RideCo, in partnership with the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA), has successfully launched phase one of SEPTA OnDemand, the new modernized paratransit service within an unprecedented 4.5 month timeframe.
The on-demand, cloud-based transit system is now operating in four of six counties and will launch across the entire service region in the coming weeks. After only a few weeks of operation, SEPTA reports it is experiancing a profound impact.
"As we profiled in our vision statement, we are taking definitive steps to continually enhance mobility for the residents of Philadelphia," said SEPTA CEO and General Manager Leslie S. Richards. "SEPTA's partnership with RideCo and the adoption of their software is turning that vision into reality, transforming our paratransit system in record time, delivering a better experience for riders and enabling us to achieve new milestones at a lower cost."
SEPTA operates an extensive paratransit fleet of 411 vehicles, along with plans to add a 48-vehicle microtransit fleet later in the year. In October 2023, SEPTA contracted with RideCo to power the on-demand transit services, with the goal of improving rider experience while achieving greater operational and cost efficiency.
The project involves teams across the SEPTA organization and includes the rollout of a fully integrated eligibility platform to simplify the certification process for riders, an integration with the SEPTA Key faring solution to address challenges in the previous fare collection process; as well as the implementation of an enhanced driver communication system hosted within RideCo's one-tablet solution.
"The implementation of SEPTA OnDemand is a showcase for modernized paratransit," said Prem Gururajan, RideCo co-founder and CEO. "I'm proud of both the RideCo and SEPTA teams for their incredible work together, setting a preeminent example for how transit agencies can use the latest technology to revolutionize how they operate and deliver their services. We can already see that the positive impact on SEPTA and their riders will be enormous and long lasting."
