Strategic Consulting Director

NJ Transit and Via partner to provide microtransit. Here's where. NorthJersey.com Updated April 2, 2026, 7:25 p.m. ET NJ Transit is launching a new - free - microtransit shuttle in Bergen and Monmouth counties. Via will operate the service, known as MicroLink, in partnership with NJ Transit during the two-year pilot program that launches Monday, April 6. "By offering flexible, on-demand service, we are helping customers more easily connect to our bus network while also expanding access to the broader transit system for a more seamless trip," NJ Transit President and CEO Kris Kolluri said in a statement announcing the program. The pilot program will be partly funded using a $7 million federal grant from the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act. During the pilot, NJ Transit will monitor ridership demand, customer feedback and service efficiency to determine whether similar microtransit zones could work in other areas around the state. "MicroLink powered by NJ Transit is a smart, customer-focused investment that is part of building a more connected, reliable, and rider-focused NJ Transit," Gov. Mikie Sherrill said in a statement. What is microtransit? Microtransit programs, such as this one, are designed to provide "first-mile/last-mile" solutions, which means getting people a short distance to or from bus stops and train stations. Via, a New York City-based microtransit company, launched in Jersey City in 2020 to provide subsidized on-demand rides for residents. The program was hugely successful and is heavily used, with more than 2,000 rides daily, according to a presentation given in January 2023 by Eric Gardiner, Via's then-director of East Coast partnerships. Nearly 50% of trips booked by riders in Jersey City involved a connection to a transit station, which helped close those critical gaps to get people to public transportation, Gardiner said. Via will fill that same gap in NJ Transit's pilot program by helping customers get to or from bus stops within the Knickerbocker Road corridor in Bergen County, and in Monmouth County it will do the same for the Union Hill Park & Ride in Marlboro and Freehold Mall Park & Ride. The MicroLink program could also help reduce the strain on NJ Transit's challenging AccessLink service, which provides van service for seniors and those with disabilities. AccessLink has come under scrutiny over the years for long wait times, poor and unreliable service, and difficulties booking trips. The service is dictated by federal law and has strict and byzantine rules about who is eligible for rides and where they can be driven. NJ Transit launched and expanded another pilot program that augmented AccessLink service by offering on-demand rides through partnerships with private companies, such as Uber, Lyft and UZURV. Where will MicroLink operate? The Bergen microtransit zone used for this pilot will include sections of Bergenfield, Tenafly, Englewood and Teaneck. It is centered on fixed-route bus service and includes destinations such as the Teaneck Armory and Englewood Health. In Monmouth, there will be two microtransit zones used for this pilot. * Zone 1 encompasses sections of Manalapan and Marlboro to connect customers with the Union Hill Park & Ride in Marlboro. * Zone 2 covers sections of Freehold Township and Freehold Borough to connect customers with the Freehold Mall Park & Ride. * Note: Bus route No. 139 will no longer divert off Route 9 during certain peak period trips through the Covered Bridge and Yorktown areas of Manalapan and the Stonehurst and Raintree areas of Freehold Township. Customers in those areas should use MicroLink to connect to the 139. How will it work? There are a couple of ways to book a MicroLink trip. Here are a few steps and tips: * Download the "MicroLink powered by NJ Transit" app and create an account. * Enter the pickup and drop-off addresses, choose the ride that works best and tap Book this Ride. * Customers without access to a smartphone can reserve a ride by calling 973-233-4047. * Customers will be provided a "meet-up" spot to meet the driver. * All trips must have an NJ Transit bus stop as an origin or destination point. * Customers are recommended to book rides 20 to 30 minutes before the departure time. * The program will operate on weekdays from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. * MicroLink's fleet is a mix of electric and gas-powered vans that seat six, including one wheelchair-accessible seat in each vehicle. Additional information about specific pickup locations, maps of the service zones and how to use the service can be found at njtransit.com/microlink.

Data helps Washington, D.C., transit fine-tune its service. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority has been making targeted improvements for several years by homing in on several key metrics, to grow its service and yield shorter travel times. March 30, 2026 - Data and analytics are offering new insights for transit providers, as they make the case for continued or added service, often focusing on some of the most basic metrics such as travel times. Information collected by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), which serves the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, is helping it zero in on key messages like "since 2020 the average resident has access to 15 percent more jobs," Scott Traum, WMATA manager for data and research, said during a recent panel discussion examining the agency's data and messaging program. The event was organized and hosted by Via Transportation, a transit technology provider. In the last five years, WMATA, like numerous other transit operators across the country, has been working to recapture ridership, and dig out of the COVID-19 pandemic slump that reshuffled commute and travel patterns built on the concept of shuttling workers from suburban housing locations to job centers. Remote work and a more 24-hour travel lifestyle have left transit answering to a new paradigm where riders want and require a wider cross-section of transit services and destinations. Technology companies including Via and its subsidiary Remix, have partnered with WMATA to better understand how increased service will have downstream effects, by providing data related to what areas a person can access using transit that arrives within 30 minutes. "We want to make sure that we're getting people to important places, not just getting them farther for the sake of getting them farther," Traum said, noting that one of Metro's new metrics looks at how many jobs fall within what it calls "catchment areas" - generally, the region around a stop or station that its passengers come from. "That number really starts to mean something, not just to our customers, but to the policymakers that are responsible for keeping our funding, and making these decisions," Traum said. WMATA has been making a number of changes to its bus and rail system, with an eye toward expanding service where it's needed, a move that could grow both ridership and revenue. In 2022, the agency launched the long-awaited Silver Line extension to Washington Dulles International Airport - serving not just millions of airport users, but putting transit stations within five miles of the homes of 420,000 people, according to WMATA data. In 2022, the agency used data to determine where it should reintroduce its all-day frequent bus service. Rather than bringing back all service lines just as they had been before the pandemic, "we decided to double down on frequency, in places where people are riding a lot," Traum said. WMATA has used data to improve frequency on 36 of its bus lines. "And it's on these lines, that is where our ridership has really grown the most over the past few years," he said, indicating WMATA has also been adding tech features like bus signal priority to make trips go faster. "When you have innovative solutions with really quality service design with the right data and technology, and you center on what matters to the riders, you get a stronger system," Kelly McGurk, Via director of marketing, said during the panel. "If you design around what riders want and need, you can build trust and lead to real ridership momentum." More frequent service means shorter wait times at bus stops and train platforms. That translates into shorter travel times for the workers and others using the system, say officials. These are the kinds of real-world realities Metro focuses on when selling itself to riders or policymakers. "So in that way we've been able to not only make these changes, but continue to talk about them in a way that is meaningful to folks," Traum said. "And advocate for not only more changes, but advocate for more resources to show how important transit is to our community."