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 TransLoc, which builds technology products for public transit
passengers and agencies, will integrate Uber into the TransLoc Rider
app, a smartphone application that provides real-time bus tracking
and route planning.
San Francisco-based Uber's app allows passengers to order on-demand
rides from their smartphones.
The integration will allow passengers to plan trips that combine
public transportation with Uber rides and walking, TransLoc
officials said. The idea is to offer Uber as a way for passengers to
get from home to a transit stop, and from transit stops to their
destinations.
Public transit agencies lose many potential riders because they lack
options getting to or from the bus or train stop, TransLoc said.
"Such partnerships will enhance the attractiveness of public
transportation," Michael Melaniphy, president and chief executive of
the American Public Transportation Association, said in a statement.
Uber and ride-hailing competitor Lyft have been working to find
allies among public transit agencies, recognizing that if they are
to be truly cheaper than car ownership as each company has touted it
is, they must be used in combination with public transit.
A transportation study by the statistical analysis media site
FiveThirtyEight showed that completing 85 percent of trips on public
transit and 15 percent with Uber roughly equaled the cost of car
ownership.
Uber and Lyft have both made progress in befriending public transit
agencies. Uber has partnerships in Dallas, Atlanta, Los Angeles and
Minneapolis.
Lyft also has a partnership with Dallas, and recently launched the
"Friends with Transit" campaign to demonstrate the number of
passengers Lyft brings to and from transit stations.
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Emily Castor, director of transportation policy at Lyft, said in an
interview the company had "a pipeline of dozens of public transit
agencies" that are discussing partnerships with the ride service.
They include the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, which
is talking to Lyft about improving its paratransit services.
Both companies have been criticized, however, for not opening up
their data to cities and not providing transit agencies with
information that would help officials gauge the services' impact on
transportation.
The TransLoc and Uber integration will debut as a pilot program in
mid-February in Memphis, Tennessee, and Raleigh-Durham, North
Carolina.
(Reporting by Heather Somerville; Editing by Peter Cooney)
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