US Rep Jake Auchincloss was in town yesterday singing the praises of Newton’s on-demand transportation system NewMo.
During the speech, Auchincloss discussed how NewMo gives every resident and visitor to Newton a convenient, comfortable, accessible way to get where they need to go.
* NewMo’s tech-enabled platform means that riders can book an on-demand ride at a moment’s notice. On-demand public transportation like NewMo empowers riders to travel independently with more flexibility than traditional public transit (which has fixed routes and schedules), and also frees residents from needing to rely on a private car.
* NewMo is filling the gaps in transit for those who need it most, providing a critical transportation solution for many residents who use the service multiple times per week. Many of the most popular destinations include job sites, grocery stores and food pantries, medical appointments and care facilities, and places of worship.
* Rides are just $2, with even lower rates for those who qualify.
* The recently passed infrastructure law, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) will bring significant funding to the region. There are multiple new provisions in the law that encourage innovation – including expanding on demand public transit services like NewMo – to bring this technology to communities across the country.
Are there any New-Mo users out there who can give us your first-person take on how NewMo’s working so far?
How sustainable are these low prices? What happens after year 2? Is there a realistic plan in place?
“Funding for the first year of pilot operations totals $475,000. It comes from MassDOT’s Workforce Transportation Grant and the MPO’s Community Connections Program. Our goal is to continue fundraising from businesses and organizations to sustain and expand NewMo 2.0”
Everything good costs money. NewMo offers a convenient, equitable, city-wide, locally-controlled transportation option in a state where most transit is state controlled. $500K sounds like chump change for the actual benefit it offers.
I am excited because NewMo’s contractor offers a range of transportation management options. They are tracking school buses and students in New York City. That means that in the future, we could possible merge NewMo with our school bus system (our *other* locally controlled transit system). To go seamlessly from individual to mass transit and from school kids all the way to the elderly really seems like the future, far better and more efficient than fixed routes on one-size-fits-all vehicles.
This is a great experiment that’s filling a need right now, and helping us imagine and plan for a better future.
mike,
The Q was, can it survive without the 500k funding. What is the ‘realistic’ plan to raise 500k each year to keep it going? or will prices have to increase to uber levels… at which point, why not just take uber?
Its well known Uber was heavily subsidized by investor money and running at a loss until it could scale to millions of rides. Newmo needs subsidy to survive or raise prices beyond uber.
NewMo can’t survive without subsidy, just like the T can’t and the old Newton Nexus bus couldn’t and corporate shuttles can’t and school buses can’t. But I don’t think that’s a problem. The benefits back to taxpayers and residents in general for such a system are enormous. Ideally, we should pay for it with grants of different kinds, but I would support it coming from the general fund if necessary. At the very least, it’s everybody’s backup transportation plan in a robust local transportation system.
Mike, I am not sure it is accurate to say the benefits back to taxpayers and residents is enormous. I think we would need to have more ridership data to find out who is using the service, for what reasons and with what frequency.
I wouldn’t be surprised if a parent hands their child $2 to take NewMo to their after school activity or over to their friend house so they don’t have to drive them. But it is still someone driving them.
Or a spouse doesn’t have to drop their husband/wife off at the T station. Again it is still someone driving them.
Frankly neither of those scenarios are ones I would want to subsidize.
I would frankly be surprised if the majority of resident are or will use it. but again we need to make a data-drive decision on subsidizing.
The optics are pretty terrible
“Affluent city subsidizes taxis so children don’t have to walk to their friends house”
By all means, subsidize rides to seniors… but other’s are a dubious use of potential tax dollars. If businesses are willing to subsidize then there is no controversy.
I don’t know if that is accurate. That is why we need ridership data before asking all homeowners to subsidize
Even the two examples you provide are in fact pretty compelling.
After-school transportation is a huge hassle for parents and represents an enormous hidden factor in the aggregate productivity of adults and enrichment opportunities for kids. It’s also an equity issue for parents who don’t have the opportunity to shuttle their kids back and forth to an after-school program. In contrast, Boston allows kids to take a school bus to a registered after-school program. Providing NewMo to help students return from after-school activities at the high schools takes less pressure off those students and off of NPS for providing late buses. Without transportation, those activities are possible only for the “haves”. NewMo levels things out.
Similar arguments hold for “don’t have to drop spouse off at T station”. That’s provides working families in Newton with a way to juggle their busy scheduled a little easier. Or have a backup if they are running late because of a home obligation. Or perhaps to allow them to not need a second car for those “what if” moments. “Walk when you’ve got time, bike when the weather’s good, drive to commuter rail when needed, NewMo in a crunch” is a robust way to get to commuter rail and a variant (with ride share) of what I did for years in the pre-pandemic time.
Keep in mind that the unsubsidized cost of NewMo ride share is less than what Newton pays to clear a single moderately sized snow storm. And that’s assuming we can’t get any supporting grants or sponsors.
This is why I think we need data.
How many users are low income parents that need to get their children to after school programs. I agree we need to address that need. Sounds like Boston has a different solution that utilizes school buses. Or depending on the numbers informed by that data, Uber vouchers may be a less expensive option.
What is your definition of “working families”?
I’m just not convince we need to stand up a whole platform that needs to be subsidized by Newton Tax Payors until I see the data
The point of a trial is to get the system up and running so we can have meaningful data, and at the same time look for funding sources. What’s the rush to judge it? The current fare structure allows us to understand the demand and need.
Newton can, in fact, try new things.
If we do indeed have a robust public transit system then why do we need to fund a backup. And is it a back up or to augment where the T doesn’t serve? So many mixed messages
If we need a back up we have Uber, Lyft and traditional taxis
It is just a very questionable business model, which is confirmed when we say it can’t exist without subsidies.
The only data I have seen to date are number of trips. What we need to see includes:
How many unique riders
Distribution of the day of week and time of day of trips
% of trips that begin or end at a T station and the distance of the trips
% of trips that begin or end at a school and distance of the trips
% of trips that begin or end outside of Newton
I am sure others can think of other important metrics that could inform the value and if this would be a good investment
Where are the mini-vans or buses accessible to persons who daily use manual wheelchairs or power chairs for mobility? If they exist, are they on-demand too? While I am ever aware of the unique needs to persons with disabilities — transportation being an issue I know well and work on — I have not seen nor heard about accessible mini-vans or buses retrofitted with lifts.
And, indeed, the “sustainability” equation always is part of such an inexpensive public transit entity in small communities. NewMo is a great option and superb service as is. Yet it will be superior if vehicles are accessible for all people.
https://www.newtonma.gov/government/planning/transportation-planning/newmo
I was in NYC last fall with a relative who uses a wheelchair and it was easy to hail a yellow cab that took wheelchairs. We never had to wait more than 5 minutes and the cabs weren’t big vans.
Right on, Lucia! Going to every late-August and early September to America’s premier tennis event, U.S. Open, accessible mini-vans are wondrously everywhere in Manhattan. And the drivers KNOW the quickest routes to reach Flushing Meadow, Queens.
Did anyone here try to use NewMo for their commute and can share experiences?
@MamaGoose: I did! I wrote this before but it took 3 days to post to the site, since my past musings on the virtues of Rep. J. Crew-cincloss and Paul Levy have landed me in permanent “moderation”:
I used it back at the end of October. I was riding home on the D-branch on my way to the 59 bus and saw Jerry’s V14 post “NewMo for everyone,” so I decided to see if I could game NewMo’s geofencing for a free ride from Boston to Needham. I pretty much did, with only about a half-mile of walking!
I hopped off the Green Line at Reservoir and jogged over to a side street (Malia Terrace) in Newton’s far east, as close to Cleveland Circle as possible, over by those mansions owned by the Governor of Sarawak et al.
The NewMo Prius pulled up about 10 minutes after I called it on the app. There was one passenger already inside, probably a BC student, who was headed to Heartbreak Hill. Picking me up at Malia Terrace was obviously a detour for her trip (as it would have been for anybody’s trip, now that I think about it). And dropping her off north of Comm Ave. ended up tacking about 10 additional minutes onto my trip.
Shortly after she exited, we picked up another passenger back down around Beacon and Hammond, a Galwegian in her 30s working at BC. She usually rode her bike to work from her home in Newton Upper Falls, but it was raining that day so she decided to test out NewMo.
It would have been most efficient to drop her off on the way to Needham, but they evidently have a FIFO policy of dropping the passengers off in order. So she had to suffer through a traffic jam down Route 9 all the way to 128, then a ride through the boonies of Needham Heights. But she was an excellent conversationalist and didn’t seem to mind!
According to my camera roll, my ride picked me up at Malia Terrace at 4:13pm and dropped me off at the Needham Heights Commuter Rail station at 4:51. So, a total travel time of 38 minutes (plus waiting) for what’s obviously one of the longest possible trips in the system. Overall I would think it’d be a pretty useful service for most people wanting to travel within Newton – it should probably get you to where you want to go in about 20-25 minutes, so long as you don’t encounter some Needhamite throwing a wrench into things. The banker’s hours of operation greatly limit the addressable audience, though.
The very kind driver, originally from Guangzhou, used to do Lyft and Uber, and by the sound of things, the compensation arrangement from Via is similarly exploitative albeit slightly more stable. Perish the thought that when the City of Newton came up with a transport project to cannibalize (er “supplement”) the MBTA, it would have required compensation, job security, and post-employment benefits in line with what MBTA employees receive. It was evidently far more important to use taxpayer dollars to enrich the Israeli and Italian oligarchs who own Via Transportation, because these days it’s all about properly rewarding capital and inspiration, rather than perspiration.
It’s worth mentioning that the NewMo drivers accept tips, but you need to use cash because the app doesn’t allow it.
Have yet to see any data on ridership, but personally speaking, cannot recall a single person – not one – who has said they’ve used NewMo. And I’ve seen questions like MamaGoose’s go unanswered as well.
$500k is pretty big pill for a few riders and press clippings for our Congressman.
PS. On a side note, I recall being quite impressed when the Congressman (then City Councilor) fought to reduce the parking to apartments ratio at Northland to incentivize public transit. Disappointed to recently learn the final special permit allows for 2 spaces per unit (1,600).
Why is it 500K? Even if it were someone’s full time job at 100K salary (which is very high, just to prove the point) and the car costs 30K to buy and 5K per year in gas, the numbers dont add up. So for 500K, we could have 3 cars, with 3 full time drivers at 100K. In year two, since we dont have to buy cars again, the bill should drop to 315K (3X100 for driver + 3X5 for gas).
Are we thinking about this intelligently? Do we have 3 cars? Is this driver full time? Where is the extra money going?
It’s not just the driver.
– phone app development and maintenance
– support staff
– IT costs
– marketing budget
– i assume health insurance.
But yes, they should release the demographics, location and ride counts so we can see ‘who is using where’
7 vehicles, 7 drivers
Matt, I’ve used NewMo, so now you know someone who’s used it.
And I’m looking forward to getting our high schooler on it, for when it’s too unsafe to bike, to avoid the double round trip of chauffeuring them there and back.
I would use it if it ran later or on the weekends. I would even be willing to pay twice as much for the off hours. It doesn’t do much for my commute unfortunately. But it would be nice to take it over to some of the other villages or T stops instead of uber or driving.
It’s a nice service to have either way.
Was just just channel surging and came across a story on NewMoon on Channel 9. Interesting data point shared by the mayor. Most popular pick up location. Newton South High School
The current state of NewMo will be presented to City Council on 2/28. I won’t spoil the results, but origins and destinations are from all over the city with, yes, NSHS being the #1 destination. The city also has info on who is using the service that will be very informative.
I was at a city meeting yesterday, and two women commented that they feel much more comfortable riding with a driver who is known to and vetted by the city rather than by a random Uber or taxi driver.
There’s also something to be said about data privacy: Uber and Lyft make commercial use of information about where and when you travel, while the city’s contractor can be obliged not to.
No one is denying the usefulness.. the question is should residents be subsidizing it.
If #1 destination is NNHS, how many miles is that trip(and what was the weather condition)? Call me old fashioned but i used to walk 1.5 miles to school each way
Totally agree with females feeling more comfortable… but again subsidized?
Just to clarify. NSHS not NNHS
NewMo doesn’t have to be taxpayer subsidized (in all or in part), even though I think it would be fine if it was. It could be financed out of developers’ or employers’ transportation plans that provide service to access transit by employees off hours, except it is open to the public. That’s a widely used model. There is ride share income (called TNC money). There are state grants and private partners.
The Cambridge EZRide shuttle is funded this way.
If it were to be funded by residents, i think there would be less pushback if it were a shuttle… rather than a 4 passenger vehicle
Something tax funded “taxi” just rubs me the wrong way.
> If it were to be funded by residents, i think there would be less pushback if it were a shuttle… rather than a 4 passenger vehicle. Something tax funded “taxi” just rubs me the wrong way.
First, we don’t know if there is any significant pushback in the public at large, and the pilot program isn’t even through it’s first half year.
Second, why does form factor matter? Mostly empty buses on fixed routes that run only every hour rub me the wrong way. Same as with shuttles that don’t take people where they need to go. I am also frustrated by private vehicles with just one person in them, even when that person is me.
What’s the lower age limit for NewMo?
Teens 13-17 can ride with parental consent, while the younger than 13 crowd needs to ride with an adult.
Thank you, Mike
That’s great. I have a 12.5 year old so it’s awesome that later this year we can take advantage of this.
NSHS student with a late start this morning took NewMo, saving parents a round trip during commute crunch time. Great service!
Correction: an early start, needed to be there before bus schedule.
Assuming the NSHS is able bodied, surprised to see an environmentalist give a thumbs up to someone who could walk/bike instead of fossil fuel transport.
On such a cold day, I’m assuming the Newmo driver is idling the engine between rides?, its so cold they would have no choice
Not speaking for Nathan, but the best transportation system is one that offers people robust options for each and every trip (or allow them to avoid trips completely), and where the most convenient ones are also the best not just for the individual but for society or the environment.
Ride share is one of the ways we can fill the gap left between traditional travel modes such as walking, biking, school buses, and driving.
Ubiquitous availability of cheap and convenient ride share makes it incrementally easier for a student not to need a car to drive to school, or for a parent to drive them. If a student gets a car because they need it occasionally (running late, bad weather, stuff to carry, after school work), it’s far more likely that student will use the car almost all the time. That is costly to parents, increases emissions, and complicates city-wide congestion, parking, and safety.
Given that school transportation contributes greatly to local traffic congestion, this seems like a great way to try to address it.
As for emissions, I don’t know how the drivers handle it on these limited number of very cold days. In general, I believe there are many hybrid vehicles in the fleet, and Newton would like to move to electrification.
Bugek, I assume you support safe bike infrastructure, then? We live 5 miles away so waking isn’t an option.
Of course support safe bike lanes along school routes. Cannot understand why the hestitation.
Residents do not own the sidewalk or the parking spot in front of their house, they don’t need to be consulted.
Also, lets not pretend the newmo driver is only idling a few days of the year. Summer heat, winter below 40… thats more than a few days. So ‘idle’ time should be reported to the city also to determine whether EV only is more suitable given the essential threat to the climate…
NewMo drivers should definitely have the same “Climate Control” as all motorists. Fortunately the greenhouse effect works in cars too, so parking in the sun and dressing in layers can help a lot. The bike community can help a lot with recommendations for winter clothing. No one, least of all working people, should feel helpless.
Which is why newton had the opportunity to restrict to EV …but decided the essential threat of climate change wasn’t really that bad.
If you’re saying Newton didn’t overthink a good idea to the point of non-existence, I agree. Using hybrid vehicles, horrors!
I have found life’s a lot more fun with the acknowledgement that people who have different views than you are capable of nuanced views and aren’t actually cardboard-like caricatures.
I look forward to full transparent usage stats before further comment. Until its subsidized with public funding, newmo is free to do whatever they want.
I was glad to hear the same NewMo trip today delivered 2 students & did so time-efficiently.
My complaint about NewMo isn’t that it’s environmentally unfriendly but rather that it’s another in a menu of dubious services (Uber, Amazon Prime, Grubhub, Instacart, The Maids) designed to indulge middle-class fantasies of privilege at the expense of a group of people working their butts off with no hope of financial security. The lady who drove me home on the 59 bus this afternoon is at least entitled to a halfway-decent pension.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/11/arts/amazon-tiktok-box-delivery.html
I agree that the financial plight and quality of life of the almost invisible service worker of today is unfair and needs redress. Not sure if NewMo, with its stable pool of workers counts, but it’s a good question to ask.
However, I would argue that designing modern life in such a way that most every trip is dependent on the private automobile, with the associated expense, congestion, and environmental impact, is a far more pervasive “middle-class fantasy of privilege.”
I was behind a NewMo van today and interestingly enough it had an Ohio license plate.
UPDATE: I had a chance to use NewMo twice in the past few days, both times it worked perfectly. It was timely, reliable, convenient. It saved me a harrowing trip on icy sidewalks and shortened my commute by approx. 20 minutes. In the spring/summer/fall I’d probably still prefer to bike, but right now it’s a great solution. I do wish NewMo operated beyond 6:30pm, but I understand that the demand might not be worth it.