Challenge

While there is a well-established methodology for assessing how changes in fixed-route service may affect low-income and minority communities, such a methodology did not exist to understand if service would be enhanced or degraded by switching to a fully on-demand service. The Denton County Transit Authority (DCTA) sought to quantify the impacts of on-demand transit services to existing fixed-route bus users.

Solution

After interviewing other agencies that have supplemented or replace fixed-route service with microtransit, the Kittelson team developed a first-of-its-kind methodology that made it possible to quantify the number of potential trips that could be supplied by an on-demand transit service. Kittelson also supported DCTA’s public outreach efforts, providing critical input on how such a change in service strategy could affect disadvantaged communities.