SARTA Announces Uber-Like Service Pilot Project

(WHBC) – The Stark Area Regional Transit Authority will be starting a pilot project on an Uber-like service using Sarta employees and vehicles.

“Almost like Uber, you could get on the phone, on the SARTA app, and we would come and pick you up and take you where you needed to go in the county,” said CEO Kirt Conrad.

Conrad made the announcement during SARTA’s draft update of its Public Transit Coordinated Transportation Plan, or PTCTP, which provides strategies for meeting the needs of customers and prioritizes what services will be funded and implemented.

He says there are 50 transit systems in the country that are taking part in the pilot project.

“The one thing we’ve really seen in transportation is the merging of all mobility, almost to the point that we’re not looking at how we transport you on the bus but how you as an individual need to move. It’s really about individual mobility management.”

He says the pilot project will begin in the early summer.

He says two other big things SARTA is focusing on is a restructuring/modification of its Proline service and how they will support the Hall of Fame Village when it rolls out.

“We want to do some loops and provide people (both workers and visitors) access to the Hall of Fame Village.”

He says there could be 500 to 1,000 employees working there, and they will need easy access to the site.