Uber, Marin Transit announce SaaS partnership to facilitate accessible mobility and on-demand transit
Marin Transit and Uber have partnered to provide residents a new, on-demand public transit option up and around the Highway 101 corridor in Marin County.
This partnership will offer residents expanded mobility options to and from doctor's appointments, grocery stores, Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit stations and more. This update builds on existing public transit integrations, such as Journey Planning, which has been available in the Marin region since 2019.
When a rider in Marin opens the Uber app, they will see a new option called 'Marin Connect' that can be booked as it would with UberX. Fares are $4 per mile ($3 for Marin Access riders), and if another rider is heading in the same direction, they will share the ride with you along the way (maximum occupancy of two riders for now within this six-seat vehicle). These vehicles are also built for those needing a little extra assistance, and fully wheelchair accessible. All riders will only need to pay the per mile fare, with no booking fee, and all fares are passed directly from the rider to Marin Transit.
More details on the service include:
- Additional $1 for every additional rider
- Service area up and down Highway 101 corridor between Mill Valley and Novato (2.5 - 3 mile pickup and dropoff buffer around Marin SMART transit stops)
- Available Monday-Friday from 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Marin Transit is using Uber's marketplace technology on a subscription basis to facilitate requesting, matching and tracking of their high-occupancy vehicle fleet. Marin Connect trips are brought to life on top of Uber's platform, an outcome resulting from a desire to help residents do more and conversations with Uber that started in early 2020, according to Uber. This is Uber's first Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) partnership.
Additionally, Transportation Authority of Marin is partnering with Uber to launch a first/last-mile voucher program to and from transit stops. These vouchers can be used for Marin Connect, as well.
Both services - first/last-mile vouchers and Marin Connect - will begin July 1.
