APTA Mobility 2019: TARC launches MaaS platform
The Transit Authority of River City (TARC) unveiled its new Mobility App, available for download, and Dynamic Trip Planner, which is available on its redesigned website, at the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) 2019 Mobility Conference May 20 in Louisville, Ky.
TARC officials described the mobility platform as a way of providing its riders with seamless, point-to-point planning.
“This app positions TARC as a leader in MaaS, enabling our transformation from a public transit agency to an integrated mobility solutions provider,” said TARC Executive Director Ferdinand L. Risco, Jr. “This is a streaming service data platform. In addition to the various mobility modes available to choose from, the app will also stream activities, entertainment, landmarks and parking availability in the Greater Louisville region all in real-time.”
Why Louisville? As Mayor Greg Fischer said, “it’s a city big enough to be known all throughout the world, but small enough to get things done.”
Mayor Fischer added that the one thing Louisville gets right is teamwork. Teamwork was certainly required of TARC and the platform’s developer, ZED Digital, as they worked to build a mobility service platform that allows riders to plan for various modes of travel including TARC, Uber, Lyft, Bird Scooters and LouVelo Bike Share.
ZED Digital President Sumithra Jagannath explained that ZED Digital and TARC hope to increase the use of shared mobility over personal vehicles with the new mobility platform and noted that evaluations of the platform showed it was able to influence rider decisions when they were given all of the data in a single place.
“A major distinguishing factor of ZED’s MaaS platform that powers the TARC app is that this is the first of its kind to provide analytics and real-time data on system usage, origins and destinations of trips per mode of travel, transportation cost savings to riders from app usage and more,” said Jagannath.
TARC will work with customer feedback to continues to roll out updates to the platform and is already planning for the next phase, which will include real-time parking availability and an added integrated payment option.
Mischa Wanek-Libman | Group Editorial Director
Mischa Wanek-Libman is director of communications with Transdev North America. She has more than 20 years of experience working in the transportation industry covering construction projects, engineering challenges, transit and rail operations and best practices.
Wanek-Libman has held top editorial positions at freight rail and public transportation business-to-business publications including as editor-in-chief and editorial director of Mass Transit from 2018-2024. She has been recognized for editorial excellence through her individual work, as well as for collaborative content.
She is an active member of the American Public Transportation Association's Marketing and Communications Committee and served 14 years as a Board Observer on the National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association (NRC) Board of Directors.
She is a graduate of Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism and Mass Communication.
