Arlington’s Via Rideshare Recognized in Report on How Cities are Using Data to Deliver Better Results for Residents
By Susan Schrock, Office of Communication
Posted on July 01, 2021, July 01, 2021

Via Rideshare

Arlington’s innovative Via Rideshare on-demand public transportation service is featured in a new report that analyzes the data-driven transformation of city governments participating in the What Works Cities national initiative.

The City’s use of real-time ridership data to understand trends and make informed adjustments to the service based on demand was highlighted this week in the 19-page report released by Monitor Institute by Deloitte in collaboration with What Works Cities. The report tracks the significant and powerful shift that city halls across the country have driven to move beyond old practices based on precedent or instinct and instead use data to make more effective operational, programmatic, and policy decisions, said Simone Brody, Executive Director of What Works Cities at Results for America.

“Cities are using data, now more than ever, to deliver better services, increase transparency and civic engagement, and improve outcomes for residents,” Brody said.

Arlington’s Via Rideshare service, which expanded citywide earlier this year, was among examples of how cities that embrace the use of data and evidence to inform decisions can create better-run city governments, with residents ultimately benefiting from their cities’ improved operations. Since its launch in December 2017, Via has provided nearly 642,000 rides and now has more than 70,600 rider accounts.

“By making data-driven budget decisions to continue expanding the rideshare’s coverage area multiple times over the course of several years, the City was ultimately able to expand the program citywide in 2021, providing the residents of Arlington with their first-ever citywide public transit system,” the report states.

Arlington is one of eight cities to have ever achieved What Works Cities certification at the gold level and it is the only city in Texas to have achieved this certification at any level.

Click here to read the report, Closing the Data Gap: How Cities are Delivering Better Results for Residents.


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