Promoting Job Quality in the Microtransit Workforce

Promoting Job Quality in the Microtransit Workforce

For decades, when Americans have heard the term “public transportation,” it has evoked images of passenger trains and 40-foot-long buses. These modes of transportation continue to dominate the public transportation sector, but another, demand-responsive mode is also on the rise: microtransit. The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) defines microtransit as “a technology-enabled service that uses multi-passenger vehicles to provide on-demand services with dynamically generated routing.” According to FTA, microtransit services may follow any of several service models: some are provided only within designated service areas, frequently called “zones,” while others cover a full service area and may be commingled with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) complementary paratransit. Service models may include first-mile/last-mile connections to fixed-route services as well. 

At least 100 U.S. cities have already implemented microtransit programs, and as programs proliferate, concerns have been raised about the efficacy of microtransit as a public transportation service model—for example, in a recent whitepaper published by the Amalgamated Transit Union. As more programs emerge, it is important to highlight approaches that help ensure frontline workforce considerations and voice in the planning of new services. This case study aims to illustrate ways to implement and operate microtransit programs that promote job quality for the operators, technicians, and others who work on microtransit services. The compilation below provides several detailed examples of locations that are following such a pathway and how they got there.

Key Takeaways

  • Microtransit service can be successfully provided in-house and with a union-represented workforce, as the transit systems featured in this case study show. 
  • Transit agencies reported that in-house microtransit operations enable greater control over the quality of the service. 
  • Cross-training and wage parity between modes, including microtransit, has created flexibility in bidding and work assignments.

CapMetro/ATU Local 1091 (Austin, TX)

CapMetro Pickup, a microtransit service, is now provided in 12 zones around Austin, largely in places where a fixed-route has been eliminated. The service is supplemented in outlying zones by an additional microtransit service provided by CARTS (Capital Area Rural Transportation System). The vehicles providing the microtransit service are owned by CapMetro, the dispatching software is provided by Via, and vehicle operators/technicians are employees of MTM, the same company that employs paratransit workers at CapMetro. Today, the company employs more than 300 demand response employees, including microtransit and paratransit operators. There has been considerable growth in the microtransit service since its inception. 

A bus operator greets a woman boarding a small bus.
Photo credit: NADTC photo gallery

Operators at CapMetro’s “Pickup” service are members of the same union, Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1091, which already represented fixed-route and paratransit operators. Local 1091’s collective bargaining agreement with MTM provides for several key working conditions for microtransit operators: if no riders happen to be picked up within a given timeframe, the microtransit operator is nonetheless paid for time worked, and full-time microtransit operators are guaranteed a minimum of 40 hours of work per week—key features that President Brent Payne of Local 1091 said the local advocated for in the agreement. The importance of including the frontline workforce in the development of a new service has been a key lesson in this process, said Belinda Wilson, MTM’s Operations Manager. 

Microtransit operators are also paid at the same wage scale and receive the same benefits as fixed-route and paratransit operators, creating parity across modes. Operators are cross-trained between microtransit and paratransit modes, allowing for flexibility in work assignments and bidding, which has been documented as a best practice in demand-response transportation. 

Among the successes of this program: no paratransit customers lost their coverage as a result of the transition, and no jobs were lost, as any operators of fixed routes that were eliminated were switched to another route. Given the operator workforce shortage during the COVID-19 pandemic, Wilson explained, there was no scarcity of fixed-route slots available for CapMetro’s current operator workforce. However, some fixed-route operators voluntarily switched to microtransit, while other microtransit operators were hired from outside the system. 

As demand increases, CapMetro is focused on educating customers about the geographic and capacity limitations of the service. As operators are often the ones fielding complaints from riders about a service’s capacity or geographic boundaries, a strong educational initiative can be important for operator quality-of-life going forward. 

Butler County Regional Transit Authority (Ohio) 

A bus operator assists an older adult exit a small bus.
Photo credit: NADTC photo gallery

For almost 10 years, Butler County Regional Transit Authority (RTA) has operated an in-house microtransit service called BGo—though unlike many microtransit services, its coverage is county-wide and not restricted to particular zones. Despite having no dedicated funding stream for the microtransit service, Butler County RTA has managed to cover a 470-square-mile service area with consistent fares of $5/trip. Using Via software, BGo provided about 60,000 trips last year, an increase of more than 40% from 2019, according to Luke Morgan, Butler County RTA’s Director of Operations. The agency’s paratransit and microtransit services are commingled; Via’s parameters are configured to ensure that ADA regulations are followed and pre-scheduled paratransit rides are prioritized, while all demand response operators are trained to proficiency on ADA service standards. Similar to CapMetro, operators are cross-trained for microtransit and paratransit, and the work pieces they bid on often contain both modes. In some cases, fixed-route runs are included in work packages as well.

Morgan explained that Butler County RTA has reaped certain benefits by employing microtransit operators in house. First, no contractors or transportation network companies in the area would have had sufficient capacity to successfully take on a project of this size. Morgan also noted that oversight of a separate entity can be costly, and ensuring the contractor is following regulations attached to the agency’s funding streams would be difficult. Morgan added that BGo’s public sector status enables the program to have different goals than a for-profit business, shifting the focus to service quality rather than revenue. 

As Butler County RTA operators are trained on multiple modes (microtransit, paratransit, and fixed-route bus), there is only one wage scale for all operators—in other words, microtransit work is compensated at the same rate as other work. Morgan emphasized that increasing the wage rate and adding benefits were instrumental to the recruitment efforts that sustain BGo today. The equal pay between modes has been important, because “otherwise you’re automatically putting your newest hires with your most vulnerable population” on paratransit and microtransit. The agency has expanded its training department, as one of its greatest hiring challenges had been the delay between the time an applicant submits an application and the time they begin training, due to constraints in training capacity. Now, with five trainers and a training manager, Butler County RTA is no longer losing a stream of applicants to other jobs. 

Norwalk Transit District (Norwalk, Connecticut) 

Norwalk Transit District (NTD), which provides fixed route and demand response service for Norwalk, Connecticut, and surrounding communities, began Wheels2U, the first microtransit service in the state, as a six-month pilot in September 2018. In 2024, NTD won a grant to operate weekday microtransit service under a contracted model, while maintaining its in-house operations on weekends and evenings.  

NTD has operated its in-house microtransit service Thursdays through Sundays during times when fixed-route service is reduced. NTD requested special app functionality from Via to ensure microtransit service was not detracting from fixed-route ridership; if a user requests a microtransit trip along a major fixed-route corridor in Norwalk, the algorithm will not provide a ride and will instead direct the user to the correct bus.  

Since the advent of microtransit service constituted an expansion of existing operations, NTD did some initial hiring and recruitment to expand its workforce. Now, there are about 35 to 40 drivers in its demand-response operations who are cross-trained between paratransit and microtransit and are paid the same wages. Drivers bid on their work three times a year and take a refresher course if they bid on microtransit work assignments for the first time. 

All of NTD’s operators, including fixed-route, microtransit, and paratransit, as well as maintenance staff, are part of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 1303. AFSCME 1303 represents 7,000 local government workers acrosps Connecticut. “I try to create as much work as I can for our workforce . . . Before we had microtransit, this work wasn’t there,” said CEO Matt Pentz, emphasizing that rather than hurting existing work, the advent of microtransit augmented it.

A bus operator holding hands with an older adult sitting in a transit van.
Photo credit: NADTC photo gallery

North Central Regional Transit District (New Mexico) 

North Central Regional Transit District in New Mexico serves an area in which many roads are old horse trails, and there is limited pedestrian and bike infrastructure, which can make it difficult for passengers to access fixed routes. The area’s infrastructure and population density are well-suited for microtransit service; demand response and paratransit services were always commingled at NCRTD, and the service area has not changed with the addition of microtransit, called MyBlue. Recently, legacy software has been replaced with more modern technology. Prior to the new software, riders had to book at least 24 hours in advance. Now, the app can handle booking 30 minutes in advance.  

All of the existing NCRTD workforce was retrained to use the new technology and equipment, and NCRTD did not cut any jobs during the transition. With one in three trips now booked on the new software, dispatchers (who used to manage trip booking) can focus more on other tasks.  

NCRTD drivers are not separated by mode and may drive both fixed route and demand response on the same day. NCRTD’s service is mostly designed for commuters, with a lot of travel in the mornings and evenings. However, through the advent of microtransit, NCRTD has been able to increase shift flexibility, bring down the number of split shifts, and—to incentivize remaining splits—pay drivers more for those shifts.  

Bryce Gibson, Planning and Projects Manager at NCRTD, says that keeping the service in-house is “a matter of having full control over the products—how it’s delivered and the interactions with drivers. If there are issues, if people have complaints, they can come to us directly and we can deal with it directly.” 

Conclusion

Operating microtransit in-house provides greater flexibility and control over the service, from training to drug-and-alcohol testing to branding of vehicles. The above examples have demonstrated that it is possible to provide quality microtransit service in-house, and also through a represented workforce, in cases where fixed-route service is impractical. These examples also show that microtransit service can be implemented without job loss, and that cross-training workers across modes (including microtransit) provides the agency flexibility in managing work flows. 

Do you have a microtransit workforce story to share? We’d love to hear from you. Email us at twc@transportcenter.org.  

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Contributing Authors: Shayna Gleason, Michaela Boneva