Shortly after the major news outlets made it official and named Joe Biden the winner of the 2020 U.S. presidential election, his campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon shared a maxim that is uttered on a regular basis in our household, especially over the past 18 months of the pandemic: “We can do hard things.” I originally learned of the phrase … Read More
Editorial: The Real Threats to Public Transit (Hint: It’s Not Uber and Lyft)
On a brisk morning last May, Sunny Madra, vice president of Ford’s accelerator program, left his Manhattan apartment to catch a plane to San Francisco. After unsuccessfully trying to hail a cab for 20 minutes, he booked an Uber to JFK International Airport for a whopping $248.90. Little did he know that his 18-mile ride to the airport would cost … Read More
What Rider Sentiment Tells Us About The Future of Public Transit
While the onset of COVID-19 brought life to a standstill, many aspects of life continue to experience change as communities begin moving again. Last month, TransLoc polled 1,200 American transit riders about their pre-pandemic and current transit usage. The results offer clarity on the future of transit services that agencies should be moving towards. Prior to the pandemic, it was … Read More
Four Lessons We Learned About the Needs of Today’s Public Transit Rider
Experts predict that we are on the cusp of a transit evolution led by smart technology and data-driven planning. But how do the people who use these services everyday feel about public transit’s current state and emerging trends? In July 2021, we surveyed 1,200 working U.S. adults (ages 18 and older) about their transit usage prior to COVID-19 and new … Read More
Editorial: What More Can Public Transit Do to Keep Women Safe?
Women have a sixth sense; an awareness developed overtime that keeps us out of harm’s way. Like a computer program running on autopilot, we are constantly scanning our environment to avoid external threats. Public transit provides freedom of mobility for so many women across the country. Unfortunately, riding public transportation can sometimes be one of those situations where a woman’s … Read More
Editorial: What the $550 Billion Infrastructure Bill Means for Public Transit
The Senate has passed the largest ever federal investment in public transit: a $550 billion infrastructure package that improves transportation, internet and water/power systems to “grow the economy, enhance competitiveness, create good jobs and make our economy more sustainable and resilient.” Notably, the bill includes $39 billion in public transit funding, which will fund maintenance, replacement and expansion projects, enhance … Read More
Boost Your Transit Marketing Assets with TransLoc’s Marketing Services’ Principles of Design
It’s a noisy world and everyone (and every thing) is clamoring for our attention. This rings true for transit riders. They’re responding to emails, listening to podcasts like [shameless plug alert] The Movement Podcast, checking text messages, browsing Reddit—all while using your transit services. Your riders may need the comforting therapy of cat memes after a long work day, but … Read More
10 Things You Didn’t Know About Paratransit
If you’re not familiar with paratransit, you should be. As a special transportation service for people with disabilities, paratransit is often provided as a supplement to fixed-route bus and rail systems by public transit agencies. These agencies’ paratransit services come in a variety of forms, and vary widely in their degree of flexibility. Without paratransit, however, countless Americans would be … Read More
What is GTFS and why does it matter to public transit?
If you’re familiar with public transit planning or technology, you’ve probably run into the acronym “GTFS” at least a few times. You may have heard mention of the terms “GTFS feeds” or “GTFS data” – or, depending on your level of familiarity, you may have even spent time updating and maintaining GTFS data sets for various applications. Regardless of whether … Read More
Public Transportation Funding: Doing More with Less
Public transportation in the United States is currently in a state of crisis. A shock to no one, the COVID pandemic – and the associated changes in how we live, work, play, and move about our communities – has a deep impact on public transit. Ridership is down upwards of 75%, meaning fare revenue is down about the same. As … Read More
2021 Transit Predictions
What does 2021 have in store for transportation? We don’t have a crystal ball, but our solutions engineers have a strong pulse on the industry and have made their predictions for the upcoming year:
Eliminating Public Transit’s First-Mile/Last-Mile Problem
“The most commonly cited standard [for walking distance to transit] is 400m or ¼ mile.” – Jarrett Walker, Human Transit What is public transit’s first-mile/last-mile (FM/LM) problem? It begins with a quarter mile. Most people in the United States are “comfortable” walking less than a quarter mile to or from public transit stops. The problem arises when a potential rider … Read More
Public Transportation After COVID-19
Mobility and transportation have been upended by the COVID-19 crisis. Ridership in major metros across the U.S., Europe, and China has declined 50-90% compared to pre-crisis levels. While stay-at-home orders are being lifted, the global impact of this health crisis will have long-lasting effects, and how transit agencies respond to rider concerns will be crucial in instilling confidence and boosting … Read More
6 Health Benefits Of Public Transportation
What if improving your physical and mental health was as easy as riding the bus? Breathing fresh air, driving safely, being physically active, and avoiding excessive stress are a few of the well-known steps toward living a healthy life style. Actually, using transit supports all of the above! The Victoria Policy Institute and The American Public Transportation Association explored the … Read More
Creating Vibrant Cities: Going Above and Beyond Traditional Transportation
Last week several members of the TransLoc team traveled to New York City for the 2019 ACT International Conference. This year’s conference brought together over 650 professionals from across the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe to discuss a wide range of transportation topics and solutions to enhance mobility in communities worldwide. There were 40 educational sessions focused … Read More
Use Data or Lose Everything: Transit Agencies have a Choice
A TechCrunch article from May offers a simple, clairvoyant thesis about the future of the auto industry: “Automakers have a choice: become data companies or become irrelevant.” The message is clear: traditional vehicle manufacturers will no longer have dominant market positions when mobility data, not vehicle hardware, is the ultimate valued commodity. The same can be said not only for … Read More
Microtransit is a Value Investment
“You have to understand the makeup of Montgomery County and how much area we’re serving. We could no longer afford to put fixed route services in those areas, but they’re still going to get better service, through these new mobility options.” – Brandon Policicchio, Chief Customer and Business Development Officer, Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority, Ohio At TransLoc we believe … Read More
The Best Time to Plant a Tree was 20 Years Ago. The Next Best Time is Today.
I grew up on 10 forested acres of land on the side of a mountain on the outskirts of the western North Carolina city of Asheville. My parents built our house overlooking Haw Creek Valley and the Blue Ridge Parkway. Our nearest neighbor was a third of a mile through the woods.
The Moral Argument for Free Public Transit
The fundamental role of public transit is to provide access. According to the American Public Transit Association, almost half of the 10 billion annual trips on public transit are commuting to jobs and another 21 percent are for shopping. Seven billion trips annually on public transit directly support the American dream of having a good job and providing for one’s … Read More
It’s All About Partnerships: Findings from NCPTA
Transportation is doing a deep dive on finding ways to implement industry innovation while keeping the rider at the center of the conversation. This month, TransLoc’s business development team attended the North Carolina Public Transportation Association’s (NCPTA) 2019 Annual Conference and Expo in Wilmington, NC. Bringing together over 400 industry leaders from across the state, the conference covered the future … Read More
The Road Ahead: Lessons from CalACT 2019
At the end of April, the TransLoc team attended the 35th Annual CalACT conference in Coronado, California. We met with innovative transit agencies looking to improve their systems and create a better tomorrow. While we can’t deliver to you the beautiful birds and beaches of the Pacific, we can bear the gift of knowledge. Here’s what we learned at CalACT … Read More
Word On the Street: What We Heard at SUMC 2019
Earlier this month our team traveled to Chicago, IL for the 2019 National Shared Mobility Summit. Every year the Summit brings together mobility leaders who are exploring options to create a multi-modal transportation solution to enhance their communities. This year, 700 mobility experts from 40 States and 14 countries gathered to ask the tough questions and make moves towards real … Read More
Microtransit Provides an Opportunity to Thrive
Hear from Lauren Marks, Executive Director of The Exceptional Foundation of Atlanta, about how a microtransit service in Gwinnett County, GA is providing service for an exceptional group. I am the Executive Director for a newly established nonprofit called The Exceptional Foundation of Atlanta. Our nonprofit is a private day program for adults with intellectual disabilities. Basically, we are the … Read More
How the Desire to Improve Lives Brought One Urban Planner from KCATA to TransLoc
TransLoc welcomes AICP-certified planner Tyler Means to the team as Senior Project Manager. Tyler comes from one of TransLoc’s transit agency partners, Kansas City Area Transportation Authority (KCATA), where he served as Operations Manager. He is passionate about mobility and improving the lives of others by making transportation more accessible and more affordable.
Growing The Movement
Just about a year ago, TransLoc was acquired by Ford Smart Mobility. After spending the bulk of my professional career working at TransLoc in a bootstrapped and then VC rocket-fueled spaceship, we were finally in orbit. We are now a part of a large, multinational company that not only has the resources to play a key role in mobility, but … Read More
Celebrating an Icon
Today marks 106 years since Rosa Parks was born in Tuskegee, Alabama. She has been recognized by the United States Congress as the “First Lady of Civil Rights” and the “Mother of the Freedom Movement.” As a symbol of hope and equality, today we celebrate Park’s courageous spirit and ceaseless perseverance.
Innovation vs. Courage
It’s that time of the year again when the headlines hitting the news are full of hyperbole and dubious practicality generated from the annual paean to the newest technology, the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The transportation industry was not spared from the CES headlines with debuts of walking cars and flying cabs.
Transit a Big Winner in Midterm Elections
In last week’s midterm elections, voters enthusiastically supported transportation issues. According to the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), “Voters passed 17 of 20 transportation-related ballot measures—an approval rate of 85 percent.”
Reimagining Public Transit with Microtransit
TransLoc hosted a conversation about agency-owned microtransit at the APTA 2018 Annual Meeting in Nashville, Tennessee with (left to right) Josh Cohen, TransLoc National Director of Policy; Kimberlee Morton, CEO of Norwalk Transit District; Henry Li, CEO of Sacramento Regional Transit District;Doug Kaufman, CEO of TransLoc; Jessica Mefford-Miller, Executive Director of St. Louis Metro Transit; and Robbie Makinen, CEO of Kansas City Area Transportation Authority.