ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – A city-operated rideshare program that started earlier this year is seeing more and more people use the service. As a result, transit officials say they’ve expanded parts of the program to meet demand. “This service serves a changing community,” said Mike Davis, Deputy Director for Albuquerque’s Transit Department. “It’s very flexible and adaptable.”
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It’s been several months since the city announced its completely free rideshare program, ABQ RIDE Connect. Since its start, officials say ridership is on the rise.
“Originally, we only had one van in the southwest mesa zone, but we saw such demand that we really increased that service there,” Davis said.
The program serves two zones, the Southwest Mesa, and an area along the Rio Grande. Officials say riders in the Southwest Mesa use the service the most. However, transit officials say they’ve expanded the Rio Grande service area to persuade more passengers to use the service.
“These zones were selected because they have limited fixed-route service, and the services are even more limited in the Rio Grande zone,” Davis explained.
The expansion now includes Explora, Old Town, as well as big-name chain stores like Smiths, Costco, and Home Depot. Community pools in the zone are also included in that expansion. “As a result, we’re seeing more and more people use it as we find out where those needs are, to make the service really work well for residents in that zone,” Davis added.
The city says they’ve had about 3,000 riders use the service and received nearly perfect review ratings from about 900 riders. According to transit officials, the average passenger approval rating for the service is 97%. They added that the average wait time for a vehicle is just under 12 minutes.
“The comments have been overwhelmingly positive,” said Davis.
The program is still in its one-year pilot phase, but transit officials hope to extend it beyond that if usage continues to rise.
