July-August_2021 - 36

On-demand transit
to the city financing the entire
service to promote equity and
remove barriers
Lavoie notes a big focus for
the city was on equity and access,
whether that be affordable fares,
consistent ADA-compliance,
booking options for people without
smartphones and payment
options for unbanked individuals.
Fares are $2 per ride when going
to or from the central zone
or are $2.00 plus $0.50 per mile
when traveling within the outer
service zone. Rides can be booked
using the Via mobile app or by
calling a dedicated phone line.
Those who need an accessible vehicle
can indicate that at the time
of booking. People can pay for
their trips either with the mobile
Q4 Performance Report
Total number
of rides
78,195
63,249
4,929
4,453
35,526
39,487
5,314
Unique riders
6,756
VIA JERSEY City utilizes Mercedes Metris minivans, complete with branded for
the service.
app or, in Jersey City's case, with
prepaid vouchers.
In terms of ensuring consistent
ADA compliance, people who select
a wheelchair vehicle will have
door-to-door trips instead of having
virtual bus stop pickups. For
people directed to a virtual bus
stop for pick up and drop off, the
Via team reviews each stop in advance
of launching a deployment
to ensure safety and accessibility.
Lavoie explains not every
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Average wait time
in minutes
20.7
16.9
15.6
12.9
Q1
Q2
Q3
Average
utilization rate
4.27
3.67
3.86 3.97
Q4
corner is eligible to be a virtual
bus stop. The Via team vets each
corner by looking at traffic safety,
lighting and adjacent crosswalks,
to name a few determining factors.
" If we've made a choice in a
virtual bus stop that a rider thinks
can be improved, [then] we take
that into account and we'll improve
the service over time using
that feedback, " Lavoie said.
With this being a technolQ1
Q2*
Q3
(*Q2
includes start of first executive
stay at home order, which reduced
the vehicle capacity)
Q4
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Source: Via performance data between
Nov. 21, 2020, and Feb. 26, 2021
ogy-driven service, safety and
security include more than the
physical environment and assets.
Passenger information and data
security are equally as important.
Lavoie explains Via doesn't retain
any credit card information in its
system, so no one at Via can access
this information when people
are booking rides.
36 | Mass Transit | MassTransitmag.com | JULY/AUGUST 2021
" As it relates to other rider information,
we have very restricted
access to who can see a rider's
profile information, " Lavoie said.
" The only people at Via who can
see that information are folks
who are directly involved with
supporting the riders for the service,
and all of their access to any
information is completely secure
and password-protected within
our backend system. "
Another big part of overseeing
the day-to-day operations
of the service is managing and
maintaining the vehicle fleet.
Currently, close to 10 percent of
the fleet is electric. Patel says the
city is working to fully electrify
the fleet by February 2022.
But operating an electric fleet
that has no fixed route or schedule
comes with its own challenges. In
addition to the typical infrastructure
challenges, there's the added
hurdle of ensuring not all vehicles
need to be taken off the road at
once to charge.
" What you need to do is predict
the times when it's going to make
the most sense for different vehicles
to come off the road, so that you
never have all your vehicles down
at any given point in time, " Lavoie
explained. " One of the things we've
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July-August_2021

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