On Demand Ride-Sharing Finds New Homes

Ride-share business Via has announced a partnership with the cities of West Sacramento, California and Arlington, Texas to provide on-demand ride sharing.

"Customers will set pick-up and drop-off locations on the Via app just like other ride-shares, and then a van will pick up several riders headed in the same direction and make multiple stops along a route devised in real time," explains Katie Pyzyk for Smart Cities Dive.

Service is expected to launch in Arlington in December 2017. The Via service will "replace the city's one existing bus line, 'the Max,' which runs one route connecting the University of Texas at Arlington and with transit center south of the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport," according to Pyzyk. Via will also offer service in areas not covered by the Max, which is also a pilot program that will expire at the end of the year.

Local coverage is also available for each partnership, by Alice Barr in Arlington and Ellen Garrison in West Sacramento. A press release by Via Transportation Inc. also provides additional details on the new partnerships.

For a history of a high-profile precedent in on demand ride hailing, see Planetizen's coverage of the Bridj system, which launched in Boston in 2014 and ended operations three years later.