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Presentation and Update on Saturday Transit Service Pilot Program
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During the 2019 budget hearings, Council approved $250,000 for a weekend transit service pilot program from White Rock to the Los Alamos downtown district during the Bandelier Shuttle service time frame (mid-May through mid-October). The main goal was to provide visitors returning from Bandelier the opportunity to also explore downtown Los Alamos and surrounding businesses. Council expressed making this service available to the Los Alamos County community as well. The pilot service, originally conceived as a fixed route service model, was scheduled to begin in the Summer of 2020, but was postponed due to the outbreak of COVID in the Spring of 2020.
Since COVID, maintaining staffing levels at Atomic City Transit (ACT) for regular weekday service has been a challenge. However, driver recruitment has recently improved, making a Saturday Transit Service Pilot feasible for a period of 12 weeks (13 Saturday’s).
Other recent notable developments include the following:
· As a result of staffing issues at Bandelier, the National Park Service altered the Bandelier Shuttle service for 2025 from serving the White Rock Visitor Center to providing shuttle service to the parking lots within Bandelier to the main entrance.
· ACT purchased the SPARE MyRide Software and App that allows dispatchers or riders to schedule on-demand trips and dispatch buses to fulfill those requested trips. Note, this on-demand model is also referred to as “Microtransit”.
The following summarizes the proposed Saturday Transit Service Pilot Program:
Service Type: On-Demand with Reservations and Dispatching managed by the MyRide Software
Reservations: First come, first serve. Made through the MyRide App or by calling 505-664-RIDE
Service Area: Los Alamos and White Rock.
Pilot Program Start Date: Saturday, August 2, 2025
Pilot Program End Date: Saturday, October 25, 2025
Schedule: 9:00AM - 5:30PM (matches Bandelier Shuttl...
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