Mountain View Transportation Management Association (MTMA) has expanded its MVgo shared shuttle service and integrated a real-time vehicle tracking mobile application in response to consistent ridership growth.
Ridership of MVgo has increased by more than 35 percent since the program launched in 2015, with the service expected to surpass 130,000 passengers by the end of 2018. MTMA notes that this growth has occurred despite the closure of several large employer campuses in the North Bayshore area within Mountain View, Calif.
“MVgo has been working diligently to reduce traffic and improve public transit options throughout Mountain View’s Bayshore and East Whisman corporate campus districts,” says Janice Yuen, MTMA Board Chair and COO, Commercial Division at Sares Regis Group of Northern California. “We’re proud of our increasing ridership and are excited to accommodate many more passengers with the addition of comfortable new buses and a new mobile real-time tracking app.”
MVgo’s five new, 30-foot vehicles increase the size of its current fleet by 30 percent and put its total number of buses at seven. The new vehicles feature both DriveCam dashboard cameras and Mobileye, a windshield-mounted collision avoidance system that sounds an alarm to alert the driver of potential hazards or collisions with other vehicles, pedestrians or lane dividers. MTMA explains that DriveCam and Mobileye allow MVgo to ensure consistently safe service for passengers and improve MVgo’s ability to improve driver training.
The new real-time tracking mobile application, RIDEMVGO, provides passengers with an up-to-the-minute view of the MVgo shuttle system, including arrival estimates, live bus tracking, favorite stops and alerts and service-driven push notifications. It can be downloaded for free in the Apple App and Google Play stores.
MTMA will also be working the Lyft and Uber starting in 2019 in a partnership designed to encourage commuters to consider alternative and shared modes of transportation outside of the MVgo operating schedule. The pilot program will offer discounted shared trips starting or ending in Mountain View from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The MTMA is also looking to partner with Scoop and WazePool to promote the use of carpools for those commuting to or from Mountain View.
