The Falmouth Enterprise 6/16/23 page 1 & 16: “New Rideshare Program To Run Through Summer In East Falmouth”
By NOELLE ANNONEN
• The Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority is kicking off a rideshare pilot program in Falmouth Heights and East Falmouth. The service is running from Memorial Day to Labor Day, but transit staff said the program will expand Falmouth-wide after Labor Day.
• The summer rideshare pilot program spans south of Route 28 between Scranton Avenue and Central Avenue and operates from 8 AM to 7 PM every day of the week. Each trip is a $3 shared ride in a van that picks up passengers within a half-hour of their order. Users can summon a van using the mobile app, “CCRTA SmartDART” in the app store and Google Play.
• “It’s a real game-changer,” Thomas S. Cahir, Cape transit authority administrator, said in a phone call on Wednesday, June 14. “It’s a very efficient way to transport people on the Cape.”
• SmartDART is similar to Uber and Lyft as a mobile phone ride-summoning service. But Mr. Cahir said the main differences are the fixed $3 cost per ride, which is much cheaper than Uber and Lyft, and the drivers are hired and trained by the transit authority rather than being private drivers who sign up through the Uber and Lyft apps.
• “You read about trouble Uber drivers have with customers,” Mr. Cahir said. “Ours is a professional and courteous service.”
• SmartDART has been successfully running in Barnstable and Yarmouth for two years now, Mr. Cahir said. About 1,200 or so passengers use the app regularly Capewide and nearly 300 people are using the East Falmouth service.
• Shipwrecked restaurant owner Alex Khan helped bring the pilot program to Falmouth. As parking at beaches and restaurants is a consistent issue in the Falmouth Heights area during the summer, Mr. Khan helped make other businesses in the area aware of how the service could be helpful.
• “I have to give Alex a lot of credit for pulling people in Falmouth together,” Mr. Cahir said.
• Each SmartDART ride is intended to be a short and quick trip. If passengers need to take a longer ride, the SmartDART van would bring riders to the bus stops along the transit authority’s fixed routes, like the bus that runs between Woods Hole and Hyannis.
• Mr. Cahir said his initial plan for the on-demand rideshare service was to implement it Capewide. But the Cape transit authority started development of the SmartDART program in-house four years ago, just before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down widespread travel and caused professional driver shortages, Mr. Cahir said.
• Once the authority was able to hire enough drivers by raising wages and benefits, the Barnstable and Yarmouth services started, and SmartDART is now expanding town by town.
• The Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority is one of 15 regional transit authorities within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and has been providing public transportation services on Cape Cod since 1976, according to the authority’s website.