PSTA, Spare extend partnership to include same-day paratransit services

Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) has extended its partnership with Spare to include its Mobility on Demand (MOD) same-day paratransit service. PSTA has been working with Spare since 2021 to power its ADA Paratransit service, PSTA Access.

MOD is a same-day on-demand service for Access-eligible riders that allows riders to book spur-of-the-moment trips, providing a new level of flexibility. To best serve its riders, PSTA has six service providers that can be dispatched for MOD and Access trips. Having multiple providers allows PSTA to deliver equitable service to everyone, including those who require wheelchair-accessible vehicles. The integration of Spare Open Fleets™ technology enables PSTA to manage and dispatch any of its service providers from a single platform.

Before integrating with Spare’s cloud-based software, PSTA reservationists had to connect trip information across multiple systems manually. This made it impossible for reservationists to have a unified view of the operation to ensure operations were running smoothly.

With the adoption of Spare Open Fleets technology, PSTA has successfully integrated all non-dedicated service providers, including Lyft, Uber, UZURV, United Taxi and wheelchair-accessible vehicles into its system, managing dispatch from one interface.

"We are excited to partner with PSTA to deliver innovative paratransit services that meet the evolving needs of riders. Same-day paratransit has proven vital for many riders, and we are proud to help PSTA provide it efficiently, conveniently and reliably," said Spare CEO Kristoffer Vik Hansen.

PSTA's deployment of Spare Open Fleets to connect six separate fleets is an industry first. By incorporating these native integrations into Spare's mobility management platform, the company can now provide transit agencies access to nearly 90 percent of all bookable vehicles in North America to boost its microtransit and paratransit services.

"At PSTA, enhancing our services for our customers is always a top priority. We're proud to be innovating with Spare to better serve the same-day service needs of our paratransit riders, allowing them to live more spontaneously. Our collaboration with Spare is a crucial step towards offering modern, convenient and efficient services that our riders deserve," said PSTA CEO Brad Miller.