In two split votes this week, the Cobb County Board of Commissioners advanced plans to expand the county’s on-demand microtransit service, despite continued disagreement among commissioners and residents over cost, equity and the future of public transit.

Since October 2024, the county’s CobbLinc system has offered CobbLinc Go, an on-demand transit service similar to rideshare apps like Uber and Lyft, in a 26-mile-contiguous zone in south Cobb. The proposed expansion would extend the service into northwest Mableton and create a new pilot zone serving portions of Acworth and Kennesaw.

The board voted 3-2, with Commissioners Keli Gambrill and JoAnn Birrell opposed, on two resolutions approving federally required Title VI service equity analyses for the proposed projects. The votes allow the Cobb Department of Transportation to move the proposals into their next stages but do not represent the final contract approvals needed to expand the south Cobb service or launch the Acworth- Kennesaw pilot. Those contracts could return to the board for separate votes as soon as September.

Both items were pulled from the consent agenda for further discussion following concerns raised by residents.

Supporters said microtransit provides an important transportation option for residents without reliable access to a vehicle and connects people to jobs, health care and other essential services.

Matt Stigall, Chair Lisa Cupid's appointee to the Cobb County Transit Advisory Board, called microtransit expansion a “great benefit for all,” particularly as Cobb tries to serve an increasing senior population and attract younger residents.

Others noted that while it may not be the most cost-effective option, microtransit could be a first step toward improving fixed routes and making better long-term investments in public transportation.

Meanwhile, critics questioned whether the service was the most efficient use of limited transportation dollars.

Virginia Choate argued that the county should be cautious about what she described as the “microtransit hype,” saying demand-response services can require more vehicles for relatively low-occupancy trips and can have mixed results in improving transportation equity.

“Microtransit hype might be justified if transportation budgets were unlimited, but that’s not the world we live in,” Choate said.

Commissioner concerns

Both Gambrill and Birrell believed transit should ultimately be approved by voters through referendum. Birrell pointed to Cobb voters’ rejection of previous transit-related tax proposals, including the proposed Mobility Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax, or M-SPLOST, which would have funded a countywide microtransit network.

About 62% of voters rejected the proposed $11 billion 30-year transit sales tax in 2024.

Some supporters, such as Sam Foster, who with Stigall is co-founder of the advocacy group A Better Cobb, believed those results were not a signal the county should stop investing in transit, but rather a sign “we ran a bad campaign and that we came up with a plan that people did not approve of.”

Earlier this year, Republicans in the General Assembly passed legislation that blocks the county from holding another such referendum until 2032.

Birrell and Gambrill also questioned whether the flat $2.50 CobbLinc Go fare is equitable when some seniors and residents with disabilities rely on a separate voucher program, which Gambrill noted can cost them more.

“It really isn’t fair to have a $2.50 fare or fee to go with microtransit when it’s not qualified just for low income, seniors, disabilities, people that really need it,” Birrell said. “... I just don’t think it’s fair to have the same door-to-door service at $2.50, which is the same fare or fee for riding the CCT (Cobb Community Transit) when you don’t qualify the riders that really need it.”

Gambrill noted a lot of those residents in need were still not included in the new proposed service area, or even served in the voucher program, and questioned the extent of CobbLinc Go’s curb-to-curb service, saying public transit should not become a “personalized chauffeur.”

According to Cobb Department of Transportation Director Drew Raessler, the $2.50 fare was carried over from the former FLEX system and was maintained for simplicity as the county upgraded its fare system in coordination with MARTA ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. He said the appropriate long-term fare remains an open question if the board ultimately chooses to continue the service.

“The goal of microtransit generally is to provide last-mile connectivity, where the fixed route cannot serve just because the routes are not efficient,” Raessler said.

Expansion background

The existing south Cobb service is in the second year of a two-year pilot, with an option for a third year. It averaged nearly 2,400 trips per month during its first 19 months and reached 3,628 trips in April 2026, compared with about 640 monthly trips under the former FLEX service, per the county.

Operated by Via Transportation at a fixed cost, CobbLinc Go uses minivans that can carry up to five passengers. The service, which riders can request through an app, operates weekdays from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and costs riders $2.50 per trip.

The proposed south Cobb expansion would add about six square miles to the existing zone — which includes Wellstar Cobb Hospital, two high schools, several grocery stores, a library and a county recreation center — extending service into northwest Mableton. The county’s Title VI analysis found that the expansion would provide microtransit access to about 18,105 additional residents, a 19% increase. The county found no disparate impact on minority populations or disproportionate burden on low-income residents.

The south Cobb pilot program currently costs around $1.1 million annually to operate, with 70% of the money coming from state and federal grants and another 30% coming from county funds, the Marietta Daily Journal previously reported.

The proposed north Cobb pilot would cover about 31 square miles in portions of Acworth and Kennesaw, including downtown areas, Kennesaw State University, Cobb County International Airport and Town Center Mall. The service would operate on the same schedule, at the same $2.50 fare, with free transfers to local buses. The pilot would complement Routes 40 and 45 and Rapid 10 by providing local circulation and first- and last-mile connections.

The county received a $3.84 million state grant for the north Cobb pilot last December and must provide at least $960,000 in local matching funds.

The Title VI analysis for the north Cobb proposal estimates the service would provide access to about 87,140 additional residents, a 23% increase. The analysis found no disproportionate burden on low-income populations but did identify a potential disparate impact involving minority populations under CobbLinc’s current policy. The county plans to address the finding through targeted outreach and ridership monitoring.

Cupid said microtransit has been part of Cobb’s transportation system in various forms since 2015 and could give residents more options for reaching jobs and other opportunities.

“This will enable us today to provide the service in areas where we can make options more available to those who may not have access and to those who may view this as a more desirable option,” Cupid said.

For the existing South Cobb service, next steps include an amendment with the Atlanta-Region Transit Link Authority, now known as the Georgia Transportation Efficiency Authority, to authorize a third year of funding and a modification to the county’s contract with Via to expand the service area. For the proposed Acworth- Kennesaw service, the county would still need to bring a separate vendor contract before commissioners, according to Raessler.

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