Arlington’s On-Demand Public Transit System with AV Integration Recognized as Smart 50 Awards Recipient

By Office of Communication

Posted on May 27, 2021, May 27, 2021

The City of Arlington’s innovative, on-demand Via Rideshare public transportation service, which now has autonomous vehicle integration, has been recognized as a 2021 Smart 50 Awards recipient.

This annual award, given in partnership with Smart Cities Connect, Smart Cities Connect Foundation and US Ignite, recognizes smart cities projects from around the world with current or future municipal-scale impact and application.

Prior to the launch of Via Rideshare, the city had no public transportation system. In December 2017, Arlington made history as one of the first cities in the nation to develop a public transportation system built solely upon a rideshare service. Through a public-private partnership with Via Transportation, Inc., the City launched a unique on-demand rideshare service to meet the community’s public transit needs. Via provided continued high-quality service through several incremental service area expansions, demonstrating growing community support and increasing ridership.

As a result of the positive impact on the community, Arlington’s Via Rideshare service expanded in January 2021 to serve the entire 99 square miles of the City. The service expanded again in March 2021 to include Arlington RAPID, an autonomous vehicle rideshare option for passengers traveling around Downtown or at The University of Texas at Arlington campus.

Via ridership has steadily grown since the service began and community feedback continues to support the on-demand system’s ability to offer an efficient and affordable form of public transit. To-date, nearly 600,000 trips have been taken on the Via system and more than 63,800 Via accounts have been created. Customer satisfaction ratings have remained around 95-97% throughout the life of the service.

The Via Rideshare service was recognized as influential for using innovative technologies and collaborative data sharing to provide a new transportation option for underserved populations in challenging, low-density environments. The flexibility, scalability and cost-effectiveness of the Via system make it easy to replicate in other cities seeking to provide more and better transportation options to their residents.

 Arlington will receive the award at the Smart Cities Connect Fall Conference and Expo in October.