Connecting People to Jobs in Rural Pitt and Beaufort Counties through Microtransit

Published Dec 12, 2023 by
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Dr. Kaylyn Levine

Undergraduate Community and Regional Planning students in Dr. Kaylyn Levine‘s PLAN4075: Transportation Planning course completed a community-engaged transportation planning research project during Fall 2023.

Project Title:

Rural On-Demand Transportation: Recommendations for Microtransit in Pitt and Beaufort Counties

Project Stakeholders: 

  • Pitt County Economic Development – Wayne Rollins, Kelly Andrews, Crystal Melton
  • Beaufort County Economic Development – Brad Hufford
  • City of Wilson – Rodger Lentz

Hotspots of regional transportation needs using census tracts

Summary Text:

The Community and Regional Planning program’s Transportation Planning class (PLAN4075, instructor: Kaylyn Levine) partnered with the Pitt County Economic Development, Beaufort County Economic Development, and the City of Wilson to conduct a community-engaged research project on rural, on-demand transportation service in Pitt and Beaufort counties during Fall 2023.

The class was tasked with providing evidence and recommendations for how microtransit, an innovative public transit service that features dynamic routing, door-to-door service, and on-demand rides could connect rural job seekers to employment centers in the region. Students identified four key goals, and completed group work on each action item:

  • Goal 1. Understand the current transportation and socioeconomic landscape of Pitt and Beaufort counties

    • Read the full report.

      Action. Students researched regional and local transportation options, travel behavior, and demographics

  • Goal 2. Evaluating existing rural on-demand ride services in similar regions
    • Action. Students conducted 10 case studies on existing microtransit programs in NC, VA, AL, and MA
  • Goal 3. Identifying regional transportation needs and activity centers, especially related to economic opportunities, through community engagement
    • Action. Students lead a participatory mapping exercise at the Better Skills, Better Jobs Fair in October 2023
  • Goal 4. Determining if on-demand ride services are the right fit, and if so, providing evidence-based recommendations
    • Action. Students triangulated multiple data sources to identify potential pilot locations and presented findings to stakeholders

Recommendations included partnering with transportation network company Via for a public-private partnership model, acquiring short-term funding for a pilot program, and testing three microtransit zones: North, South, and Washington.

Group photo of PLAN4075 after presentation

Student Contributors: Johnathan Alberg, Mary Archibald, Cameron Brown, Cooper Hilbert, Christopher James, Jordan Kearney, Mason Lane, Noah Mills, Caroline Van Staalduinen, Kaylie Williams