For years, making a trip across Erie was a difficult endeavor for Laura Brecht.

Her husband, Lyle, uses a wheelchair, and getting him into the family car meant lifting him by hand — a routine that was becoming increasingly painful.

"It was really hurting my back," Brecht said.

Then arrived the Erie Bee, a free, on-demand ride service that functions similarly to ride-hailing apps such as Uber and Lyft, allowing riders to request trips through an app or by phone to get from one door to another.

Instead of laboring through outings, Brecht can now tap her phone, and a vehicle pulls up at their door. She and her husband use the service weekly, to go to therapy appointments, seniors lunches and community events.

"I was absolutely thrilled. We immediately started riding it," Brecht told the Daily Camera of the service's launch in April. "We've been able to get close to things with a wheelchair that we otherwise wouldn't have been able to do."

On a sweltering June afternoon, the Daily Camera accompanied Erie Councilmember Emily Baer for a spin on the Bee. Baer said she has used the service regularly since it launched.

That day, the Bee was at it's busiest, Baer told the Camera. It took about an hour after ordering the service for it to arrive at the curb of Erie's Town Hall. But Baer said she's "never waited longer than 7 minutes."

"It's been great," Baer said. "We're seeing a lot of folks who are using it. I take it to the community center, to yoga. My son uses it, too."

Baer spoke familiarly with the Bee's driver, Airiel Martinez, who has worked for Via, the company operating the service, since last fall. Martinez drove one of the shuttle vehicles that day — the only Bee in the fleet which has an interior lined with LED lights, earning it the name "party bus."

"I love to drive, and I love to speak," said Martinez, who greeted riders by name throughout the afternoon.

"I've met great people. I've driven the same children for the last three, four days. Now they get on and they're like, 'Hey, Airiel.'"

Much of that June afternoon's ridership consisted of young teenagers. In just over an hour, the Bee made a stop at Burger King, a pickup from the Erie Community Center, a drop-off at Walmart.

One group of middle schoolers climbed aboard for their third trip of the day.

Asked how they got around before the Bee, one answered: "We didn't."

"I used to ride my e-bike, but now there are cops everywhere, so I just use this," another said. (Testament, perhaps, to the town's efforts in recent months to regulate and police electric bicycles.)

Erie resident Brittany Jenkins said her 13-year-old daughter has been riding the Bee several times a week during the summer break.

"She really loves it," Jenkins told the Camera last week. "She thinks it feels very safe."

The Bee gives her daughter the freedom to meet friends across town while Jenkins runs errands or takes her younger child to activities, she added.

"As a mom, I love that the service is available because I feel like I can trust the town and these drivers to take good care of her," Jenkins said. "It also gives some of our young teens who aren't drivers yet some independence and that feeling of agency."

Erie Bee ridership grows

The honeycomb-patterned vehicles have become a common sight on Erie's streets. They weave through neighborhoods, sometimes passing another Bee headed in the opposite direction.

Ridership has grown quickly since the service's launch. According to town spokesperson Gabi Rae, the Erie Bee provided 312 rides in April, 1,755 in May and 2,228 in June, excluding separate shuttle service offered during the Erie Town Fair.

The town will again supplement the Bee with a dedicated free shuttle during its July 3 fireworks celebration at the Erie Community Center, when officials expect roughly 20,000 attendees. That shuttle will run from Erie High School, 3180 Weld County Road 5, to the community center from 6 to 11 p.m.

Baer said services such as the Bee and special events shuttles are intended to reduce parking pressure in Old Town and around the community center.

"Different connections and multimodal strategies will help alleviate parking in Old Town without us having to have asphalt and empty lots," Baer said during the June ride. "That's a way the Bee serves everyone, even if you don't use it."

Baer hopes the Erie Bee also changes how residents think about public transportation — "it's not something we have to use, it's something we get to use," she said.

The Erie Bee service is funded primarily through grants from the Denver Regional Council of Governments. Baer said she hopes more funding sources will be unlocked in the future to expand the Erie Bee schedule.

Riders must be 13 or older to use the Bee service alone. Users can schedule free rides on weekdays through the Erie Bee smartphone app or by calling 720-303-9511. The mobile app is available to download online at www.erieco.gov/ErieBee, where a map of the service area and information about the service is also available.

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