Los Angeles County transportation officials are partnering with an on-demand taxi service for a pilot program that aims to fill a mobility gap in L.A.: Riders who use bus and train stations, but who need a lift to get to and from them.

Starting this fall, New York-based transportation service Via Transportation Inc. will become available to passengers who can’t afford ride-sharing services such as Uber and Lyft, and who live a good distance from bus and train stations.

“We have an acute first- and last-mile need in Los Angeles County that we need to fill the gap for,” said Marla Westervelt, a principal transportation planner at the Metro’s Office of Extraordinary Innovation. “We are testing a new model to see if that can improve regional mobility.”

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Westervelt added that it is unclear how much the new service will cost because Metro is still negotiating a contract with Via. But the program will be “more affordable” than other multi-passenger services such as UberPool and Lyft Line.

The Via app will carpool customers with others riders who are heading the same way.

Passengers will be able to pay for the service using credit cards.

The services will be available thanks to a $1.35 million grant from the Federal Transit Administration poised to “test new business relationships with transportation technology providers,” Westervelt said.

Riders without a cellphone will be able to use the service by contacting a call center. The service will accommodate passengers with disabilities who need additional support to board vehicles and customers with service animals, according to Metro.

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With the Via app, riders will be able to reserve a seat and carpool with other passengers from three Metro stations in Artesia, El Monte and North Hollywood.

The transportation agency selected the stations that “represent the diversity” of the Los Angeles area, according to Metro. The stations were also chosen based on availability of parking space and pick-up and drop-off areas.

For now, Metro will launch the program at three stations, but if it becomes “a huge success,” the agency “may look into expanding it,” Westervelt said.

This story has been amended to reflect that riders of the Mobility on Demand pilot program won’t be able to use their Metro TAP cards, which an initial version of this story stated.