The Illinois-based Rockford Mass Transit District (RMTD) recently acquired and received 14 new paratransit vehicles.

The 14 vehicles are replacing the oldest and highest mileage vehicles in the current paratransit fleet.

RMTD’s New Paratransit Fleet, Tech

The replacement vehicles, which recently began being placed into service, will be more efficient to operate and reduce overall maintenance costs. The new vehicles also come equipped with a new wheelchair securement system, which RMTD expects to be more convenient for customers who utilize it.

In addition, RMTD also launched a project to replace its current paratransit scheduling and dispatching software with a new system.

The new software is expected to improve trip scheduling efficiencies, which will help improve the customer experience by reducing wait times. Also, the new software will provide enhanced customer facing tools, including the ability for customers to schedule their owns rides, confirm rides, and check their arrival times through a new phone application, as well as receive updates via phone, email, or text/SMS notifications.

The project is expected to take six  months to fully implement. The install of the core system will occur over the next three months with the customer facing features to follow. RMTD will be providing paratransit customers updates on the new customer facing tools as the project progresses.