6 posts were merged into an existing topic: Dockless Scooters for Raleigh
Agreed - I’m not a fan of microtransit. It’s basically a public Uber service. Let Uber and Lyft handle that (except as you noted, for disabled folks).
I just want to reinforce that microtransit only picks you up and drops you off within a specific zone, like a pretty small one. It’s NOT a service to take you anywhere in the city like uber/lyft.
I’m getting a sense that some commenters are missing this distinction. But I could be wrong. Anyway, carry on.
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I did miss that point. But if it’s just in small zones, what’s the benefit vs. and just using Uber?
I had originally believed that the West Salem connector was an example of this being successful but I was wrong: Salem Breakfast on Bikes: Cherriots to End West Salem Connector Project
West Salem in Oregon is a suburban area that has many of the same issues that we are proposing to fix in Raleigh using Microtransit but after two years, they abandoned it, replacing it with hourly fixed route service. I agree with the goals they set of coverage, rather than ridership for such a service but it can never be popular. It does appear that they justify the fixed routes using the data from the “Microtransit”.
Maybe CapMetro Pickup is a more successful example and I’m not deeply familiar, but they appear combine the contract between their Paratransit and the “Microtransit”. Even though they’re branded separately, I imagine they get some cost savings there having the same drivers and I would be curious if vehicles ever swap between the two. It’s also not hard to find reddit posts of people complaining of unpredictable wait times: CapMetro Pickup is Awesome : r/Austin
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So with Uber, you pay and they take you where you want. The cost is variable depending on time of day and distance. (and some other factors buried in their algorithm, I’m sure)
Microtransit will take you within a small zone, both pick up and drop off, for a small fee. Yet to be determined but it’ll be $1-3 most likely. What you can do is use it to get to a high frequency route that’ll connect you to the “main” system and on you go.
So the theory goes.
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So this is really just for the “last mile problem” of connecting riders with bus routes, etc.? That makes more sense. But I’m not convinced it’s best use of funds. But maybe the goal is to drive ridership on bus routes.
I’m no urban planner nor transit expert. So what do I know?..
Exactly. It sounds like that on paper. In actuality? Who knows if it’ll work around here.
Great discussion so far. Keep the thoughts coming. Microtransit seems fine to me cause I want to see less transit spending on the edges of Raleigh and more frequency towards the core. I lean very hard towards frequency and away from coverage but that’s just where I sit.
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I agree with the discussion on microtransit, seems like a number of pluses and deltas to debate. But scooters/biking/walking? Nah there shouldn’t be any debate there. City should keep doing everything it can to promote safe, green transit, in any form. Love to see the positive steps taken here recently, like the striping of McDowell/Dawson that no one has mentioned yet. The city is iterating yet again and it’s great. Lots of new green paint which is more low-cost advertising of our bike system than anything. And the painted curb extensions that will likely be concrete in the next iteration. I love to see simple stuff like this. Melton mentioned the striping project and how the city was aiming to do more with less. I think they nailed it. Gets the discussion going about extending the curbs for pedestrian safety and traffic calming (a la Chicago). Can’t wait to see the next version eventually.
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I would want to see the zone. I have a strong feeling it would be a decently large-ish zone based on how Morrisville, Wake Forest, and GoWake SmartRide NE. I’ll admit I don’t know anything based off it, but it appears that you may be able to use: GoWake to go up to about 6-7 miles; Morrisville about the same (RTC to Park West Village); and potentially Hopkins to Wendell (about 8-9 miles although I’m not sure if it will only take you to Zebulon from Hopkins). 6 miles is a quite far distance.
I’d also be curious of how much this would cost riders. It looks like the ones mentioned above are all free. In a way, we are incentivizing people to live out in the sticks so that they can have free on demand riding service (although admittedly probably not the most convenient as it may take some time).
This is where I land. Vans are cheaper than buses, and you don’t need a CDL to drive a van. I mentioned this earlier, but when I lived on Duraleigh and took the 26 to Wade Park, I was the only person on that bus at least 25% of the time. To me, that seems like a waste of resources. That said, there are important destinations on that corridor, like Raleigh Orthopaedic and the Troxler Agricultural Sciences Center. It makes sense to connect them to the broader system. Microtransit is an easy way to do that.
And, in theory, it could also help the city plan future routes. There’s a lot of travel in this particular zone between Point A and Point B? Let’s modify an existing route or create a new one that serves those points and replaces that part of the microtransit zone.
Microtransit is basically a way to still provide coverage while shifting toward a ridership-focused model on your fixed-route network. You just need to monitor the numbers heavily and be ready to make the shift back to fixed-route once the demand crosses that threshold.
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Good discussion here with the CEO of Kansas City Area TA about their experience with microtransit and the challenges and costs in trying to scale up this type of service.
Bloomberg - Kansas City Looks Back on its Long, Costly Ride With Microtransit
Despite its promise, microtransit always seems to end up here where economies remain elusive and it becomes difficult to justify spending $20 to $25 per rider.
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