RideGTX, the city of Georgetown's ride voucher service, will soon eliminate overnight hours and increase its base price to combat rising costs, officials said.
Georgetown City Council members supported the changes at a Sept. 22 workshop meeting.
What you need to know
Once the changes go into effect, rideGTX will operate from 6 a.m. to midnight and cost a base fee of $5.
Overnight rides account for just about 4% of total trips and include no wheelchair-accessible rides, and the new hours will save an estimated $17,000 per year, Georgetown Transportation Manager Lua Saluone said.
By increasing the base fare by $1, the city will save an estimated $62,000 annually.
Wheelchair-accessible vehicle rides cost the city an average of $60 to $64 per trip—compared to the program average of $17 per ride, Saluone said. Program changes include capping WAV rides at 25 per user per month.
The changes will go into effect after the city negotiates its contract with transit contractor TRIPPP Consulting. Officials did not specify an exact implementation date.
The cause
The program exceeded its initial three-year budget allocation in less than two years because of high usage, according to city documents.
The city could save about $100,000 with the new changes, bringing program costs to $750,000 for fiscal year 2026-27, Saluone said.
The history
The rideGTX program launched in 2025 and has provided users 10 vouchers per month for 24/7 ride-hailing services. Riders pay the first $4 of the trip, with the city subsidizing the next $10. The user pays any amount after the subsidy.
In February this year, council members decided to end the GoGeo program—a separate ride voucher service—at the end of the fiscal year, encouraging users to instead use rideGTX ride-hailing or WAV trips.
