Microtransit is a fairly new term and way of looking at public transportation. On Tuesday, Longmont City Council directed staff to look further into the concept.
“Microtransit is based on the goal of having a smaller (6-passenger) transit vehicle pick a person up within 15 minutes of a request … and reaching their destination within the City in 15 minutes,” council communication states.
On Tuesday night, the Longmont City Council directed city staff to explore a city-directed program that would reach areas of Longmont that the current RTD bus service does not currently reach.
Affordable housing units are popping up throughout Longmont, but are typically in areas that does not have access to public transit.
“It really is the idea of extending the transit piece of this to other citizens of the city to be able to cover the entire city with public transit,” said Phil Greenwald, city of Longmont transportation planning manager.
The microtransit system would be comprised of four to six 6-passenger vans that would operate in a similar fashion to Uber or Lyft. Riders would request the service via an app or a phone call and would reach their destination within 30 minutes.
If the city were to implement the program it would be administered by the city of Longmont but the van service would be run by a third-party contractor, Greenwald said. This would allow the program to be flexible and for the city to control the location of the services.
A similar service is already provided by RTD through its FlexRide program which provides two vehicles in Longmont. This level of service is not keeping up with the demand from Longmont residents who wish to utilize public transportation, Greenwald said.
Greenwald said there are many avenues to fund the project including applying for the RTD Partnership Program. Council gave approval for city staff to apply for a $600,000 grant offered through the partnership program.
Additional funding could be moved over from the RideFree Longmont system. Since 2014, Longmont staff have advocated that RTD fare rates were not fair to Longmont citizens, Greenwald said. Because of this, the city of Longmont has paid for public transportation fees for all its residents which are budgeted for $250,000.
In 2024, RTD will announce a new fare system that will better align with prices Longmont believes to be fair. The new fare system will allow youth under 19 years of age to ride for free. All other rides would be $2.75 per trip or $5.50 for all day. Airport transportation would be $10. Low-income families and those over 65 years of age would pay $1.35 per trip or $2.70 all day. Access-a-Rider patrons would pay $4.50 a trip or $2.25 for low-income qualified families.
Because the new fares better align with Longmont’s ideal rates, Greenwald suggested it might be time to transition away from the fare box buy-out program.
City staff will look further into program and funding options for upcoming budget discussion talks. The city does not plan to suddenly change the current public transit fare system.
“We would want to transition that (FreeRide Longmont) with a replacement. We wouldn’t just want to remove it,” Greenwald said.
