Dallas Suburb To Replace Public Transportation With Ride-Sharing App Via

The Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas, is planning to replace its mass public transportation services with Via, a ride-sharing sharing service similar to Uber or Lyft, according to a report from CBS News.

The city of nearly 400,000 will start with a small fleet of vans that commuters will be able to summon using a smartphone application. The fares for the rides will run $3 per trip or $10 for a week-long pass.

“We are at the beginning of an exciting transportation technology revolution,” Arlington mayor Mayor Jeff Williams said of the venture. “Arlington’s Via Rideshare Pilot Program is the latest example of our City’s willingness to explore innovative transportation technology solutions for our residents, employees, students and visitors.”

“Via is thrilled to be partnering with the City of Arlington to launch the first ever fully dynamic on-demand public transportation solution. With Via’s technology and Arlington’s commitment to innovation, we are reimagining the future of transportation,” Daniel Ramot, Via’s CEO and co-founder, said in a statement.

With the adoption of Via, Arlington will do away with its fleet of charter buses that had been operating in the city for the last four years. The city will subsidize the rides provided by Via to its residents, which will keep the price low enough that it may be affordable for the city’s commuters.

According to the city government, Arlington will be on the hook for $322,500 for the experiment, which is about one-third of the total cost. The remaining amount will be provided by the Federal Transit Administration.

The contract with via will last for one year, with four one-year renewal options going forward assuming the plan is a success. Via will provide the city with data collected through its ride-share service, which Arlington lawmakers will use to “shape future transportation planning decisions.”

Via will operate from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturdays. The service will not be in operation on Sundays and hours of operation are scheduled to change on holidays.

The service will also only be available to several destinations to start, delivering and picking people up in areas around downtown, the University of Texas at Arlington, the Texas Health Arlington Memorial Hospital area, the Entertainment District and the CentrePort TRE Station. The city said it plans to expand services in the future.

Arlington is not the first city to adopt ride-sharing apps as a primary means of public transportation. Summit, New Jersey, a mostly affluent city with a population of roughly 22,000, offered its citizens subsidized Uber rides that picked up and dropped off at the city train station. The Orlando suburb of Altamonte Springs, Florida, which has a population of about 43,000, also replaced its public transportation services with subsidized Uber rides.