At the California Transportation Commission meeting in San Diego, Arun Prem, executive director of Facilitating Access to Coordinated Transportation (FACT), described a countywide brokerage and on-demand program that FACT says has cut per-trip costs and expanded accessible options in San Diego County.

FACTs work: FACT is the San Diego County designated Consolidated Transportation Services Agency (CTSA) and operates RightFACT, a coordination and brokerage platform that dispatches special-needs trips to the lowest-cost qualified provider among a network of local small vendors. Prem said FACTs approach reduced the benchmark one-way trip cost from about $39.50 in 2012 to approximately $10 for comparable trips through negotiated vendor prices and brokerage operations.

Capacity and gaps: Prem highlighted the countys limited accessible-vehicle fleet: FACT estimated only seven wheelchair-accessible taxi cabs in San Diego County compared with thousands in larger metro regions. FACT said it fills gaps by coordinating across providers, providing countywide seamless trips and developing grant-funded vehicle pools.

New on-demand accessible program: FACT said it won a CPUC competitive grant and will relaunch an on-demand accessible service in late October 2025 to provide hour-scale wheelchair-accessible response within the county. The organization also described fee-for-service contracts with health systems and other agencies that generate earned revenue for reinvestment in operations.

Public testimony: County residents and riders praised FACTs services during public comment, recounting how FACT enabled essential trips and helped maintain independence for people with disabilities and older residents.

Why it matters: FACTs brokerage and on-demand initiatives provide mobility for seniors, veterans, people with disabilities and low-income households in a county with limited accessible-vehicle supply. The programs cost-reduction approach and on-demand expansion could serve as a model for other regions seeking to expand access without large capital investments.

Next steps: FACT plans to launch the CPUC-funded on-demand accessible program in October and said it will continue to seek grants and fee-for-service arrangements to sustain and expand services.