Micro-transit in central Arkansas gets further look

Agency reports lower wait times, expanded service area

Rock Region Metro, the transit agency for central Arkansas, wants to expand its microtransit footprint.

A six-month pilot project that began in August to assess microtransit service in an area formerly served by the agency's Route 9, often referred to as John Barrow, has been promising enough to look into expanding it, said Becca Green, the public engagement director for Rock Region.

Microtransit is an on-demand service for areas where transit demand is less robust, in which smaller vehicles are used to pick up people at their door and take them to stops on regular routes.

Riders can track their vehicles with real-time arrival push notifications and door-to-door service, and access places not previously accessed by regular bus service, such as CARTI, Camp Aldersgate and other areas, Green said.

"In the first 15 weeks of service ...METRO has carried 2,742 total METRO Connect John Barrow Road Zone shared ride trips," she said in an email.

Rock Region has been using the pilot program to gauge whether it could improve customer experience, learn how to operate microtransit service and see whether it could make agency operations more efficient.

"METRO has met those goals," Green said.

A big attraction is the improved wait times, she added.

"The program has been well received, as total wait and travel time averages are well below the 65-minute wait time Route 9 had," Green said.

As a result, the transit agency is looking at extending the microtransit service with the John Barrow Road Zone as well as establishing a similar service in the Riverdale area of Little Rock, now served by Route 21.

The Rock Region Metro board, in approving the agency's 2020 budget, also gave the staff the authority to purchase four microtransit vehicles at a cost of $154,300.

Joe Procop, the agency's assistant procurement director, also told the board that staff likely will bring a recommendation to the board in January to award a contract for software to run the microtransit program. The cost is expected to be $54,000 in the first year, 2020, and $24,000 annually through 2023.

The 2020 budget the board approved Tuesday requires Rock Region's funding partners fund a $1.1 million increase in contributions compared with this year's budget.

Rock Region is asking for a total of $14.7 million next year from the cities of Little Rock, North Little Rock, Sherwood and Maumelle and Pulaski County, about 8.1% more than the $13.6 million they are scheduled to contribute in 2019.

Overall, the agency's proposed 2020 budget is $19.9 million, which represents about a 3.65% increase over its 2019 budget, which totaled $19.2 million.

Little Rock, as the largest of the agency's five funding partners, is being asked to contribute the most money, $10.1 million, or 7.45% more than the $9.4 million the agency requested for 2019.

A little more than $3 million is being sought from North Little Rock. That figure is about 7.1% more than the $2.8 million Rock Region sought from the city for 2019.

Pulaski County's contribution request goes from $1.27 million in 2019 to $1.35 million next year, an increase of about 6.3%.

Rock Region is requesting $88,907 from Sherwood and $43,771 from Maumelle, which represent 9% increases from their 2019 requests.

Metro on 11/20/2019

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