Valdosta On Demand in Valdosta, Georgia, offers citywide on-demand public transit service in a city with less than 60,000 residents that can’t support fixed bus routes. Since launching last spring, the program has received over 14,000 ride requests per month and increased access to jobs and necessary destinations.
While the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) helped stave off cuts to public transportation, the Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act (IIJA) is investing in promising innovations tested in rural communities. One program, the Rural Surface Transportation Grant Program, provides $300M this year, names “on-demand mobility services” as eligible for funds.
Programs which solve rural problems like these can often be templates for solutions in other settings.
