Georgetown officials continue to seek viable public transportation options for the city. With bus ridership low, a rideshare pilot program was launched last year. Council members were presented with ideas for a revamped pilot program at the Oct. 8 workshop.

A goal for round two of a pilot program would be to evaluate whether rideshare is a viable alternative or supplement to the GoGeo program, Transportation Planning Coordinator Ray Miller said to council members.

The other goal would be to structure the pilot program toward populations that would most benefit form a public transportation system, Miller said.

The previous program, which partnered with rideshare company Lyft, provided a discount to anyone who had the promo code and could only be used within city limits.

An option for the new program is to use a similar system, but offer Lyft discount codes to areas of the city that need the codes most, Miller said, adding the discount could be applied to trips that go beyond city limits as long as the first or final destination was in a predefined zone.

“We could use our demographic [data] to gear it toward low- to moderate-income areas of the city,” he said. “You could be in downtown Austin and use it to come back into town as long as it stopped in one of those geofenced areas.”

The new program has a budget of $50,000, twice that of the original pilot, Miller said. He suggested continuing with the initial setup of charging a base fee of $2 per ride to be paid by the user with a flat city subsidy of $10. If the trip cost exceeds that, then the rider would pay the remaining balance. Each user would receive 10 rides per month with 24-hour service.

Council Member Kevin Pitts expressed concern over residents’ lack of awareness of the program and asked if the budget included a marketing plan.

Miller said there is no official plan at this point, but partnering with area nonprofits and organizations to inform people in need and working with the city’s communication team to market the program are options.

Council Member Steve Fought said targeting the program to certain neighborhoods is a reasonable start, but there are people on fixed and low incomes that are not necessarily in the designated areas who would be excluded.

“How do we know by focusing on these neighborhoods we are more effectively reaching the target population we want than if we just opened it to all of Georgetown with better marketing?” Fought asked.

City Manager David Morgan said staff discussed the option of informing residents that if they do not live in one of the predefined neighborhoods but qualify for a voucher, they could call the city to obtain one.

“I’m an example of someone who lives in a census tract (an area established by the Census Bureau for analyzing populations) but wouldn’t need this service,” Council Member Rachael Jonrowe said. “So I would like a more refined process. I know then we start looking at administrative costs for doing a program like that, though, where people have to qualify.”

She said an answer might be continuing to try to refine various options and taking small steps.

Resident Larry Olson presented additional rideshare program options during public comment, and Morgan said officials were looking at his suggestions as well.

As a next step, council members directed staff to look into liability concerns with Lyft and talk to city insurance providers and report back on the level of risk. Staff will also continue to gather data for the possible future rideshare program.

Lyft pilot program numbers to know


The city provided data on the first rideshare pilot program from July 2018-January 2019:

190 total days
863 total users
433 new users
$45,872 total cost
$29,947 city subsidy
$10.76 average cost per trip
$7.20 average subsidy per trip

Adhering to the plan


City officials said they want to make sure the rideshare program meets Georgetown’s transportation development plan goals:

  1. Provide a safe, reliable, efficient and accessible transportation option for residents and visitors of Georgetown.
    2. Adequately address the mobility needs of Georgetown residents.
    3. Maximize resource utilization and operations efficiency with respect to system administration and operations.
    4. Develop a local system that operates effectively in the short term, continues to develop an audience for regional transit options in the mid term, and will connect the local community to the region in the long term.