Spare has unveiled a new artificial intelligence (AI) platform—Spare AI—an agency-wide platform that connects the information, systems and workflows transit agencies and cities rely on every day.

Spare says its new AI platform connects every system and every person across the agency, as the platform can find information across data sets, enabling employees to understand what's happening and act on it without knowing where the data lives. AI agents and workflows are designed to carry out work across connected systems, from investigating issues and preparing outputs to monitoring changes and flagging what needs attention, all within defined guardrails Spare says that keep every answer and action secure, compliant, accurate and relevant.

The Spare AI platform brings together four core capabilities:

• Conversational access: Employees can ask questions in natural language and get source-backed answers specific to their role, without needing to know where the information lives. Connectors link Spare AI to the operations, maintenance, finance, HR and productivity systems agencies already use.
• Cross-system intelligence and agency context: Spare AI combines the agency's operational data and institutional knowledge, including policies, procedures, contracts and board records into one shared picture of what's happening. Agencies can also opt in to learn from the wider Spare community through peer benchmarks, the practices behind better results and what worked and didn't while controlling exactly what they share.
• Governance and role-based control: Agencies decide what employees and AI can access, which actions AI can take, how sensitive information is handled and when a person must review or approve. 
• Agentic workflows: AI agents are designed to gather information, analyze changes, prepare and carry out work and monitor conditions across connected systems, escalating issues that need human attention.

Spare says that it’s launching the product because AI is already becoming part of how transit teams work with the company. Agencies are using natural language to investigate performance, ask questions about their operations and get answers from their data without manually building reports. From March to August, Spare AI usage grew 2,247%. 

"Transit has always solved its hardest problems together. What we heard from our community was clear: agencies want AI they can trust, and they don't want to figure it out alone,” said Spare CEO and Co-Founder Kristoffer Vik Hansen. “Spare AI is built on the foundation they already run, and it gets smarter for your agency as your team uses it while keeping your agency’s data and insights safe."

Spare already works at the core of transit operations for major agencies, including the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, Dallas Area Rapid Transit, Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority, Orange County Transit Authority and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Spare says this launch expands that foundation beyond transit operations, connecting Spare with 3rd party systems and organizational knowledge agencies use across operations, planning, finance, administration, leadership and more.

“AI is changing software from something people have to navigate into something that can help them accomplish more,” said Spare COO and Co-founder Josh Andrews. “For transit agencies, that means bringing the data, knowledge and workflows already at the heart of their organizations into a more natural way of working.”

Spare launches Spare AI Founding Agency Program

Alongside the announcement of the platform, Spare is opening the Spare AI Founding Agency Program, a small cohort of transit agencies and cities that will work directly with Spare to guide the platform's development.

Participating organizations will receive early access to Spare AI, subsidized AI credits to use during their first year, direct support from Spare's product and engineering teams for configuration and implementation, and a meaningful role in shaping the product roadmap.