KY: Lexington residents could have access to 2 new public transit programs next year

The city of Lexington could fund not one, but two transit pilots next year to offer free and low-cost rides to residents needing transportation to medical appointments, interviews and more.

The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council took the first step Nov. 20 in allocating $475,000 in additional funds to support a microtransit pilot project that could be operated by Lextran starting sometime next year. In May, the council gave the transit agency $250,000 for the same pilot.

The council also voted at the same regular meeting to give United Way of the Bluegrass $375,000 to operate a two-year pilot of a subsidized Lyft service, called Ride United, to give Lexington residents free Lyft rides to essential services.

Together, those two allocations total $850,000. The money will come from the city’s unallocated fund balance, leftover from the previous fiscal year.

The council will take a final vote on funding both initiatives at its Tuesday, Dec. 2 council meeting.

BUILD, an advocacy organization made up of several Lexington churches, has spent the last two years pushing Lextran to create a microtransit service, essentially an on-demand form of public transit.

The group’s advocacy for microtransit partially arose from frustrations in 2023 and 2024 with Lextran’s Wheels paratransit service. That program targets individuals with disabilities who cannot use the bus system. At the time, Wheels drivers were often late or missing pick-ups entirely, leaving vulnerable riders stranded.

With microtransit, a rider can typically schedule a trip on an app, and a driver in a car or van will pick the rider up and drop them off at their destination, similar to private rideshare companies like Uber and Lyft. Wheels only serves riders with disabilities, and riders have to schedule at least 24 hours in advance by phone. A microtransit service would be open to anyone in Lexington and riders could schedule on-demand rides on an app.

A feasibility study commissioned by Lextran this year recommended the agency pilot a microtransit service in an area of Northwest Lexington bounded by Newtown Pike, Versailles Road and Alexandria Drive. Trips would have to begin and end in that zone. Ride fares would be $3 and include free transfers to Lextran buses for those who are traveling to a destination outside the zone.

The actual cost to Lextran per trip is $54.66, however, according to the study, and the pilot would cost Lextran roughly $2.3 million to operate over two years. The study estimates the service would generate 21,327 trips a year.

Two transit programs detailed

While discussion around Lextran operating a new microtransit service has been ongoing for a few years, information about the Ride United service came before the council recently.

In a Nov. 19 meeting focused on several approaches to microtransit, Patrice Muhammad of United Way of the Bluegrass brought the council a proposal for expanding the Ride United program.

Currently, Ride United provides one free Lyft trip per month to Fayette County residents who need a ride to a medical appointment or an employment-related meeting, like a job interview or career fair. Riders call 211, the United Way’s service hotline, to schedule a trip.

With an additional $375,000 over two years, Muhammad told the council Wednesday United Way could expand that service to cover far more. Trips to the grocery store, legal appointments, classes and other important services would be available free for all Lexington residents.

United Way estimates the expanded service would provide 12,500 rides over two years. Ride United’s per-trip operational cost hovers between $25 and $30, Muhammad told the council.

Fifth District Councilmember Liz Sheehan brought the motion to expand Ride United pilot to council, saying while Lextran’s proposed microtransit pilot only covers one area of northwest Fayette County, the United Way could provide service to all of Lexington.

“( United Way of the Bluegrass) can collect data for us across the entire county for who calls them, where they’re located, what they need, where they go, and that can help us inform a wider microtransit program across the county,” Sheehan said.

Other councilmembers shared optimism about how the two programs could work together.

“I kind of like the idea of simultaneously trying a couple of different things and seeing what works,” Vice Mayor Dan Wu said. “The ultimate answer may not be ‘this works and this doesn’t. The ultimate answer might be that this is a good pairing.”

Lextran general manager Fred Combs agrees the two services could work well together.

“It’s on us to sort of work through what that would look like with those partners, but this is a wonderful opportunity,” Combs told the Herald-Leader. “I can see some synergies between these programs.”

Combs expects Lextran to enter a contract with a private vendor who would run the microtransit pilot in April or May, and the final contract may alter the cost.

“We’re going to aim to do as close to what’s in the study as we can,” Combs said. “We’re going to get as much service out of these dollars as we can get.”

Combs has repeatedly told council Lextran does not have money in its current budget to support a microtransit service on its own. Lextran will search for long-term funding for it as part of the pilot.

United Way has previously relied on grants and private funders to support the Ride United program. If funded by the city, the organization will look at other options after the pilot concludes.

“I would love for it to turn into a line item that the city sees that this need is here. It’s important that we make a great impact where we can sustain that relationship with the city,” United Way Vice President of Resource Development Caleb Robinson told the Herald-Leader.

But that doesn’t mean United Way plans to rely solely on taxpayer funds.

“(This pilot) will put more of a spotlight on the program, and more corporate partners will probably want to be a part of it,” Robinson said.

As for members of BUILD, who attended the Nov. 20 meeting to ask the council to support the Lextran pilot but unprepared to speak about the Ride United program, the real-time reaction was mixed.

“Ride United will not add good paying jobs to Fayette County,” vice president of BUILD and local minister Brian Chenowith said. “It will heighten the injustices and exploitation of the gig economy” by relying on Lyft drivers.

Some BUILD members were more optimistic.

“What matters is that everyone — the council, the public, United Way, and Lextran itself — has recognized the same reality, and that is that the system as it stands is not enough,” Gail Swanson told the council.

©2025 Lexington Herald-Leader.
Visit kentucky.com.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.