Overuse of Johnson County’s microtransit system has declined since fare increases, but not quite enough to keep the expensive-to-run van-hailing service from going over budget this year, county Transit Director Josh Powers told county commissioners last week.
So transit managers have begun this month to cut the number of hours logged by drivers — a move Powers said should not affect the number of rides the service can offer or its on-time performance.
Johnson County recently raised microtransit fees
While other bus services have struggled since the pandemic, Johnson Countians gravitated toward microtransit in a big way.
The service is available on demand through a smartphone app or a phone call. The route and pick-up points vary based on where riders want to go.
But last fall Powers reported that the service was being used so much that a fare increase may be needed to maintain it.
Moreover, there was a high percentage of customers who didn’t show up to be picked up after they hailed a van, driving up expenses further.
As a result, fares — which had been $3 or $5 depending on where riders were going — went up to $5 for the first five miles and $2 for every mile after that.
Transit officials also imposed penalties for no-shows, Power said. Three no-shows will now get a rider banned from the services for a month.
Costs, no-show rates both dropped so far this year
The changes had the desired effect.
According to Powers’ presentation at Thursday’s county commission meeting, the number of completed trips in the first five months of this year dropped by 64% compared with the same period in 2023.
No-shows plummeted 84%, and on-time performance went up by 11%, meaning the service now runs on time 97.4% of the time.
The cost of running it also dropped by about half, from about $1.6 million in 2023 to about $775,000 this year.
But that 50% drop still wasn’t enough to meet the 2024 budget. Officials had been aiming for a 75% reduction in costs.
Why cut back drivers’ hours?
Since most of that cost is in the labor, the next change will be in cutting the number of hours logged by vehicle operators from 100 a day to 50 a day, he said.
That should not impact the service from the customer’s point of view, Powers said.
Microtransit averages 65 to 80 rides per day now.
“We’re confident that with 50 hours of daily service, we can manage up to 100 rides a day without any noticeable denigration of on-time performance,” he told the commission.
That change went into effect earlier this month, and Powers said officials have not had complaints.
Chair Mike Kelly said he supported the latest change, adding that customers have already seen fare increases.
Commissioner Michael Ashcraft asked whether future rate changes might be considered, or whether microtransit officials might seek partnerships with private entities like Uber to serve targeted populations.
Powers said continual fare changes were not optimal, adding that the commission’s upcoming deep dive into the transit system would help clarify things.
He said transit officials had reached out to Uber more than once but had not gotten any interest from the company.
