VA: Local LINK seeks to boost rider count

Sixteen months after launching its microtransit LINK pilot program in Powhatan, the Greater Richmond Transit Company (GRTC) has seen an enthusiastic response from residents who use the service to secure free, on-demand rides for work, school, medical appointments or any number of different reasons.

The main issue now? They need to find more of them.

According to GRTC lead supervisor Richard Troxel, who addressed the Powhatan County Board of Supervisors on July 29, LINK currently serves an average of one rider every two hours, five days a week, between the hours of 6 a.m. and 7 p.m. Troxell says the group is working to get that number up to two riders per hour.

“We are starting to see lots of new faces, so it’s working,” said Troxel of GRTC’s outreach efforts, which have included setting up a booth at the Powhatan Farmers Market and working with local media outlets.

Though the program initially covered a limited area of the County, as of June 29 the service is now County-wide.

GRTC in Powhatan

LINK microtransit brings the same kind of free transportation Richmonders get on GRTC buses to Powhatan, using a mini-bus and technology similar to what ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft use.

It’s an approach more and more transit agencies are using to cover what they sometimes call the “last mile” — neighborhoods that do not generate quite enough traffic to support a standard bus line on a regular schedule.

Generally, the idea has been to turn to microtransit to substitute for lightly traveled bus service, but GRTC’s move into Powhatan is an unusual effort to apply the concept in a rural community.

Microtransit is a zone-restricted on-demand transit service, providing connections to healthcare, education, jobs, and more simply by ordering a ride by phone or on the GRTC on the Go app.

The pilot program has relied on a partnership between Powhatan County, GRTC and the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT).

While local leaders have expressed strong support for the program from its inception, District 3 supervisor Robert Powers raised concerns during the July 28 meeting about how the program—which is costing around $200K a year and is supported by grants from DRPT (80 %) and the American Rescue Plan Act (20 %) — would be funded once the three-year pilot is over.

Frank Adarkwa, GRTC’s Director of Planning and Scheduling, responded that the organization is still working to hammer out a strategy for the future of the project, and would reach back out to County leaders once they had more information.

County administrator Will Hagy wrapped up the discussion by noting that he sees the County and GRTC as being on the same page.

“There’s urgency around making good use of this pilot, demonstrating the data, demonstrating the need, and then being able to compete for future grant funding,” Hagy said. “I appreciate the sense of urgency and I think it’s something we in the County share with the folks at GRTC.”

David Ress of The Richmond Times-Dispatch contributed to this story.

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