East Bay bus riders in Alamo Creek, a community outside Danville, will soon be able to call a bus from an app on their smartphone “on-demand.”

Residents there already pay a fee for a “dial-a-bus” service, but the Central Contra Costa Transit Authority, or County Connection, says they only get around 25 calls a day. That often results in buses going out only half full, or less.

Now, the transit agency says it hopes to compete with private sector companies like Uber and Lyft for residents heading to the Danville Bart station or commuting elsewhere. They are partnering with North Carolina-based TransLoc to launch the service, starting with a six month trial in February. 

“The ability to customize the service based on each area’s need is the key to not only providing a better customer service, but also to strengthening the role of public transit in an industry that has seen a lot of disruption of late,” Rahul Kumar, vice president of TransLoc, told the Mercury News.

This is the first rollout of the program in the Bay Area. TransLoc has plans to unveil 25 pilot programs across the state and around the country in operation by next summer.