CT: Wheels2U, Norwalk's rideshare service and app, hits 50,000 riders

After a slow start, Norwalk Transit District said its Wheels2U microtransit service and app has completed more than 50,000 rides since it expanded the service in March 2024.

Matt Pentz, the chief executive officer of the Norwalk Transit District, said the program, funded by a $2.1 million state grant, seemed to generate more traction from the summer onward, and the first time the program started to service more than 200 rides per day was in June. He partly attributed the increased interest to the affordability, good user experience and low wait times.

"The demand kind of grew over time," Pentz said. "People tend to think this is like an Uber or Lyft — it functions in similar ways, but there's no surge pricing. It's always available, and it's really designed to be a public rideshare service. So, we've seen our utilization grow from sort of two passengers to up to four and a little over four passengers per vehicle, which has been an encouraging sign."

The program provided 29 rides on its first day, March 26, 2024, Pentz said, and provided 278 trips on April 4.

Powered by Via, a transit software company, the service has pool of roughly 15 drivers, though that number can fluctuate, Pentz said. Three of the seven Wheels2U vehicles are wheelchair accessible, and more than 1,200 rides have been provided to passengers with disabilities, according to a news release.

Jennifer Tores, 49, who works as a personal care assistant as well as a retail worker, said she has been able to save about $14 each day since switching from Uber and Lyft to mostly Wheels2U, and has enjoyed the door-to-door service the program offers.

"It's been great since my friend told me about it because I was just taking Ubers, I was taking Lyfts, and they were costing me money," Tores said.

She said she has used the service twice daily for about a year to get to work. Tores said she could tell when interest in the program ramped up after wait times started to increase on the app, and in the case that a ride is unavailable, she turns back to Lyft or Uber.

Pentz said getting the word out about the program has helped boost ridership as more people downloaded the app. Each ride costs $2 for a person or $6 for groups.

The program operated on evenings and weekends when it launched in 2018 to help grow the concept of on-demand public transportation, Pentz said. The grant helped expand access to on-demand public transportation after the pilot had to be paused during the pandemic.

"We were doing pretty well," Pentz said. "The trajectory looked pretty good, and then the pandemic happened, and we really had to just suspend the service."

Pentz said the state funded the program's service from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, and the Thursday and Friday evening and weekend service were later returned. The service has helped increase access to public transit for people looking for rides in remote areas where a fixed-route bus might not make sense, he said.

The Norwalk Transit District was selected along with eight other providers in November 2023 to participate in the Microtransit Pilot Program, a $19.5 million state-funded initiative aimed at boosting the accessibility and convenience of local transportation. The other programs provide service in other municipalities, including Stamford, New Haven and Derby, according to the state's website.

The grant offered enough money a two-year pilot program with the possibility of a one-year extension, Pentz said.

"This is just a new mode, really, for people who don't live in dense areas to take public transportation," Pentz said.

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