GATRA’s Journey with Spare: From Microtransit Innovation to Paratransit Transformation
Goal
To streamline Greater Attleboro and Taunton Regional Transit Authority’s (GATRA) transit operations across 30 southeastern Massachusetts communities, creating a flexible, efficient, and modernized system capable of managing services from ADA paratransit and on-demand transit to long-distance medical trips. By centralizing operations and improving service delivery, GATRA aimed to provide essential transportation services to vulnerable populations while enhancing operational efficiency and service reach.
By the Numbers (Paratransit)
- 64,000+ trips served since launch
- 30+ vehicles in the paratransit fleet
- 12.7 min average wait time
- 62% of app bookings
- 1.26 passengers per vehicle hour
- 35% shared rides
- Record high ridership in both paratransit and microtransit in June 2024
Overview
GATRA has long been a lifeline for mobility in Southeastern Massachusetts, serving 30 diverse communities. In 2020, GATRA proactively sought to modernize its services, starting with the launch of GATRA Go, a microtransit service that transformed service efficiency in communities where traditional fixed route service models were not efficient. Building on this success, GATRA expanded to include Miles for Health, a long-distance non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) service, and later modernized its most complex service: ADA paratransit. By leveraging Spare's platform, GATRA was able to centralize and streamline its demand response services, despite the wide variety of fare structures, time rules, and rider requirements across a large portion of its 30 communities.
With Spare as a trusted technology partner, GATRA centralized operations, meeting evolving community needs, such as population growth, the pandemic and migrant influxes, and positioning itself as a leader in efficient public transit.
Challenges
Before Spare, GATRA struggled with disjointed operations, leaving gaps in service delivery. Riders often experienced delays due to inefficient vehicle scheduling, while staff were burdened with manual processes and a lack of centralized reporting tools. Managing separate systems for ADA paratransit, dial-a-ride, and Miles for Health placed a strain on GATRA’s resources, hindering their ability to scale services and meet growing demand. GATRA faced an outdated, inflexible system that left many needs unmet, including:
- Fragmented operations across multiple services: GATRA operates a complex mix of transit services, each with its own fare structures, time rules, and unique rider demands. Managing these distinct operations was a significant challenge.
- Inefficient vehicle usage: GATRA’s older system led to a high percentage of idle time for vehicles.
- Manual processes: Majority of staff time involved manually creating daily manifests which reduced scheduling windows and caused inefficiencies in delivery of service.
- Need for real-time adaptability: Rapid changes in demand, such as the arrival of 400+ migrants in a short time, required GATRA to respond quickly with scalable solutions.
- Lack of centralized data and reporting: GATRA struggled to produce timely and accurate reports for federal and state requirements due to fragmented systems and manual data entry.
Solutions
Through its strategic partnership with Spare, GATRA led a series of transformative expansions. Whether adapting to new populations, bouncing back from the pandemic, or modernizing legacy systems, each expansion represented a new layer of operational complexity that Spare platform adapted to, empowering GATRA’s leadership team to implement these solutions smoothly and effectively.
GATRA was able to introduce tailored solutions to address its challenges:
- Centralized management for complex services: Spare’s platform enabled GATRA to centralize the management of its ADA paratransit, dial-a-ride, Miles for Health, and other specialized services. Despite varying fare structures and rider needs, Spare’s customizable system brought these diverse operations together under one umbrella.
- Change management support: With the successful transition to a modern system, GATRA has confidently modernized services that had been running the same way for 30 years. By implementing a structured change management process, including a four-day on-site training session with Spare, GATRA’s administrative and operations teams were fully equipped to handle new technologies and workflows, ensuring smooth day-to-day operations and improved service for riders.
- Efficient vehicle scheduling: Through Spare, GATRA now uses advanced scheduling capabilities to reduce vehicle idle time and optimize trip pooling. This allows GATRA to maximize vehicle usage, ensuring more efficient service delivery, especially for riders heading to medical appointments and other time-sensitive destinations.
- Enhanced adaptability for special services: GATRA can now seamlessly accommodate NEMT services like Miles for Health, even when manual intervention is required. The agency has gained greater control over managing trips with external providers, improving service efficiency and ensuring that specialized services are delivered with the same tracking and reporting precision as its other transit offerings.
- Adaptable for emergencies: Through Spare’s flexible platform, GATRA is now better equipped to rapidly adjust services to meet unexpected demand, such as the sudden influx of 400+ migrants. GATRA can quickly scale its operations through on-the-fly zone creation and boundary changes, deploy additional resources, and respond in real-time to ensure no community is left underserved during emergencies or sudden spikes in demand.
Now, GATRA can easily communicate eligibility details throughout the organization and with service providers. While some elements of the traditional process, such as paper documentation, are still maintained, these documents are now scanned into Spare’s Eligibility system for digital record-keeping. This balance between modern digital management and maintaining some familiar workflows has resulted in a more efficient, less stringent process that retains all the benefits of a streamlined system.
Results
- Increased ridership: Both paratransit and microtransit hit record-high ridership in June 2024, reflecting the increased efficiency and expanded service areas.
- Increased service efficiency: GATRA reduced deadhead time from 55% to 52%, improving the overall efficiency of its fleet and enabling drivers to serve more riders within the same operational hours.
- Higher on-time performance (OTP) for microtransit: The introduction of routing and algorithm changes. smarter scheduling and trip pooling resulted in a 4% improvement in OTP, ensuring riders reached their destinations on time more consistently.
- Continuous optimization: With continuous support from Spare, GATRA’s services are consistently optimized. Even though GATRA launched microtransit in 2020, recent updates to Spare’s engine and algorithm have resulted in a 4% increase in on-time performance for GATRA Go, demonstrating the impact of this long-term collaboration on GATRA’s ability to evolve with its community's needs.
- Expanded service reach and accessibility: With more efficient vehicle use, GATRA was able to expand its service areas and offer more trips across many of its 30 communities, making transportation more accessible to underserved populations.
- Improved service customization: GATRA could tailor its services to meet specific rider needs, such as providing specialized medical trips through the Miles for Health service and managing complex operational rules like different fare structures and time rules.
- Enhanced rider experience: Riders received real-time notifications, reducing wait times and improving satisfaction, especially for ADA paratransit users who now benefited from expanded service hours and more efficient scheduling.
- Positive cross-department feedback: For the first time, GATRA’s management, drivers, and call center staff all agreed on the effectiveness of the new system. The transition to Spare’s platform not only streamlined operations but also fostered a sense of cohesion and satisfaction across all departments.