We’re back from APTA’s 2019 Mobility Conference in Louisville, KY, where more than 1,600 attendees met to address the priorities and challenges facing bus and paratransit systems in today’s changing mobility landscape.
One trending topic was the impact of transportation network companies (TNCs) on transit. TNCs are a very real part of today’s transportation choices, but how do we integrate them into the fabric of good transit? Many forward-thinking cities have found ways to partner with TNCs in an effort to grow transit ridership in the rapidly-changing mobility environment.
David Genova from Regional Transportation District (RTD) in Denver presented on a new partnership they have with Uber that provides RTD transit trip options in side-by-side comparison to Uber trips right within the app! So, for example, if you land at Denver International Airport and open Uber seeking a trip downtown, the app will also present the option to take LRT with the estimated travel times for both transit and Uber side by side. If you choose transit you can purchase your RTD fare through the Uber app and get step-by-step directions to the train.
Wouldn’t it be great if this could grow to every transit market?