Business View Magazine Feb 2023

191 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 10, ISSUE 2 Currently, People Mover is working on making its way through an improvement wishlist laid out in a transit plan called Transit on the Move that was developed in 2020. “We have a really robust planning effort that took place in 2019 called Transit on the Move that outlines all of our upcoming improvements as soon as funding is available,” Acton says. “We went out to the public and we did basically a year’s worth of public engagement saying, ‘Hey, if we were to get additional investments for the system, where would you like to see those dollars spent?’ And now we have a really robust plan that outlines 30 to 40 different initiatives of where we would like to see investments made in the system.” While the new route 85 was the first initiative for People Mover, the most recent initiative to get the green light is an overhauled transit security initiative that will come online in early 2023. “We are basically looking at contracting out through a local security contractor that will allow us to provide security on the vehicles, but also out into the system,” Acton says. “They’re kind of going to be ambassadors for us, per se, where they also will be assisting riders and helping with day-to- day questions or system issues, things like that. “We tried to take some of the pressure off the operators and really support them and make sure that the riders are having safe, enjoyable commutes and trips that they’re taking with us.” People Mover is also introducing a pilot project that will allow seniors aged 60 and above and youth aged five to 18 to ride free. The project is being partially financed through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, as well as through carbon-reduction funding. Future initiatives include looking into micro- mobility and micro transit, potentially offering an on-demand direct service like Uber or Lyft, as well as bike-share or electric scooter options. Simplify. Empower. Connect. Unlocking the Possibilities. Genfare Journeys Genfare, the industry leader in fare collection solutions, offers transit agencies customized solutions comprised of innovative and cost-effective fare collection hardware, software, and services. Through collaboration with transit agencies and their partners, we strive to understand the community and the riders’ transit needs and design cost-effective solutions that provide equitable mobility to the transit rider. PEOPLE MOVER