The Routing Company (TRC) celebrated Western Washtenaw Area Value Express (WAVE)’s successful launch of a rural Dial-a-Ride service – powered by TRC’s Ride Pingo app – in western Washtenaw, Mich. With a total of 10 vehicles, the service operates under the name WAVE Bus and includes both fixed lines and on-demand transit.
“We look forward to seeing how we can enhance the customer experience for all of WAVE’s riders, in the pursuit of flexible, efficient and responsive rural transit,” said James Cox, CEO, TRC. “An open service, powered by Pingo, delivers on WAVE’s slogan of ‘Rides for All’ and on our shared commitment to connect rural communities.”
“Statistically speaking, since COVID-19, each of our demand-responsive, door-to-door service routes have averaged at one passenger per hour. During the first days of the Pingo, we saw increases to a range of 1.28 to 2.4 per hour. We also quickly identified that our services could shift, without asking donors or municipal partners for more dollars, to increase riding hours from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., meeting the number one request our riders have had,” said Marie Gress, WAVE executive director.
TRC is supporting WAVE’s on-demand transit needs with its full suite of Pingo products – including Pingo Access™, Pingo Shuttle™ and Pingo Rural™.
