Case Study

OnDemand by Sarasota County

Geography

Suburban

Use Case

Microtransit, First-and-last-mile, Commuting, General transportation

Fleet

33 vehicles

square mile service zone

620+

daily rides

15.5

minute average wait time, down from 60 minutes with previous service

Overview.

Sarasota County Area Transit began redesigning their entire public transit network in 2018. As part of the solution, they knew they wanted a service that could best service their communities’ size and characteristics; cater to residents and tourists alike; and provide easy connections to transit hubs. SCAT partnered with Via in 2021 to launch a microtransit system that would be available to more people, lower costs, increase efficiency, and provide a more enjoyable rider experience to both locals and visitors.

Solution.

OnDemand by Sarasota County is a curb-to-curb service in 4 distinct zones in Sarasota County, including the center of beach and tourist life, the two cities’ downtown areas, and a few residential areas with major transit hubs. Trips begin and end within the zone and pickups are within 30 minutes of the reservation.

The service immediately surpassed all ridership expectations. It reached 250 rides per day in a matter of weeks (after projecting only 70-80 per day) and now sees 620+ daily rides with more growth expected — all of which has been organic. Wait times decreased to below 16 minutes on average from 60+ minutes on the previous fixed route buses.

Additionally, cost per ride has significantly decreased in several service zones compared to the previous fixed routes. In 2019, ridership on the fixed routes in the North Port zone generated a cost/passenger ranging from $26.81 to $29.32. With OnDemand, the average cost per ride has decreased to $13.37 (as of January 2022).

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“

This is basically putting transportation literally in your hands, giving you that access to where you don't need to walk so far; this will literally come right to your door."

Christian Ziegler

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