Microtransit service to begin Monday in Longmont

LONGMONT — An on-demand “microtransit” service will launch on Monday, Dec. 9, in Longmont, with free rides for the first month.

Riders will be able to call or use an app to request a ride from RIDE Longmont and be picked up within 15 to 20 minutes by a six- or eight-passenger vehicle.

“They’ll come within walking distance to you, maybe the closest corner to your house,” said Phil Greenwald, Longmont’s transportation planning manager, “but if you have a mobility challenge, they can come to your door.”

Passengers may have to ride with others as the vehicle picks up more people along their route, Greenwald said, but should make it to their destination in 15 to 20 minutes.

The service will operate from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. After Jan. 9, rides will cost $2 for the general public and $1 for students and seniors.

Paying for a ride is similar to the way Uber and Lyft work. Those wishing to ride can download the RIDE Longmont app and register with a credit or debit card, which will be automatically charged once the ride is completed. Riders will enter their pickup and dropoff addresses and tap “book ride.” They also can call 970-538-9097 to book a ride.

Those needing a wheelchair-accessible vehicle can specify that need under “special settings” on the app, and the vehicle will come right to them.

Otherwise, according to the service’s website, “check the app to see where to meet your driver. The meetup spot might be a short walk from where you are, but your designated pickup point helps cut down on detours to get you to your destination faster.”

RIDE Longmont will provide service to and from destinations within Longmont that are not served by the Regional Transportation District’s four fixed local routes, which offer free rides thanks to subsidies from the city, and also as a first- and last-mile option to connect with existing scheduled RTD regional buses to Boulder and Denver as well as FLEX buses to Berthoud, Loveland and Fort Collins. It’s designed as a hybrid between Flexride, which allows customers to call and request rides, and ride-sharing services such as Uber and Lyft.

The city contracted with New York-based Via Transportation Inc. — not to be confused with 45-year-old, Boulder-based nonprofit Via Mobility — to run the service after choosing among four vendors that applied. Via Transportation, founded in 2012, has more than 700 global partners including King County Metro in Seattle and transit systems in London, Sydney and Berlin.

Greenwald said Longmont’s contract with Via Transportation has the city paying it around $1.2 million for its first year of service, “and then it goes down to the high $900,000s in years two and three.

“They buy the vehicles, the software and the drivers,” he said. “It’s a turnkey operation.”

The city is funding the program’s startup with $450,000 it received from RTD last year and $1 million in federal Community Project Funding secured in April by U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colo.

At his State of the City address in October, Longmont city manager Harold Dominguez described the system as part of the city’s “holistic” approach to transportation. He cited the current construction along Coffman Street as the “foundation of where we’re going in terms of our transportation system. It’s really the first time we’re intentionally designing something that’s looking at all forms of transportation — bus, bike, pedestrian, cars — and you see it throughout the community. This is an integrated model.”

on Facebook on LinkedIn