The Routing Company (TRC), a global on-demand vehicle routing and management platform partnering with cities to power the future of public transit, today celebrated the official launch of FLEX+ on-demand transit service with the Capital District Transportation Authority (CDTA) in Albany, New York. This follows TRC’s announcement of the contract with CDTA in November 2023.
CDTA is a regional mobility provider, providing mobility solutions that connect the region’s communities. It oversees the provision of multimodal public transportation in the Capital District of New York State and supports more than 10 million passengers each year.
The new service started today and provides riders with affordable and convenient transit initiated transit service between downtown Albany and the Joseph L. Bruno Rail Station (formerly the Rensselaer Rail Station) – one of the busiest Amtrak stations in America. Riders can also pre-book trips around the departure and arrival time of their trains.
“We’re excited to add this on-demand service to our menu of mobility options,” said Carm Basile, Chief Executive Officer, CDTA. “The Joseph L. Bruno Rail Station is one of the busiest in the nation, and now customers will have an efficient option to get to downtown Albany. Many train riders are headed to the state capitol to conduct business or to visit the many locations in and around the city of Albany. This direct and technology-driven service will be perfect for this market. We look forward to piloting the program and seeing how we can improve the customer experience at our regional gateway facility.”
CDTA is using New York State Innovative Mobility Initiative (“IMI”) funding to support the deployment. IMI funding provides non-MTA transit authorities with $10 million in funds to expand service, namely to create new transit alternatives or technological products to support riders facing barriers to traditional transit – including the creation and expansion of microtransit and paratransit service. The five year pilot initiative allocates $1 million to each of the seven largest non-MTA systems, with smaller systems jointly eligible for a competitive fund of $3 million.
“We are thrilled to celebrate CDTA on the launch of FLEX+ on-demand transit service today. This new service is a perfect example of how to efficiently connect transit with rail commuter services,” said James Cox, Chief Executive Officer, TRC. “This is how flexible transit really shines, responding to the needs of commuters in real-time but also providing the option to pre-book around travel schedules. We are eager to help CDTA deliver better access to mobility in Albany, and we look forward to working with more New York agencies in leveraging IMI funding to drive innovation in transit forward.”
TRC is powering the FLEX+ service with its suite of Pingo products – including on-demand transit services and features such as Transit Connect™.
Transit Connect™ guarantees connections for riders to fixed route networks using real-time data. The feature was developed by TRC as a solution to improve the rider experience and guarantee a connection to onward transit modes.
TRC’s award-winning Pingo platform includes the Drive Pingo™ and Ride Pingo™ apps and the Pingo Dashboard™ operations management tool, which together provide on-demand, paratransit, fixed, shuttle, and flexible transit that enhances ridership of existing transit networks.