NEW ALBANY, Ind. — There's a new way to catch a TARC in New Albany. Lakesha Douglas is one of its new drivers. Using an app on a tablet, she can see who needs a ride
"I can also pick up passengers in wheelchairs, take 'em where they need to go. And I can also pick up multiple passengers at a time," she said.
Those passengers decide exactly where they want to go on the TARC On-Demand app, but it's limited to New Albany for now. Service ends near Indiana University Southeast.
"While the majority of our students do commute to campus," Amanda Stonecipher said, "some of them don't have transportation. TARC On-Demand, this new service, will allow them to take advantage of running to the grocery stores, or the other stores, to pick up essential items they need."
On demand riders can use the service to get to traditional TARC stops too. How people make use of the pilot program will determine its future.
"We learn what people want. We learn their travel patterns," Rob Stephens, Chief Operating Officer of TARC, said.
In the first 30 days, TARC On-Demand offers free rides to TARC stops; afterwards, those rides cost $2 dollars. It's a $5 dollar ride anywhere in the zone that's not a TARC stop.
"I had a rider on yesterday that I picked up from work and took home, so however you book your trip. Whatever the app say. That's where I take you," Douglas said.
Drivers like her get paid on a per-ride basis, just like with other ridesharing apps.
This limited program runs for six months, and TARC will use the data it gathers to consider ways it can expand and how much it would cost. For now, it's funded through a federal grant.
It expands to Jeffersontown on April 16, according to the on-demand app.
Download it on the iPhone app store or Google Play store for Androids. There's also a website for booking rides.
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