Aug. 16—Sugar Land residents who don't drive will have a new mobility option this fall when the city launches a microtransit program.
The program will use a fleet of cars in an 18-square-mile zone in Sugar Land, and include the Sugar Land Business Park, hospitals, grocery stores, Constellation Field, Smart Financial Centre, University of Houston at Sugar Land and Sugar Land Town Center, according to city documents.
The fare will be around $2 per trip. Riders 13 and older can request a ride through an app or phone call and a vehicle will arrive within eight-12 minutes in the designated microtransit area.
The program is the Gulf Coast region's first fully on-demand microtransit service, said Melanie Beaman, transportation and mobility manager for the city.
The three-year pilot program features a fleet of approximately seven vehicles, at least one of which will be wheelchair accessible, Beaman said.
The pilot program will be funded by a grant from the Houston-Galveston Area Council and a local match.
The funding for the first year is $1.194 million with a local match of $298,544 from the Fort Bend County's 2023 mobility bond, for a total of $1.492 million, Beaman said.
"This funding is renewable for two additional years," Beaman said. "The county funds will help with local match and any additional costs."
Future funding is anticipated to come from additional H-GAC funding, public-private partnerships, additional federal grant opportunities, advertising revenue, and other strategies for sustaining the service long-term, Beaman said.
Public input collected during the development of Sugar Land's Mobility Master Plan revealed a strong demand for expanded transit services, particularly for seniors, disabled individuals, low-income households, and one-car families, according to city documents.
"If the first-year pilot is successful, we might expand the pilot area in the second and third year," Beaman said.
The new microtransit program will supplement the commuter park and ride and demand response services provided by Fort Bend County, according to city documents.
Fort Bend County Public Transportation currently provides a curb-to-curb demand response bus service within the county, including Sugar Land.
Ridership for Sugar Land-to-Sugar Land trips average 665 per month, Beaman said.
©2024 the Houston Chronicle. Visit www.chron.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
