July-August_2021 - 39

On-demand transit
expansion where it is talking about
once again increasing the size of
the fleet, as well as considering
adding Sunday services.
" We are getting great feedback
from residents telling us that because
of Via, they're now able to
leave their personal vehicle at
home and use Via to run errands,
to travel around the city with their
family and to do all of these things
that otherwise would have been
difficult or would have added to
the number of vehicles on our narrow
and limited street network, "
Patel said.
Jersey City also does quarterly
rider surveys to see what people
are using the service, where people
are taking their trips and when
people are taking their trips. The
city is also able to gather demographic
data and income data.
This helps the city determine if
the service is achieving its goal
of closing gaps in transit deserts.
" We're seeing that a significant
portion of riders are of minority
communities, and we're seeing
trips originating and ending in
the transit desert areas we had
identified, " Patel said.
Lavoie adds that this data also
allows Via to optimize vehicle locations,
wait times and more efficiently
aggregate passengers into
a single trip. Plus, feedback from
these surveys can also inform Via
where to expand the service next.
In addition to demographic
data, the city also breaks out riders
based on the number of trips
they take, separating very frequent
riders (more than 100 rides) versus
casual riders (about 10 to 50
rides). For some people, Via Jersey
City has become part of their daily
routine, and for others, it's just
another option for how to get to
where they need to go.
" I'm starting to see a shift in
how people are thinking and
talking about using transportation
around the city, " Patel said. " Now
that we're here, we fully intend on
investing in this and continuing
to expand. "
According to Jersey City's
performance reports, the service
has steadily increased its weekly
ridership, with the most recent
data for the week of July 5, 2021,
recording 9,051 completed rides.
More than a year into operation,
the service is achieving exactly
what the city set out to do.
" The design of the service really
set it up for a lot of success because
it was designed in a way that really
was targeted at [meeting] the goals
Jersey City was trying to achieve.
[They had] a clear understanding
of their city and a nuanced perspective
on what they wanted to
achieve, " Lavoie concluded.
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July-August_2021

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