LA Metro joins forces with Via to offer first and last mile transport solution

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Authority (LA Metro) has partnered with Via to provide an affordable first and last mile solution to customers. Funded by the Federal Transit Administration, valued $1.35 million (£1.01 million), the plan aims to support transit agencies and communities that integrate new mobility tools such as smart phone apps, bike- and car-sharing and on-demand bus and van services.
November 21, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Authority (LA Metro) has partnered with Via to provide an affordable first and last mile solution to customers. Funded by the 2023 Federal Transit Administration, valued $1.35 million (£1.01 million), the plan aims to support transit agencies and communities that integrate new mobility tools such as smart phone apps, bike- and car-sharing and on-demand bus and van services.


This project is part of a two-region partnership in Los Angeles County and the Puget Sound area with King County Metro and Sound Transit where each region will be testing a new type of partnership with a transportation network company.

Using new technology, customers will be able to book a seat in a shared, dynamically-routed vehicle to or from three major Metro stations. Customers with disabilities, including those with service animals, wheelchairs, or other mobility aids or who need additional assistance to board or alight will be able to request rides that meet their needs.

The Eno Center for Transportation, UCLA and the University of Washington will be studying identify lessons learned from the project to assist future partnerships. In addition, the FTA will be working with Booz Allen Hamilton and the Transportation Sustainability Research Center to evaluate all participating Mobility on Demand (MOD) programs.

LA Metro and Via are finalizing an agreement with the intent of beginning the MOD project in summer 2018. For further information go to metro.net/mod.

Metro Chair and Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti, said: We’re making our systems more inclusive — because access to public transportation is a right, not a privilege. Everyone should be able to make a trip on Metro buses and trains, and these funds will help more riders get where they’re going quickly and conveniently."

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • How MaaS and AVs can cut Oslo traffic
    June 17, 2019
    A new study shows that on-demand AVs and MaaS together could make a significant difference to traffic in Oslo, Norway – but only if ride-share is involved too If you replace today’s traditional private car ownership with a mixture of Mobility as a Service (MaaS) and on-demand autonomous vehicles (AVs) running door-to-door, you could make dramatic cuts in city traffic. That, at least, is the view of researchers from COWI and PTV, who have modelled a variety of future scenarios based on the morning rush h
    Read More
  • Switching Atlanta onto MaaS
    May 9, 2019
    It’s easy to talk about MaaS in the abstract – but MaaS isn’t going to work if it’s just a theory. Colin Sowman speaks to one woman about the practical benefits - and difficulties - of getting out of her car and switching to public transit in Atlanta, Georgia One of the first goals of Mobility as a Service (MaaS) inventor Sampo Hietanen is that MaaS should persuade households they don’t need a second car. This is starting to happen - even in the car-dominated US. Last year, authorities in the state of Ge
    Read More
  • US ushers in reforms with new transportation bill
    November 9, 2012
    On behalf of ITS America, Paul Feenstra maps out implications and opportunities for the ITS industry. A critical milestone was reached last month when the US Congress passed, and President Obama signed, legislation reauthorising the nation’s surface transportation programmes, breaking a nearly three-year log-jam which had stymied critical transportation reforms and delayed much-needed infrastructure projects. The law, numbered P.L. 112-141 but known as MAP-21 (Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century),
    Read More
  • Commuting habits come under scrutiny
    March 28, 2017
    Cities have a moral responsibility to encourage the smart use of transportation and Andrew Bardin Williams hears a few suggestions. Given the choice of getting a root canal, doing household chores, filing taxes, eating anchovies or commuting to work, nearly two-thirds of Americans said that they wouldn’t mind commuting into work—at least according to a poll conducted by Xerox (now Conduent) over its social media channels at the end of 2016.
    Read More

Highlighted Content