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Microtransit

For small unscheduled shared rail transport, see Personal rapid transit.
An ULTra PRT vehicle on a test track at Heathrow Airport, London

Microtransit is a form of bus demand responsive transport vehicle for hire. This transit service offers a highly flexible routing and/or highly flexible scheduling of minibus vehicles shared with other passengers.[1] Microtransit providers build routes ad-hoc exclusively to match only each demand (trip) and supply (driven vehicle) and to 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) and public mass transit (bus).[2]

Customers can request new routes based on demand.[3] According to SAE International, "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".[4] That mainly targets children and teens and customers to connect between residential areas to downtown.[3][5]

  1. ^ Shaheen, Susan; Chan, Nelson; Bansal, Apaar; Cohen, Adam (November 2015). "Shared Mobility: Definitions, Industry Developments, and Early Understanding" (PDF). innovativemobility.org. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  2. ^ Gray, Leslie (2016-01-10). "The Silicon Valley Agency Launching its Own Microtransit Service". Shared-Use Mobility Center. Retrieved 2020-01-22.
  3. ^ a b Shaheen, Susan; Cohen, Adam (2019-07-04). "Shared ride services in North America: definitions, impacts, and the future of pooling". Transport Reviews. 39 (4): 427–442. doi:10.1080/01441647.2018.1497728. ISSN 0144-1647. S2CID 158740058.
  4. ^ "Shared transit". www.sae.org. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
  5. ^ Shaheen, Susan; Cohen, Adam; Chan, Nelson; Bansal, Apaar (2020). Chapter 13 - Sharing strategies: carsharing, shared micromobility (bikesharing and scooter sharing), transportation network companies, microtransit, and other innovative mobility modes. Elsevier. ISBN 978-0-12-815167-9.