Bus Service Cost in Georgetown!

Georgetown initiated a bus service that services 4 routes in FY 18. That was the first year of an implied 3 year commitment. Following is the budget.

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Notice that the Federal Transit Administration has provided a grant of $265,383. That is another public subsidy.

And here is the ridership and cost for FY 18.

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So the cost per ride is $36.00 and the City picks up $15.70 directly.

The City recently conducted a pilot program using Lyft to provide transportation on demand. They budgeted $25,000 for this program. Here are the results:

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There were approximately 4200 rides provided for 863 users at a total cost of $45,872. That works out to $10.76 per ride compared to $36.00 per ride for GoGeo. This total cost per ride is even less than the subsidy Georgetown provides for GoGeo.

It seems like a "no brainer" to curtail the GoGeo program and use ride sharing to subsidize those in the City who need transportation.

There is still a question of the City's liability for subsidized ride shares that is being addressed with the City's insurance company.

Stay tuned as there are other options for subsidizing transportation that the staff is investigating.