Cape Fear Public Transportation Authority, also known as Wave Transit operates public transportation in Wilmington, North Carolina. They operated 15 fixed-routes, a university shuttle, a downtown trolley and most recently…a microtransit service! RideMICRO, an on-demand service was launched in October 2021 to connect residents of Brunswick, Pender, and New Hanover counties to Wave Transit’s fixed-route service. This zone-based service serves as a first/last mile solution to connect the rural areas around Wilmington to the urban core. Listen in to this episode to hear more about how Wave Transit has connected communities in the Wilmington area!

Neighborhood Transportation Service is a curb-to-curb van service that provides an affordable transportation option for Cedar Rapids residents when fixed-route service is not available. NTS was established in the 1990’s to ensure that 2nd and 3rd shift workers could have a safe, affordable ride to and from work. Prior to 2021, NTS was using paper based scheduling for their rides, but transitioned to the microtransit platform Via. Their service has seen substantial growth since the implementation of the software, as well as increased coordination with neighboring transit agencies.

Winter is coming – and so is the Low and No Emission grant application period! In this episode, Marcela and Andrew interview Carrie Butler, Executive Director of the Transit Authority of River City (TARC) and Geoffrey Hobin, Director of Grants & Capital Programs at TARC about their growing electric bus fleet. Their fleet currently has 15 all-electric vehicles in its fleet. As past recipients of the Low-No grant, we chat on how to make your case for funding, as well as details on their electric vehicle deployment.

In another crossover episode with the host of the National Center for Mobility Management's podcast, Mobility Lines. Andrew, Kevin and Marcela discuss recent news in transit technology - including tech-enabled mobility for all pilots, the evolution of MaaS, and transit fleet electrification.

In this *special* crossover episode with the host of the National Center for Mobility Management's podcast, Mobility Lines. Andrew, Kevin and Marcela discuss recent news in transit technology - including new developments with the Transit app, the City of Pittsburgh's plans to launch Mobility as a Service (MaaS), automated vehicles and research on how to harness data for an equitable deployment of electric vehicles.

In this episode, Marcela and Andrew interview Christopher Belden, Duluth Transit Authority’s Director of Planning & Grants. DTA, in partnership with Masabi and Transit app, launched the MyDTA fare payment system. The launch gives DTA’s passengers the ability for a more seamless experience of mobile ticketing and trip planning through the MyDTA or Transit mobile applications. The launch is anticipated to provide shorten boarding time and provide riders and operators a more efficient and safe experience.

In this episode, Marcela chats with Peter Kimball and Kevin Polette from the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission (NIRPC). In May 2021, a team from NIRPC launched a web feature that details the accessibility of every bus stop in Northwest Indiana. The map aims to inform transit riders to navigate bus stops across municipal and regional systems, determine their accessibility and plan their trip. Listen in for details on the data collection process, the launch of their map and lessons learned!

In this episode, Andrew and Marcela open up season 2 of Next Stop: Transit Tech. In the next year, public transportation will be navigating the post-pandemic world. What are some of the practices instilled during the pandemic that will continue forward? How has transportation changed, and what will the road ahead look like? How will emerging technologies facilitate transportation systems building back better?

Next Stop: Transit Tech hosts will also look forward to Year 2 activities of the National Center for Applied Transit Technology. Along with publications, webinars & podcasts, they discuss upcoming technical assistance opportunities for transportation providers and how to stay connected.

Next Stop: Transit Tech is hosted by the team behind the National Center for Applied Transit Technology, a Federal Transit Administration funded technical assistance center that is administered by the Community Transportation Association of America (CTAA). CTAA is a national nonprofit association representing rural, small city, tribal and other forms of specialized transportation providers including services for seniors, people with disabilities, veterans, non-emergency medical and for Tribal areas. CTAA has over 1,000 members and affiliates in their network. Today, we are interviewing Scott Bogren, CTAA’s Executive Director to close out this season with a retrospective on 2020 and what are trends as we return to the new normal.

Next Stop: Transit Tech chats with Suzanne Murtha, with AECOM’s Automated Bus Consortium, and Jean Ruestman from Michigan DOT. The Consortium is a first-of-its-kind approach to accelerate the development of automated transit technologies, and will combine the purchasing power and decision-making of its founding transit agencies. If implemented, their pilot projects will use full-sized, full-speed, accessible buses and allow Consortium members to demonstrate and deploy automated technology in a live service environment. We'll chat about the state of automated vehicles and the future of the technology in the transit realm.