ADVANCED SAFETY TEECHNOLOGIES FOR TRANSIT

While public transit is among the safest modes of transportation in the United States, crashes involving public transit buses, passenger and commercial vehicles, motorcycle riders, bicyclists, and pedestrians do occur.

NEORide's SMART Rider demonstration project, which is funded by a U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation (SMART) Grant that was awarded to the Stark Area Regional Transit Authority (SARTA), NEORide, and the Ohio Transit Risk Pool (OTRP) in 2023, is designed to test and evaluate the role advanced vehicle safety technologies can play in reducing the number and severity of those accidents.

EZFare

The largest multi-county, multi-state mobile ticketing system in the country.

EZConnect

One number and website to schedule paratransit and microtransit trips

Small Urban

NEORide supports Small Urban Transits agencies through grant support

Low & No Emission Vehicle Training

Coordinated Workforce Training

SMART Grant

Advanced Safety Technologies for Transit

The testing and evaluation process will be conducted on vehicles owned by three Ohio-based transit agencies: Butler County Regional Transit Authority (BCRTA), Stark Area Regional Transit Authority (SARTA) and Western Reserve Transit Authority (WRTA).

From October 2025 through August 2026 each agency will operate two vehicles retrofit with Perrone Robotics' TONY/MAX advanced driver assistance system in fixed route service in rural, suburban, and urban communities. The system, like those installed in modern private vehicles, monitors road and traffic conditions and includes these safety-enhancing features:

Adaptive Cruise Control which controls the distance between moving vehicles and adjusts speed, reducing the number of vehicle collisions.

Forward Collision Avoidance that uses automated braking to prevent crashes

Lane Keeping Assistance that alerts drivers if a vehicle is leaving or has left the lane and corrects the trajectory of the vehicle, reducing head-on collisions.