DART Drives Growth With Award Winning Microtransit

Goal

Continue to grow an award-winning, on-demand microtransit service that improves the overall customer experience for a large portion of the greater Dallas area.

Overview

In late 2017, Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) partnered with Spare and was already working with Unwire, a front-end smartphone app developer. Together, an on-demand, multi-modal microtransit pilot powered by Spare was launched featuring mobile ticketing options for multiple agencies and transit types called GoPass. A few years later in 2019, DART won the APTA Innovation Award for being the first in the industry to launch a multi-modal app where a rider can manage their fares and trip planning across multiple providers in a single space.

DART continues to innovate to solve the first-and-last mile problem to better serve their riders.

Partner: Dallas Area Rapid Transit
Location: Dallas, Texas
Launch: January 2019
Service Type: Microtransit

Challenges

Improve access to jobs for individuals who rely on public transit so their trip to work doesn’t affect their ability to do their job
Find ways of servicing non-traditional traveling hours for those who work late nights or night shifts
Facilitate an easy-to-use booking experience that connects the different transit experiences
Continue to drive adoption for riders through enhanced education and marketing

Solution

DART announced expansions to their Spare-powered GoLink microtransit in January 2022. This included replacing underperforming fixed routes with GoLink service and expanding service areas and zones to ensure more riders have access to transit within walking distance.

By providing helpful information on how to use the microtransit service, DART has invested time and resources into increasing adoption and maximizing ridership. This resulted in needing to add new GoLink zones to expand their microtransit operations. In some cases, this replaces the fixed route systems that were in place, pushing riders towards a more efficient, time saving solution to their transit needs.

Results

Since expanding the availability of GoLink, in January 2022, ridership has increased to all time highs. Their total rider in March 2022 was nearly triple what it was in March 2021. As a result, DART GoLink is servicing over 30,000 riders a month by either connecting them to a DART transit hub or taking them directly to their destination.

Despite this increase in ridership, the average travel distance has actually decreased. With Spare’s ride matching algorithm, DART’s microtransit operations run as efficiently as possible. Riders are added to vehicles with minimal interruption to the trips already in effect, keeping travel distance short, ride times low and rider satisfaction high.

Citizen Access Within Walking Distance: 74%
Riders per month: 30,000+
Average rider rating: 97%