What if you could take something like an Uber or Lyft anywhere in a city and pay a flat rate comparable to a bus ride?
That’s no longer a hypothetical for anyone living or traveling in Sunnyvale, which held a celebration Tuesday marking the launch of a publicly funded rideshare program called Sunnyvale Beam. The service will take customers anywhere in the city for $3.50 or less for a single rider.
City officials gathered at City Hall to showcase Sunnyvale Beam’s electric Kia Niro vehicles and Ford E-Transit vans and urge residents to take advantage of the new program, which offers three free rides for new users.
The service, operated by Via Transportation, will launch with six Kia Niros and three Ford E-Transit vans, according to city spokesperson Jennifer Garnett.
“We are thrilled to launch the Sunnyvale Beam rideshare service that will complement our existing transit network and give people in our community more freedom and independence for their everyday trips,” Garnett said.
Discounted rides cost $1.75 for seniors and teens. Additional riders pay $1 per person. There is no additional mileage charge, and tips are not accepted.
The city received a roughly $4.2 million grant from the California Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program to cover half the microtransit program’s funding. The city will contribute the other half over the course of the five-year contract.
Drivers will be paid by the hour rather than based on the number of rides or miles driven. Listings on the service’s website advertise pay rates of $23 to $25 per hour.
Garnett said the service is a shared-ride system that operates corner to corner rather than door to door, meaning customers will generally walk a short distance to their pickup and drop-off points.
Customers who use wheelchairs or have limited mobility can receive door-to-door service after registering their accounts. Drivers of Beam’s wheelchair-accessible vans will also be trained to assist people with mobility needs.
The city operates a similar program, Peery Park Rides, focused on the northwest segment of Sunnyvale. That service will be reevaluated after its pilot period ends to determine whether it is still needed, according to city staff documents.
Via partners with cities to provide data-driven services intended to improve public transit, including by operating microtransit programs. Cupertino and Santa Clara also offer similar services through the company.
Garnett said feedback has been positive during the roughly two weeks since the soft launch, with about 65 trips per day among the 2,000 users who have already downloaded the app.
Wait times have averaged about 10 minutes. Garnett said they are projected to reach about 15 minutes when the service is in peak demand. The Beam website recommends that customers schedule rides up to 20 minutes in advance.
The app creates a “virtual bus stop” directing users where to walk, usually to the nearest street corner. Other customers are picked up along the route, similar to a shared taxi, according to the service’s website.
Garnett said the service is intended to help students get to and from school and extracurricular activities, help seniors travel to medical appointments, and connect workers with Caltrain and Valley Transportation Authority train stops.
Rides can also be scheduled by calling 408-547-9943.
More information and a link to download the app are available at the Sunnyvale Beam website.