(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - Sounding the alarm on the growing use of Microtransit services by a growing number of Transit Agencies across the country, the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) has released a new report, The False Promise of Microtransit. 

Microtransit is an App-based, on-demand service that operates like Uber and Lyft, and offers point-to-point transportation using sedans, vans or cutaway buses.

With more than 100 on-demand Microtransit Systems operating in about 40 States, Local Agencies are increasingly relying on them as a quick fix to keep service on the road and attract new riders, the report said.

However, as ATU points out, Microtransit fails to deliver on essentially every metric as these programs cannot efficiently scale to meet increased demand.

And, they encourage cost-cutting through privatization of quality Public Sector transit jobs, cost local government two to three times more per passenger than even their worst-performing bus routes, and have proven themselves already to not adequately serve the disabled and low-income passengers who rely on low-cost mass transportation the most, the report found. 

Andrew Gena, who serves as Director of Strategic Research for ATU and who was the lead Author of the paper, said: “Everybody understands how Uber and Lyft constantly screw over their Drivers, right?  We see a lot of similarities with (Microtransit) - and in some ways, it’s even worse, because we’re funding all of this with our tax dollars.  At least with Uber and Lyft, people are paying out of their pocket.  But if someone’s paying ($1 or $2) for a Microtransit trip that might be costing the agency ($40 or $50), we’re all subsidizing an inefficient service that incentivizes the destruction of good jobs.”

To Read The Report, Go To: ATU_FalsePromiseofMicrotransit.pdf