A free downtown circulator service called RideScout expanded in July to include a stop at Whole Foods Market. A free downtown circulator service called RideScout expanded in July to include a stop at Whole Foods Market.[/caption]

Less than one month after debuting as a downtown circulator for pedestrians on their way to work, RideScout Route is already expanding.


RideScout, a mobile app company introduced in 2013 that shows users the best transportation method for reaching their destination, launched the circulator so downtown employees—estimated to be approximately 120,000 people, according to the Downtown Austin Alliance—could easily get to work.


RideScout CEO Joseph Kopser told Community Impact Newspaper in March the new route is part a public and private initiative called Mobility ATX, which proposes bringing back some form of The ‘Dillo, a free downtown streetcar that Capital Metro, the area’s public transportation agency, discounted in late 2009.


“We want to have an open and transparent conversation about what people want to see and experiment with,” Kopser said in March. “Let’s not limit ourselves to a downtown circulator. Electric cabs have been operating in this city for several years now.”


The free pilot project operates from 7:30 a.m.-9:30 a.m., 11 a.m.-1 p.m and 4 p.m.-6 p.m. Passengers are transported using open-air electric cabs and, since mid-July, a 20-seat, air-conditioned shuttle provided by R&R Limousine and Bus.


RideScout also expanded the route this month to reach Whole Food Market. In total, the route runs every 10 to 15 minutes.