Overland Park, Kan., and Johnson County have authorized a Saturday-only microtransit pilot project in an effort to boost mobility in downtown Overland Park, as well as to the city's popular Saturday Farmers Market.
The Overland Park project will piggyback onto the county's six-month microtransit project with Ride KC, which launched in February 2019. The Ride KC microtransit program utilizes TransLoc's Microtransit app to allow riders to hail a ride within the pilot project's service area at a fare of $1.50 for each one-way trip. Overland Park will subsidize trips to and from the city's downtown on each Saturday of the month for the remainder of 2019, beginning in July.
As part of the Overland Park microtransit pilot, the eastern border of the existing microtransit service area in Johnson County will be extended from the current boundary of Metcalf Avenue east to State Line Road on Saturdays only. Service hours on Saturdays will match the Monday-Friday service, which is 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.
“Overland Park’s willingness to support the microtransit pilot program is a win-win partnership,” said Johnson County Commission Chairman Ed Eilert. “It provides a downtown Overland Park transit option for local residents and allows the county to further study demands for public transportation and determine future needs in our transit system.”
Overland Park Ward 2 Councilmember Curt Skoog added, "RideKC's microtransit service is an innovative approach to bringing more residents to downtown Overland Park and the Farmers' Market. We are looking forward to the expanded service and seeing if it adds value for our residents and the market."
