Thursday, January 24, 2019

Anaheim Debuts Its Own On-Demand, Mini, EV Transit System

The City of Anaheim and Anaheim Resort Transportation are jumping on the on-demand and electric vehicle bandwagon, saying on Thursday that it has launched a brand new "microtransit" system, which uses smartphone apps and small electric vehicles to transport residents around its Center City area. According to the city, the FRAN – Free Ride Around (the) Neighborhood system lets visitors request rides using a smartphone app, and doesn't follow a fixed route, instead visiting several "fixed spots" based on rider requests. Anaheim, which is running the system with Polaris GEM e6 electric vehicles, said the service will operate seven days a week, generally between 11am to 10pm midnight; those Polaris vehicles can take up to five passengers in addition to the driver. The service is free. Anaheim says the Polaris vehicles are actually manufactured in Anaheim.