The Next Stop: METRO's Podcast
Episode 30: What's Driving the Big Growth in Microtransit


[Laura Whitley:]	The recent growth of microtransit is far from small. I Laura Whitley in this edition of The Next Stop, a look at METRO’s Microtransit service and how technology is making it easier than ever for customers to book a ride.

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[Laura Whitley:]	I'm excited to welcome METRO’s Director of Paratransit and Microtransit Services, Mr. Michael Andrade to The Next Stop. Mike, thanks for joining us.

[Michael Andrade]	Thank you for having me Laura.

[Laura Whitley:]	We're excited to have you. Now you have a very large role at METRO not only do you direct the paratransit service known as METROLift, but you also lead the Microtransit service arm of METRO, that must keep you pretty busy.

[Michael Andrade]	It does Laura. We have a lot of good things going on, on the Microtransit Community Connector service that we've been operating since 2015. Yeah, it's a great service.

[Laura Whitley:]	Let's dive in a little bit into this rapidly growing world of microtransit. First of all, for those who aren't as familiar of what we're talking about, can you give us a definition?

[Michael Andrade]	Sure. Microtransit basically means flexible on demand transit, usually using sedans all the way up to small alternative buses, to provide service for customers.

[Laura Whitley:]	It can look a little different depending on where you are and what the need is.

[Michael Andrade]	Right. We have three different community connector zones in our  microtransit initiative, and basically those zones, they are transportation zones based on communities access where there's poor infrastructure like sidewalks, narrow streets, poor lighting or limited to no service exist for customers. Basically, our goal is to connect customers to the greater METRO system through park and rides, transit centers throughout the service area. As we mentioned, we have three different zones right now, we have our Acers Home Zone and we also have Missouri City, and we also have a zone in the Kashmere area, which is a p.m. service that we operate.

[Laura Whitley:]	You said a p.m. service, so that's in the evenings?

[Michael Andrade]	Correct. Our normal zone timeframe is daily from 5:00 a.m. to 07:00 p.m. in Acres Homes and in Missouri city. Our p.m. zone is our Kashmere area where we operate 8:00 p.m. to midnight daily.

[Laura Whitley:]	Thinking about those zones, and maybe we'll just use the Kashmere zone, the evening one you mentioned. How does that help and assist METRO customers in just provide a better level of service?

[Michael Andrade]	Right, and that's a good point. What we try to do with the p.m. zone is really have that first mile last mile service for our customers that travel late night. They may be coming in from the Medical Center or coming in from a game at the Toyota Center. Basically we have a point of contact there at the Kashmere Transit Center where we have customers can walk up to a vehicle there and get transported home, as long as they're in that geographic zone that we operate in. Now, that's not the only thing that customers are able to do. This zone also operates and we have grocery stores, we have family members that customers can go visit in those zones. As long as they're traveling within that geofence zone they're able to get service

[Laura Whitley:]	That seems so impactful, particularly when you think about the days and times that we're in now with essential workers and some of those essential jobs, thinking of grocery stores, those who work at restaurants, those sometimes mean very early or very late shifts. It seems like a service, like the p.m. service for Kashmere would be quite helpful because it's not like you have a lot of people, maybe, but you definitely have some that still need to travel during those later hours.

[Michael Andrade]	 Absolutely, and that's one of the things that we've tried to focus on in that area is how can we make an impact with customers that really don't have that means to get home from the transit center because like we talked about before, no sidewalks, poor lighting and things like that. It's really a safety concern for customers that may live in those zones.

[Laura Whitley:]	When did METRO first start piloting and trying out these types of services?

[Michael Andrade]	Sure, so back in 2015 planning wanted to look at how we could impact communities that may not have transit that they're able to basically get to. We wanted to look at the Acres Home area, because we know that we have customers that may be aging in place. We see lower ridership, diminishing ridership in those areas. But we also wanted to make sure we're able to provide that level of service to customers that are in that area. One of the things we did was we went out to other transit agencies to look at community connector, or microtransit type zones and how they were incorporating it into their service model.

	This is one of the things that planning wanted to do is look at this area and overlay some smaller vehicles, and see what the demand would be basically, because we knew that people needed to and customers needed to get to transit. They needed to get to grocery stores, they needed to get to work, they needed to get to doctor's appointments, and if we offered a curbside service or a curb to curb service, that anybody that lives in this geographic zone could actually use, we wanted to see how that would impact the customers in that area.

	What we found is when we first started, we of course, it was small ridership. But since that point, the ridership has grown to incorporate teachers, people coming into the downtown area, utilizing the Acres Home Transit Center and the North Shepherd Park & Ride, all those different things that we saw happening. The other benefit is that we saw is school kids actually using the service to get to school, which was also helping moms and dads out there that really needed to focus on getting to work and not have to worry about kids going down narrow streets and with no sidewalks and things like that. It was a safety concern, and we saw an increase in ridership in that area.

[Laura Whitley:]	Got it. Since that time, as you mentioned before, it's been expanded now to the three different zones that you were speaking of earlier.

[Michael Andrade]	Correct, yeah. The other zone that planning was looking at, and that was incorporated was the Missouri City Zone. That zone was a little bit different. It's a little bit bigger zone. But again, trying to impact the riders that we knew who are utilizing the Missouri City Park & Ride to get to the Medical Center and get to downtown, we saw a lot of customers utilizing the service to get from home to that park and ride. We have something called anchor points that are built into the service. One of them is at the Missouri State Park & Ride to the north, and we also have another anchor point at the Walmart because we saw that those two areas had a lot of ridership. What that basically means is customers can just walk up to the vehicle every hour on the hour without having to call in and book a trip, or which we'll talk about using an app basically. We wanted to make sure that customers had access to transit that didn't have technology.

[Laura Whitley:]	Got it, so there was kind of -- there’s kind of an incorporation there where there’s along with being on demand there are, as you mentioned, anchor point so kind of like -- just like a regular bus stop I guess, where there's a specific place you can go and catch the service.

[Michael Andrade]	Absolutely, and we have them in each zone. In the Acres Home Area, we have a Walmart to the north that’s an anchor point. We also have the Acers Home Transit Center. In the Kashmere area we have the Kashmere Transit Center, that's an anchor point.

[Laura Whitley:]	I think you began to mention it. Let's talk a little bit about how technology and access to technology is influencing this expansion and access that riders have to this microtransit.

[Michael Andrade]	Right, and that goes back to, some time ago, Chief Lambert asked us to look for ways to improve the customer experience in these community connector zones through technology, and how we could offer a new way for customers to access the service by giving customers the ability to request an on-demand trip and manage their own trips without having to call in for service. Basically giving customers an Uber or Lyft like experience, but the big difference is that we're using METRO vehicles. That was one thing that was important to us is go out and find something that we can overlay this technology over the service that we have in place right now.
	The app that we are actually started in these zones on September the 8th with this app, customers can basically book a trip on demand. They can book seven days in advance. They can have subscription trips, and it's within that geofence zone. We can also incorporate, like we talked about before, the first and last mile initiatives into this new app called curb2curb.

[Laura Whitley:]	That's fantastic. You mentioned the rideshare experience. How has the private sector on-demand transportation services influenced this type of public transit?

[Michael Andrade]	Well, and that's a good point. One of the things that we wanted to do, as we mentioned before is go out to other agencies and talk to them to see how they're incorporating these types of services and how they were partnering with the private sector to provide these types of services. There's a lot of talk of TNCs and transportation network companies that are providing this type of service, and there are some agencies that are doing that. We haven't taken that next step yet because we wanted to basically have a proof of concept to see if customers are interested in this type of technology for these zones, and then kind of go from there.
	This curb2curb app pilot that we have in place right now we’ll be operating for the next 10 months or so. What we want to do is really learn from this pilot, see how the customers see the pilot, do they like the app, do they like utilizing the app, how many downloads are we having, are we seeing efficiencies in the service as far as passengers per trip, do we see a reduction in call center calls, all these different things are metrics that we want to look at and learn from them so that we can apply this in the future.

[Laura Whitley:]	That's really interesting. Let's talk a little bit about the role microtransit plays, particularly in large sprawling urban cities like Houston, even though there are extensive fixed route, local and park and ride bus services along with light rail, and now METRORapid. There are still places within the service area that need that don't have service. How does microtransit help meet those needs?

[Michael Andrade]	Right, so in the future, the basic question is how do we provide transportation service in areas that are not currently served, but are part of the Metro service area? What we found is by talking with other agencies and research entities is a dynamic app solution could work well in this space and be tailored for a specific area, of course, in a geofence zone. But things like first and last mile that we talked about before, zone based transportation, all of these different things, I think, will help us move forward in understanding how we can provide service in these areas that we don't have service now.

[Laura Whitley:]	Before you mentioned, there just are some areas even though, again, it's in within the city or the Greater Houston area where there's just not the infrastructure to support a large bus or vehicle like that going down the streets.

[Michael Andrade]	Exactly. Those are the areas that, I'm sure planning and operations will be looking at in the future, how can we make impacts in those communities, how can we connect riders with transit whether it’d be at a park and ride or a rail station or a transit center. Ultimately, that's what we want to do -- increase ridership in these communities. But also offer some type of service in areas where, again, we have no fix route or bus service yet.

[Laura Whitley:]	We mentioned at the beginning of our conversation that you wear two hats, leading microtransit, and also as the director of paratransit and that -- that also speaks to accessibility. How can microtransit help provide a greater level of accessibility to public transit riders particularly when you consider the ageing population?

[Michael Andrade]	Yeah, that's a very good point. One thing that that METRO is very, very proud of is promoting universal accessibility, and that's one of the things that we really push with the Microtransit or Community Connector service is that all of our vehicles are wheelchair accessible. Wherever this service does come to whatever community it goes to, whether you're a paratransit rider or whether you're just a citizen that wants transit, you can utilize these services. That's one thing that's very important to us is to make sure that everything is accessible in those areas.

[Laura Whitley:]	I guess I'm just thinking about older riders having this option and opportunity to have a more on-demand type experience, just maybe again, help improve their access to public transit and provide them a little more independence.

[Michael Andrade]	Absolutely because as you mentioned the paratransit service, there may be customers that aren't to the point where they really need paratransit. But if you have a curb to curb service that is able to pick up customers at their home and take them where they need to go within that area, whether it’d be a transit center or a grocery store, that's a really valuable service for that community. That's one of the things again that we're focusing on.

[Laura Whitley:]	Absolutely. I guess, looking ahead too in considering technology I'm thinking about the AV technology like that’s being piloted by METRO. Are there opportunities to incorporate this type of on-demand microtransit using these vehicles that are on the horizon?

[Michael Andrade]	Yeah, there's definitely an opportunity there. I know that the work that METRO is doing right now in partnership with TSU is a really great pilot. I think what we want to do is just learn from that pilot and see how we can incorporate the curb2curb app, these dynamic app solutions in the future.

[Laura Whitley:]	Is there anything else you'd like to add or generally speaking anything. I know you mention looking at what other transit agencies are doing that's on the horizon for this type of service?

[Michael Andrade]	Yeah, I will say that just talking with other transit agencies and what we've been able to see is that these microtransit services are gaining a lot of popularity. I mean, just down the road at San Antonio VIA, they implemented something very similar to this before we did as far as the curb2curb app type app solution. They've gotten a lot of good feedback and the ridership is going in the right direction there. I know that they're planning in the future to add some more zones. Whether it's San Antonio VIA or Dart up to the north, I think Dart has about 16 different zones there. It's just across the country there are more agencies that are looking at this microtransit type services to help fill the void that they need and be more efficient with the services they have out on the street.

[Laura Whitley:]	Well, it sounds like you will continue to be very busy as things move forward.

[Michael Andrade]	Absolutely. Again, we're excited to provide this service for our customers. Again, we see a lot of good things on the horizon so we'll see what we can learn from our curb2curb app and incorporate that into more permanent solution in the future.

[Laura Whitley:]	Mr. Michael Andrade METRO'S Director of Paratransit and Microtransit Services, thanks for joining The Next Stop.

[Michael Andrade]	Thank you for having me.

[Laura Whitley:]	For complete information on the community connector zones and the curb2curb app, visit www.ridemetro.org.
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[Laura Whitley:]	That’s all for this edition of The Next Stop. I am Laura Whitley. If you’d like to check out more episodes, you can find them on our website or subscribe on Apple Podcast, SoundCloud, Spotify or Google Play. If you could please do us a favor and rate and review the show, that will help us out a lot. Until next time, drive less do more with METRO.
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