennsylvania, United States. Formerly the Society of Automotive Engineers, the organization adopted its current name in 2006 to reflect bot ...

, "Microtransit is a privately or publicly operated, technology-enabled transit service that typically uses multi-passenger/pooled shuttles or vans to provide on-demand or fixed-schedule services with either dynamic or fixed routing". That mainly targets children and teens and customers to connect between residential areas to downtown.

History

Although the share-taxi kind of transit service has been running for a while in the Southern Hemisphere and in

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

, they have involved private provision of some degree of fixed routes or fixed schedules but not always booking ability, let alone mobile booking or route optimisation. The development of mobile booking technologies has led to a wave of pilot schemes being adopted in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. In the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, microtransit has evolved from jitney transport, which was once common in many cities around the world but has disappeared due to tighter regulations. In 1914, during a streetcar strike in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, a motorist began giving rides for a jitney. Its flexible service swept the nation very quickly. Another jitney success was "dollar vans" during the eleven-day

1980 New York City transit strike A 1980 transit strike in New York City halted service on the New York City Transit Authority (a subsidiary of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority) for the first time since 1966. Around 33,000 members of Transport Workers Union (TWU) Local 10 ...

Development

Technologies allow real time exchange of booking information and programmed route optimization of the transit service. The term "microtransit" may have emerged into widespread industry discussion around 2015, when this wave of technology-enabled services was starting, and seems specific to the

English language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

. The current implementations result from public-private partnerships, subsidized by the government, or are brought by the private sector directly to the customer. Whether microtransit can be profitable, just like public transit, is unsure. The success of microtransit systems depends on its configuration. Some experiences in the United States have resulted in failures.

Application

The flexibility and intelligence in microtransit can be useful in cases when the demand is either geographically spread or coming at various and/or unpredictable times, i.e. when it is hard to gather demand with a planned transit service. Examples include: low-density areas, night services, and other formats adapted to specific needs.

Smart Microtransit

Distinct from traditional microtransit in a few aspects. The most clear distinction is the use of electric (EV) vehicles instead of gas-powered vehicles. Additionally, Smart Microtransit adds emphasis towards utilizing the service to focus on economic development and community engagement.

Autonomous electric vehicles

Autonomous

electric vehicles An electric vehicle (EV) is a motor vehicle whose propulsion is powered fully or mostly by electricity. EVs encompass a wide range of transportation modes, including road vehicle, road and rail vehicles, electric boats and Submersible, submer ...

are much more cost effective and efficient for microtransit service than other vehicle types. The

cost effectiveness Cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) is a form of economic analysis that compares the relative costs and outcomes (effects) of different courses of action. Cost-effectiveness analysis is distinct from cost–benefit analysis, which assigns a monetar ...

can be attributed to the elimination of a driver from the vehicle. A study conducted in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

mentioned that microtransit services using autonomous electric vehicles can reduce the total cost of ownership by 70% compared to other microtransit vehicles and by 80% compared to buses.

References

External links

Stromberg, J. (2015). “These startups want to do for buses what Uber did for taxi rides.” Vox.'Shared Mobility Definitions' at Federal Transit Authority site of the US Department of TransportationBos, R. The rise of the Microtransit movement, smart-circle.orgMatus, J, Heck, S. Understanding The Future Of Mobility. August 8, 2015, TechCrunchJaffe, E. How the Microtransit Movement Is Changing Urban Mobility. April 27, 2015. CityLabUpRouted: Exploring Microtransit in the United States
Eno Center for Transportation, January 8, 2018 * TCRP Research Report 188 {{Public transport Demand-responsive transport