L.A. Metro Jumps Into the Ridesharing Business

Steve Scauzillo reports on the launch of Via, a "private ride-hailing service" touted by regional transit planners as a first-last mile solution that provides a cheaper alternative to Uber and Lyft.

"Riders with a LA Metro TAP card would pay $1.75, the same as the base fare for riding a bus or train," reports Scauzillo. "The driver would pick up other passengers, making it a shared ride that Metro officials said would cut down on additional congestion and air pollution caused by traditional single-passenger ride-hailing services that add cars to the roads."

The program is the result of a $2.5 million contract, funded in part by a $1.35 million grant from the Federal Transit Administration.

The pilot program will operate around select stations in the Metro system.

Despite the struggles of privately operated microtransit experiments, several cities have launched similar public microtransit programs over the past year. A report published a year ago provided guidance for successful microtransit programs.