James Cox dedicated a significant portion of his career at Uber to finding solutions for lessening traffic congestion through ridesharing initiatives.

Having played a key role in the creation of the Uber Pool service and consistently advocating for ridesharing as a method to lower vehicle emissions, Cox eagerly embraced the opportunity to utilize technology originating from MIT that aimed to refine dynamic routing and vehicle management systems for public transportation networks.

This technology forms the foundation of The Routing Company, the startup currently led by Cox. It’s built upon software created by Routing Company co-founder and chief technology officer Alex Wallar during his doctoral studies at MIT, where he concentrated on optimizing vehicle distribution. Collaborating with colleagues, including Daniela Rus, director of MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, and post-doctoral researcher Javier Alonso Mora, Wallar developed a platform capable of applying real-time optimization to public transit operations.

In April, Wallar presented this research to Menno van der Zee, and together they developed the core platform that would evolve into The Routing Company.

Cox initially joined the company as an advisor, but decided to commit to a full-time role after evaluating the technology developed by Wallar and van der Zee.

The company is now expanding its reach to transit authorities globally, backed by $5 million in recent funding led by The Engine, MIT’s deep tech investment fund, bringing its total financing to $6.5 million.

“We are excited to invest in The Routing Company. They have successfully developed a solution for dynamic shared rides on a large scale,” stated Reed Sturtevant, general partner at The Engine. “Intelligent ridesharing solutions for cities will have far-reaching benefits. Advancements in transit have the potential to alleviate congestion, reduce commute times for individuals who cannot afford to live near their workplaces, and contribute to environmental sustainability.”

The objective is to extend the advantages that private companies have been striving to offer consumers to the broader public.

The startup environment includes numerous unsuccessful private commuter services, and The Routing Company intends to avoid their pitfalls by collaborating with, rather than competing against, existing public urban transit systems.

In the United States alone, public transportation represents a $74 billion industry… and it has been significantly impacted by the challenges presented during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“During my time at Uber, while we and other ridesharing companies were developing shared rides algorithms, the inherent complexity of the shared rides problem proved difficult to resolve in real time,” explained Cox. “My assessment was that a real-time solution was not feasible. We are essentially transforming transit into a customer-centric service. Traditional transit systems excel at managing high-capacity routes and demand, but they often struggle in low and medium-density areas. This is where we see a significant opportunity to provide assistance.”

Cox believes his new company is addressing a problem that particularly affects low-income and low-density communities. These areas are often underserved or receive infrequent service from conventional public transit, and The Routing Company’s tools provide transit authorities with a means to establish new fleets to serve these areas.

The Routing Company offers a comprehensive package that includes a rider app, a driver app, and a fleet management platform for the transit agency. While exploring various pricing structures, Cox refrained from disclosing the specific charges to initial customers, but indicated the revenue model is based on either a per-vehicle, per-month fee or a percentage of the revenue generated per vehicle.

“Each driver is provided with a link to download an application. Riders can access the service through a user-friendly app or by making a phone call to schedule an appointment with an operator,” he said.

Previous ridesharing algorithms relied on an individual’s location and destination to determine the appropriate vehicle for pickup. The Routing Company adopts a different approach by prioritizing the location of the entire vehicle fleet and their existing routes to identify the most suitable vehicle for a passenger’s ride.

Passenger wait times vary depending on the city and the number of vehicles deployed through The Routing Company, but Cox stated the aim is to ensure passengers wait no longer than 10 minutes for pickup. Currently, one city in Scotland is utilizing the service, and The Routing Company has secured contracts with four unidentified cities in the U.S. and one in Australia.

“Many have attempted to launch shuttle startups. A common issue with these ventures is unsustainable unit economics. Our approach leverages the right technology and allows us to enhance public transit rather than compete with it,” Cox noted.