Distance Matrix: NextBillion.ai Helps GOIN Scale Their NEMT Services + Achieve 40% Cost Savings

About GOIN’

With almost ten years at the intersection of public transportation and technology, GOIN’ connects riders to taxis, paratransit, city transportation and ride providers like Lyft and Uber. Their software suite allows transit agencies to offer micro-transit, paratransit and NEMT services tailored to rider convenience.

The Problem

GOIN, dedicated to expanding its paratransit and NEMT (Non-Emergency Medical Transportation) services, faced challenges with its existing mapping solution (a major industry player).

Beyond NEMT, GOIN also uses NextBillion.ai’s products for employee transportation and group ride-sharing use cases.

These challenges hindered operational efficiency and growth:

• High costs and cost inaccuracy: GOIN relied heavily on a major industry player’s API, which was becoming increasingly expensive due to the high volume of calls. Managing close to 800,000 distance matrix calls per month was straining their budget. The cost was difficult to predict, especially as they planned to expand their service area and potentially increase call volume.
• Scalability issues with matrix size: The previous provider’s API had a standard matrix size limitation of 25 x 25, which was insufficient for GOIN’s operational needs. They required a much larger matrix to handle their complex route planning requirements efficiently.
• Smooth transition to a new provider: Transitioning from their previous provider to a new provider without disrupting existing services was a major concern for GOIN. They needed a seamless migration process to avoid any downtime or operational issues.

The Solution

GOIN partnered with NextBillion.ai to address the complexities of NEMT and paratransit operations for their top US clients.

When they reached out to us, they were handling 2,000 trips per day and making 800,000 distance matrix calls per month. We quickly helped GOIN’ test and evaluate our solutions, leading to a successful transition.

They integrated the following APIs:

1. Distance Matrix API: Enabled GOIN to calculate accurate arrival times and distances. NextBillion.ai’s API offers matrix sizes up to 5000 x 5000, far exceeding the previous provider’s 25 x 25, meeting GOIN’s complex route planning requirements.
2. Directions API: Provided reliable routing information to help GOIN optimize routes for various vehicles and conditions. The API simplified the pick-up and drop-off experience with custom routing options like curbside support. It catered to a wide range of use cases, including employee transportation, group ride-sharing, and booking cabs.

NextBillion.ai’s suite of products offered advanced features that significantly improved GOIN’s operations:

• Automatic dispatch: Streamlined the process of assigning rides to the nearest available vehicle, ensuring quicker response times and reducing idle times for drivers.
• Higher throughput: Enabled GOIN to handle a higher volume of trips and API calls efficiently, supporting their growing operational needs.
• Predictive ETA modeling: Leveraged real-time traffic data and historical patterns to provide highly accurate ETAs, improving rider satisfaction and operational efficiency.

The Outcome

• By transitioning to NextBillion.ai, GOIN reduced its costs by 40% due to transparent and standardized pricing structures compared to its previous provider’s API.
• The ability to handle larger matrices (up to 5000 x 5000) enabled GOIN to manage complex route planning more effectively and accommodate increasing trip volumes without compromising on performance.
• Automatic dispatch reduced idle times for drivers by 30%, ensuring that rides were assigned quickly and efficiently.
• Utilizing real-time traffic data and historical patterns, NextBillion.ai’s predictive ETA modeling provided arrival times that were 95% accurate.
• GOIN now processes nearly 2 million API calls monthly (almost double their previous call volume) without compromising efficiency.

NextBillion.ai is now supporting GOIN’s expansion goals by building a custom stack of optimization and routing solutions, including geofencing, navigation and route optimization capabilities. This tailored solution will enable GOIN to account for 50+ critical optimization parameters, such as defining a task’s start and end points, time windows, service times and vehicle capacities.