November 2022 - 34

Mixed Fleets
agencies, such as ADA paratransit
or dial a ride services, need to be
booked a minimum of 24 hours
in advance. This creates limitations
for the rider, especially under
unpredictable or unplanned
circumstances, including delayed
doctor's appointments and unanticipated
line ups at the grocery
store or other events with an unknown
duration or end time.
The rider's need for flexibility
arrives at a critical time for public
transportation, especially when
it comes to rebuilding ridership
in a post pandemic world. Both
conventional transit and ride
hailing are perceived with skepticism
from more than 60 percent
of riders.
For transit agencies, limited
fleets and driver shortages pose
a restriction in providing flexibility.
Investing in fleet expansions
may not be feasible because vehicles
may sit idle when there is low
demand from riders.
How can transit agencies evolve
to balance rider experience and
needs with financial constraints
when rebuilding ridership?
This is where mixed fleets
come into play. Mixed fleets,
also referred to as intelligent trip
brokering, utilize non-dedicated
service providers (such as TNCs
and taxis) enabling transit agencies
to access vehicles, which are
not part of their own dedicated
fleet network. Shifting to mixed
fleets provides several benefits,
including the flexibility to shift
and allocate trips to lower cost,
non-dedicated providers.
Trip brokering is directly dependent
on what is the most reliable
and cost-efficient way to meet
rider demand. Similar to microtransit
and paratransit services offered
by transit agencies, pooling
is also possible when appropriate.
What previously was considered
to be competition to conventional
transit is now necessary to provide
better rider experience and offer
more flexibility to both the rider
and the agency.
34 | Mass Transit | MassTransitmag.com | NOVEMBER 2022
Non-dedicated vehicles Dedicated vehicles Demand
6
8
10
12
14
" What
previously was
considered to
be competition
to conventional
transit is now
necessary
to provide
better rider
experience
and offer more
flexibility
to both the
rider and the
agency. "
-KRISTOFFER
VIK HANSEN
McKinney, Texas,
Mixed Fleet Model
A prime example of leveraging
mixed fleets to evolve with rider
demand is Collin County Transit,
specifically its operations in
McKinney, Texas.
Located roughly 45 minutes on
the outskirts of Dallas, McKinney
has consistently been one of the
fastest growing cities in the United
States. This is easily seen by the
sharp increase in rider behavior
in the city. Throughout 2022, the
number of rides soared from approximately
200 rides per week
up to between 750 and 800 rides
per week. With such a significant
jump in demand, Collin County
Transit utilized a flexible solution
that would allow it to efficiently
service their ridership and their
varying needs without too much
upfront investment.
Collin County Transit's McKinney
service originally operated
with solely dedicated vehicles.
One hundred percent of trips
were going to dedicated providers,
which meant that if there was ever
a service interruption, or ridership
were to surge for whatever reason,
Collin County Transit riders had
limited options.
To manage its mixed fleet
model, Collin County Transit
used transit software provided by
Spare to divide rides between its
two local dedicated trip providers,
Irving Holdings and ECHO, and
a non-dedicated fleet provider
in Lyft. During the course of the
first year of the brokered service,
Collin County Transit reduced
16
18
20
Spare
its share of dedicated trips to 30
percent, with 70 percent being
brokered via Lyft. The agency has
also benefited from large cost savings,
as the introduction of Lyft as
a mixed fleet provider has slashed
the average cost per ride by 47 percent.
The savings in cost per trip,
as well as the avoidance of upfront
costs when needing to expand existing
fleets, demonstrates a convenient
and tangible solution for
both riders and transit agencies.
This is especially useful when
there is a large service area: Dedicated
vehicles cannot effectively
cover vast geographic distances
while providing riders with a
good experience. Intelligent trip
brokering generates more vehicle
capacity, which means agencies
can serve more riders without
additional costs or drivers. In
the long term, this also reduces
the agency's vehicle requirements
and promotes a resilient system
that can respond to fluctuating
ridership demand.
As illustrated by Collin County
Transit's operations in McKinney,
switching to mixed fleets
helps transit agencies enhance
rider experience. Low wait times,
flexible bookings and the freedom
to move beyond fixed route transportation
provides riders with
affordable and more favorable
transportation options.
Kristoffer Vik Hansen
is the CEO and
co-founder of Spare.
http://www.MassTransitmag.com
November 2022

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