Kitsap partners with TRC to expand on-demand transit services

Kitsap Transit has agreed  to a five-year contract with The Routing Company (TRC) to expand the agency's on-demand transit services. The five-year contract will take the existing on-demand service into three services , beginning with the reintroduction of Kitsap Sunday service.Kitsap Transit serves Kitsap County, Wash., part of the Puget Sound region. TRC has provided the agency with on-demand transit for more than two years.

The contract marks a significant expansion beyond Bainbridge Island, where Kitap Transit has operated its on-demand BI Ride service six days a week (Monday through Saturday) since July 2021. The contract adds the Pingo platform to Kitsap Transit’s two other on-demand services (Kingston Ride and SK Ride) and its future rollout of Sunday service to the Bainbridge, Bremerton, Port Orchard, Poulsbo and Silverdale regions.

"As the first U.S. transit agency to adopt the Pingo platform, Kitsap’s decision to expand its partnership with TRC is a big vote of confidence in our people and our product,” said James Cox, CEO,TRC. “Powered by Pingo, Kitsap is harnessing a combination of routing, on-demand, deviated route or flex servicesand transfer points to offer transit that benefits the community through the combined strength of fixed-route and flexible transit services. We innovate by building what our customers need and I’m so excited we can continue to innovate together in Kitsap County.”

“We have seen how the Ride Pingo app empowers our BI Ride customers to use the service and now we’re rolling it out to our other on-demand services,” said John Clauson, executive director of Kitsap Transit. “We’ve appreciated TRC’s spirit of partnership, adapting their product to our local needs, as well as innovation in developing a smart trip-planning tool that incorporates fixed-route with on-demand services.”

TRC provides Kitsap Transit access to the Pingo platform, including the Drive Pingo™ and Ride Pingo™ apps and the Pingo Dashboard™ operations management tool, which together provide on-demand, paratransit, fixed and flexible transport that enhances ridership of existing transport networks. Pingo has moved more than 500,000 passengers to date.