GoTriangle to use state cash for paratransit technology
Triangle Business Journal, November 20, 2017
GoTriangle, the region’s transit authority, has been awarded a $202,000 advanced technology grant by the state to improve paratransit service in the Triangle.
As GoTriangle moves toward its goals of implementing more connectivity through initiatives such as light rail and bus rapid transit, “we can’t lose sight of the folks who use paratransit,” GoTriangle General Manager Jeff Mann says in an interview Monday. “We intend to use technology to improve everyone’s experience.”
According to a release from the agency, the cash will be used to upgrade the agency’s scheduling software and equipment so that customers certified to use the ADA paratransit service can book their trips online and track them in real time.
Right now, customers have to book by phone, and they receive an hour-long pickup window, Mann says. The technology will also improve a driver’s capabilities in serving multiple customers, he adds.
The NCDOT grant will be used to outfit all of GoTriangle’s 20 light transit vehicles with electronic tablets.
In an email, Joe Milazzo, executive director for the Regional Transportation Alliance, calls real-time tracking for paratransit vehicles “a welcome addition.”
“This solution holds the promise of improved on-time performance, enhanced and more efficient schedules, and a better experience for both paratransit customers as well as GoTriangle professional operations staff,” he said.
Right now, GoTriangle provides more than 150 paratransit trips a day. At a cost of $4.50 per trip, it’s available along existing fixed GoTriangle routes in Cary, Chapel Hill, Durham and Raleigh – including routes in Research Triangle Park and Raleigh-Durham International Airport.
GoTriangle hopes to have the new system in place by the end of the year.