Today Richmond-based Adaptive Transportation Network Company, UZURV, announced a partnership with Phoenix-based Accessible Avenue, a start-up focused on transforming mobility for everyone, including people with disabilities.
Accessible Avenue was founded by Ron Brooks, a 28-year veteran of the public transit industry who has spent his entire career planning and managing accessible transit and paratransit services in locations across the country. Including a recent six-year stint at the Valley Metro Regional Public Transit Authority in Phoenix, which partnered with UZURV to provide accessible, on-demand trips to the community in 2019.
“Over the course of the last five years,” says UZURV’s CEO John Donlon, “UZURV has developed an amazing team and technology platform that is revolutionizing transportation for people with disabilities. We have experienced tremendous growth as more and more transit agencies have begun to recognize that it is possible to provide on-demand transportation that delivers independence and freedom while also saving money over more traditional paratransit services. Our partnership with Accessible Avenue will help us further refine our services to meet the needs of communities who need it most.”
Ron Brooks
Founder, Accessible Avenue
“For me,” says Ron, who, in addition to being an experienced industry insider is also blind, “UZURV represents the next step in the evolution of transportation for people with disabilities who cannot always use conventional public transit service. In the past and in many locations to this day, customers who depend on paratransit have to schedule every aspect of their lives at least a day in advance. Which is extremely challenging for anyone with a family or a job or the desire to live a spontaneous life. By building a network of specialty-credentialed drivers that have been vetted, trained and certified to provide safe, high-quality and accessible transportation on-demand, UZURV is changing the game, and the chance to contribute to their efforts is a dream come true. Because it’s not only benefitting my industry, it’s benefitting me and other people with disabilities who want to travel with dignity and flexibility.”
With technology playing an increasing role in expanding public transit and non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) mobility, this partnership will build and establish strategic practices and services to ensure seniors and people with disabilities have access to on-demand transportation when they need it. Together, UZURV and Accessible Avenue will assist transit agencies and NEMT providers in effectively providing an excellent rider experience catered to the unique needs of paratransit and transportation disadvantaged riders.
About UZURV
The UZURV Assisted Mobility Platform recruits, onboards, dispatches and provides powerful program management and reporting tools for complex transportation systems utilizing diverse fleets – including its own UZURV Adaptive Transport Network Company (Adaptive TNC). UZURV has contracts to provide transportation services with more than 30 organizations coast to coast in the United States, including four out of the top ten largest ADA paratransit programs by rider volume. UZURV is designed to help communities lower the costs of transportation service delivery for people with mobility challenges – all while providing a higher level of service. UZURV’s Adaptive TNC onboards fully FTA-compliant drivers for ADA Paratransit programs and ensures safety with real-time oversight for every ride by the company’s in-house operations team. UZURV was founded in 2017 and is based in Richmond, Va. For more information about UZURV, visit https://uzurv.com/.