RideCo and SEPTA Launch North America's Largest Modernized Paratransit System in Less Than 5 Months!

PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 22, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - RideCo, the most adopted cloud-based on-demand transit solution among the 10 largest cities in the United States, in partnership with the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority ("SEPTA"), has successfully launched phase one of SEPTA OnDemand, the new modernized paratransit service within an unprecedented 4.5 month timeframe. The largest on-demand transit system in the U.S. running on a cloud-based platform, is now operating in 4 of 6 counties and will launch across the entire service region in the coming weeks. After only a few weeks of operation, SEPTA is already experiencing a profound impact.

"As we profiled in our vision statement, we are taking definitive steps to continually enhance mobility for the residents of Philadelphia," said SEPTA CEO and General Manager, Leslie S. Richards. "SEPTA's partnership with RideCo and the adoption of their software is turning that vision into reality, transforming our paratransit system in record time, delivering a better experience for riders, and enabling us to achieve new milestones at a lower cost."

"The modernization of our paratransit system has been one of the fastest, large-scale deployments in SEPTA's history. It has been an amazing journey so far, and we are thrilled to immediately see such a positive impact on the operators and SEPTA support staff," said SEPTA Assistant Chief Operating Officer, Cassandra West. "SEPTA team members have been energized and excited about launching this initiative; RideCo's software along with their team's relentless focus on our success, empowers us to operate more efficiently."

"The implementation of SEPTA OnDemand is a showcase for modernized paratransit," said Prem Gururajan, RideCo Co-Founder and CEO. "I'm proud of both the RideCo and SEPTA teams for their incredible work together, setting a preeminent example for how transit agencies can use the latest technology to revolutionize how they operate and deliver their services. We can already see that the positive impact on SEPTA and their riders will be enormous and long lasting."

As the fifth largest transit system in the U.S., SEPTA operates an extensive paratransit fleet of 411 vehicles along with plans to add a 48-vehicle microtransit fleet later in the year. In September 2023, SEPTA contracted with RideCo to power these on-demand transit services with the goal of improving rider experience while achieving greater operational and cost efficiency.

The aggressive timeline to transform a large-scale paratransit system is an industry first. SEPTA wanted to move quickly on the initiative to improve operations. Working alongside RideCo, the collective team delivered a successful implementation in 4.5 short months.

The project involves teams across the SEPTA organization and includes the rollout of a fully integrated eligibility platform to simplify the certification process for riders; an  integration with the SEPTA Key faring solution to address challenges in the previous fare collection process; as well as the implementation of an enhanced driver communication system hosted within RideCo's one-tablet solution. The service will benefit from RideCo's advanced reservation and dispatching capabilities to reduce the need for manual adjustments and ensure everything runs on time. Now with RideCo's dynamic software, SEPTA also has the opportunity to commingle their paratransit and microtransit services, and leverage the combined fleets to offer extensive flexibility to riders and achieve even greater cost efficiency.

A more in-depth look at the SEPTA OnDemand implementation will be available in the coming weeks in various formats. Please stay tuned to www.rideco.com for updates.

SEPTA is a regional public transportation authority that operates bus, rapid transit, commuter rail, light rail, and electric trolleybus services for nearly four million people in five counties in and around Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as well as rail service into New Jersey and Delaware. It also manages projects that maintain, replace and expand its infrastructure, facilities and vehicles.

SEPTA is the major transit provider for Philadelphia and the four surrounding counties, Delaware, Montgomery, Bucks, and Chester. It is a state-created authority, with the majority of its board appointed by the five Pennsylvania counties it serves. 

SEPTA is the fifth-largest transit system in the U.S. It controls 290 active stations, over 450 miles (720 km) of track, 2,350 revenue vehicles, and 196 routes. It also oversees shared-ride services in Philadelphia and ADA services across the region, which are operated by third-party contractors, Amtrak, and NJ Transit.

RideCo is the leader in rider-centric on-demand transit technology, with the most adopted cloud-based paratransit and microtransit solution among the 10 largest cities in the United States. Trusted by agencies, as well as fleet operators and technology companies, the platform powers the largest on-demand transit services in North America including Los Angeles and Philadelphia. Houston and San Antonio have also adopted RideCo's transformative software, rooted in proprietary continuous optimization technology, and supported by the industry's best customer service, including a 95% plus retention rate.

From reducing overall travel time and encouraging sustainable public transit usage to improving operational efficiency and delivering the lowest total cost of ownership, RideCo's on-demand transit technology is advancing transit for riders and reshaping how transit agencies operate their services. To date, RideCo has been awarded U.S. patent numbers 10,248,913; 10,853,743; and 11,429,910. Visit www.rideco.com to learn more about revolutionizing mobility in your city.   

SOURCE RideCo Inc.