Sunday public transit service is now being offered in Redding, Calif., thanks to ShashtaConnect, the Shasta Regional Transportation Agency (SRTA) on-demand, ride-share transportation service.
The project is in partnership with Dignity Health Connected Living (DHCL), a local non-profit dedicated to promoting independence for seniors and people living with disabilities, and Routematch, a mobility technology provider.
“Our region is growing and providing public transportation on Sundays has been a common request of our community. However, finding an efficient way to do so with limited resources is difficult,” said SRTA Senior Transportation Planner Sean Tiedgen. “We conducted a study to help us determine the likely number of riders and landed on a creative approach similar to projects in larger metropolitan areas, like ‘SmartRide’ in the Sacramento region and Marin Transit’s ‘Connect’ in the Bay Area.”
Every Sunday, riders can now book a trip for themselves and up to five others through their mobile phone by downloading the ShastaConnect app, available on Google Play for Android users or the AppStore for iPhone users. Riders can also book through the website or by calling ShastaConnect staff to request a trip.
Riders can also personalize their journey by indicating if they have a bicycle, use a wheelchair, have a service animal, or other characteristics defined in the app. A vehicle is dispatched based on the requested time for pick up and may pick up other riders along the way. For riders who prefer to reserve their rides, bookings can be made three days in advance. The service starts at 6:30 a.m. and runs until 7:30 p.m. and will initially run free of charge.
“On the first day, riders shared stories about how the service would help them,” said Tiedgen. “Our very first rider, Esther, said she hadn’t been able to go to Sunday mass in years due to not having a viable transportation option. Another rider shared that it would make it easier for him to get to work and expand his availability to work more hours.”
The project is planned to run for 24 months with funding provided to SRTA through California’s Low Carbon Transit Operations Program.
Atlanta-based mobility partner Routematch is assisting on the technology side. Its mobility platform not only helps riders book trips it also allows SRTA to expand or shrink service based on rider demand and experiment with creating other zones where access to transportation is lacking. By having one mobility platform, SRTA would also have an automated fare collection option built in, should the time come to use it.
“What inspires us about SRTA’s project is how purpose-driven it is, and the direct community data that SRTA had gathered,” said Routematch President Pepper Harward. “The leadership team’s vision centers on pursuing new ways to look at public transit. Together, we can remove barriers for Sunday travel, and design and execute on an inclusive mobility ecosystem that could be replicated in other small towns.”
The idea first hatched in November 2016 when SRTA’s Board of Directors approved a feasibility study on providing public transit on Sundays. Existing services, travel distance, fare pricing, funding, general acceptance/perceptions, safety, reliability, resource availability and a community survey were all part of the study.
Knowing that this would be a new experience for riders, much effort went into preparing area residents for the new service. SRTA partnered with a marketing firm, Circa Now LLC, to assist with community outreach. Outreach efforts included social media, radio ads, online digital ads, attending community events, sending out mailers and handing out flyers around the region.
