In response to challenges with providing fixed route transit in rural areas, many transit agencies in the United States and around the world are increasingly looking towards microtransit, a form of flexible route transit service which can be reserved on-demand, to provide transit service in rural areas. However, the immaturity of microtransit relative to conventional fixed route transit means that the benefits and challenges of microtransit in rural areas are still not fully understood. This paper aims to identify these benefits and challenges through the evaluation of a case study microtransit system—the Yolobus BeeLine. The BeeLine is a microtransit service provided by Yolobus, the transit agency operating in Yolo County, California, and is unique in that it operates in both low-density rural and medium-density suburban areas. By conducting ride-along interviews with riders of the BeeLine service, the authors investigate the benefits of the microtransit service for its riders as well as the challenges and shortcomings of the service that these riders face. These interviews found that while the BeeLine provides a useful and inexpensive travel alternative for riders, certain challenges associated with using the service—including its limited service area, limited service span, technology requirements to reserve rides, etc.— impact riders from disadvantaged communities disproportionately. These findings are consistent with existing literature studying other microtransit systems. Thus, both the study and existing literature suggest that addressing the travel needs of individual communities should be a top priority when designing microtransit systems.
