SMART awards contract to The Routing Company for on-demand and transit connection services
Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART), which serves Marin and Sonoma counties in California, awarded a contract to The Routing Company (TRC) for on-demand services and transit connections. The contract could total five years with a base term of three years and two one-year options.
SMART’s current 45-mile system is responsible for nearly 500,000 passenger trips annually and includes stations in Santa Rosa, Rohnert Park, Cotati, Petaluma, Novato, San Rafael and Larkspur. TRC is partnering with SMART to offer accessible on-demand service and transit connections – ultimately providing first-and-last-mile solutions for North Bay residents. The service is beginning with the Sonoma County Airport Station with the potential to expand to remaining stations.
“TRC’s partnership with SMART embodies our mission to power sustainable cities for all,” said TRC CEO James Cox. “Increasing access for over half a million people to a rail system that connects them to their places of work, learning, commerce and housing – and doing so sustainably – is right in our wheelhouse. We’re also thrilled to expand our presence in California: this is our third contract in the state, and our first with a rail provider partnering with transit agencies.”
Anticipated to launch in spring of 2023, SMART’s deployment will use TRC’s full Pingo suite including the Ride Pingo™ app for riders, Drive Pingo™ app for drivers and the cloud-based Pingo Dashboard™ for fleet operators. Features include Transit Connect™, which uses real-time data to guarantee transit connections for riders, and Pingo Journey™, an in-app product that allows riders to plan end-to-end multi-modal journeys and hail on-demand transit, all in one place.
Transit Connect™ was an innovation stemming from TRC’s partnership with King County Metro, in a project funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. A need existed to improve the rider experience and guarantee a connection to onward transit modes, and as a result TRC developed Transit Connect™ to meet that need. This innovation will now be leveraged by SMART to guarantee transit connections, thereby enhancing the rider experience.
“We look forward to expanding rider access to SMART’s rail system using TRC’s Pingo technology and improving connectivity to major hubs like the Sonoma County airport,” said SMART General Manager Eddy Cumins. “The needs of our community are evolving, and this new service will help bridge first- and last-mile transit gaps. We are thrilled to implement this new transit service in the coming months.”
SMART follows deployments with Lassen Transit and Fairfield and Suisun Transit (FAST) to become TRC’s third agency partner in California. Today, TRC’s Pingo technology powers transport for thirteen communities across four countries, including The Netherlands, Andorra, and the United States.
