A New Record: CapMetro’s On-Demand Pickup Service Completes One Millionth Ride
Pickup launched to make equitable public transportation more accessible and cost-effective for the community
Austin, TX—CapMetro today announced its Pickup transit service has surpassed one million completed rides, just ahead of its five-year anniversary. CapMetro and Via—the Transit Tech provider for Pickup—celebrated the milestone by recognizing riders, drivers and the transit staff who make the service possible. Pickup is the agency’s on-demand transit service and among the first on-demand microtransit services in the country.
“This remarkable achievement represents the value that a point-to-point, on-demand service provides for our community,” said Dottie Watkins, CapMetro President & CEO. “Pickup is a complementary piece to our full transit network that connects our customers to grocery stores, doctor appointments, or anywhere within their neighborhood that they need to go. I greatly appreciate our team for their hard work and commitment that made this achievement possible.”
“We are honored to celebrate CapMetro and the success of the Pickup service,” said Daniel Ramot, Via Co-founder and CEO. “CapMetro was Via’s first transit agency partner, and the agency’s vision and innovative approach to transit helped set the stage for the growth of the TransitTech category worldwide. We look forward to continuing this journey together.”
Pickup launched in June 2019 covering five zones in the Austin area. The service is designed to extend CapMetro's network by providing flexible, on-demand transit coverage in the areas that buses can't efficiently reach. Rides are $1.25, the same as the cost of a bus trip. In the first three months of service, ridership grew by 375%. Today, Pickup has expanded to 11 total zones, including the most recent addition of Dove Springs in January 2024. Its demand-responsive model is one way the agency is working to remain agile amid booming population growth in Austin.
“We are proud to recognize this milestone with our Pickup and CapMetro community,” said Tony Lynch, Supervisor for Demand Response Planning. “We want to thank the operations team who delivers service every day for all they do. And we appreciate the collaboration with our technology provider Via, and their partnership over the last five years to ensure our service runs smoothly.”
In recognition of this milestone, Pickup awarded the millionth rider a one-year transit pass for use across all CapMetro modes.
Pickup serves the Austin community in a range of different ways, including providing access to grocery stores, educational opportunities, and first-last-mile connections to fixed-route transit and Park & Ride facilities. Riders can request a ride through the Pickup App, available in the Apple and Google Play app stores, or by calling 512-369-6200 to book over the phone.
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CapMetro connects people, jobs and communities by providing Central Texans with safe, high-quality and sustainable transportation alternatives. The agency provides over 70,000 daily weekday trips on its buses, trains, paratransit and vanpool vehicles and serves a population of more than 1.2 million in its 543-square-mile service area. The region’s transportation leader, CapMetro has invested in transit services like its High-Frequency Network, which moves more people, more reliably. CapMetro is committed to increasing regional mobility and, through Project Connect, will transform how people travel throughout Central Texas. Visit capmetro.org for more information.
ABOUT VIA:
Founded in 2012, Via pioneered the TransitTech category by using new technologies to develop public mobility systems — optimizing networks of buses, shuttles, wheelchair accessible vehicles, school buses, autonomous vehicles, and electric vehicles around the globe. Building the world’s most efficient, equitable, and sustainable transportation network for all riders — including those with limited mobility, those without smartphones, and unbanked populations — Via works with its partners to lower the costs of public transit while providing transportation options that rival the convenience of a personal car while reducing the environmental impact. At the intersection of transportation and technology, Via is a visionary market leader that combines software innovation with sophisticated service design and operational expertise to fundamentally improve the way the world moves, providing technology in 700 communities and more than 35 countries and counting.