Meeting_Body
OPERATIONS, SAFETY, AND CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE COMMITTEE
OCTOBER 21, 2021
Subject
SUBJECT: COMPREHENSIVE REPORT ON MICROTRANSIT PILOT PROJECT
Action
ACTION: RECEIVE AND FILE
Heading
RECOMMENDATION
Title
RECEIVE AND FILE a status report on MicroTransit Pilot Project (Micro), costs, and resources.
Issue
ISSUE
Per the request of Metro Operations, Safety and Customer Experience Committee Chair Mike Bonin, this first comprehensive report discusses performance and challenges associated with the Micro program. This report provides key information on the following topics:
* Year One: Launching During COVID-19 Pandemic
* Pilot Evaluation Framework
* Performance: Ridership and Financials
* Next Steps: Year Two
Background
BACKGROUND
Micro is a multi-year pilot project designed and developed to evaluate how, and if, Metro should invest in offering a ride-hail product for customers in the County of Los Angeles. The project was initiated within the New Mobility unit of Metro's Office of Extraordinary Innovation and utilized the industry's first Pre-Development Agreement Public Private Partnership (PDA-P3) for transit service delivery. What is unique about this pilot is the collaboration with our labor partners (SMART and AFSCME) to ensure our own workforce fills the positions of drivers and supervisors.
In advance of launching the new offering, staff conducted best practice research, participated in industry working groups and forums, and tested a minimum viable product in select communities using seed funding from the Federal Transit Administration.
Micro was moved to Metro's Operations Department in 2019 and Year One of revenue service began on December 13, 2020, with the first NextGen bus restructure shake-up. Year Two of Micro is set to begin on December 12, 2021.
Discussion
DISCUSSION
Year One: Launching During COVID-19 Pandemic
In year one as much of the transportation industry was shutting down, Micro was in the process of stepping u...
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